Mini factory in Oxford will shut down for a month after Brexit at the end of March to minimize disruption in case of a no-deal outcome. Owner BMW said its summer maintenance shutdown had been brought forward to 1 April to reduce any possible short-term parts-supply disruption.
The Catholic church in New York has reached a record US$ 27.5 million settlement with four men who said they were sexually abused as children, attorneys said on Tuesday. The Diocese of Brooklyn, one of the city's boroughs, agreed to make the payments to the four, who were sexually abused between 2003 and 2009 by their religion teacher, their lawyers said.
China and the United States plunged deeper into a trade war on Tuesday after Beijing added US$60 billion of US products to its import tariff list in retaliation for President Donald Trump's planned levies on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The tiny West African state of Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday demanded Brazil hand back more than US$ 16m in cash and luxury watches that border officials confiscated from a delegation accompanying the president's son. Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono Angue denounced the seizure as “paltry and unfriendly behavior” and demanded the items be returned, state television TVGE said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that new investments from China will help his country dramatically boost its oil production, doubling down on financing from the Asian nation to turn around its crashing economy.
United States president Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Beijing, imposing 10% tariffs on about US$ 200 billion worth of imports in a move one senior Chinese regulator said “poisoned” the atmosphere for negotiations.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that a no-deal Brexit on World Trade Organization terms would entail substantial costs for the UK economy. IMF said that all likely Brexit scenarios would entail costs, but a disorderly departure could lead to a significantly worse outcome.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dined on expensive steak at a “Salt Bae” restaurant in Istanbul during a stop-off returning from a visit to China, drawing furor back home where millions struggle to get enough to eat and red meat is a rare luxury.
Calls for a second referendum on Brexit are mounting as Britain approaches the last six months before leaving the EU - but the sands of time could be running out for diehard Remainers. London Mayor Sadiq Khan became the latest big name to call for a vote, joining former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major and celebrities like football star Gary Lineker.
French and British fishermen agreed Monday to end their battle over access to scallop-rich waters in the English Channel, three weeks after the long-simmering conflict flared into a high-seas confrontation. The new deal is hoped to bring to a close the years-long “Scallop Wars” over fishing the prized mollusks in the fertile waters off the Baie de Seine area of Normandy in northwest France.