Politics

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 09:21 UTC

  Hammond visit to China called off amid reports of Beijing anger with UK defense actions

  

  A visit to China by Chancellor Phillip Hammond has been called off amid reports a speech by the UK's defense secretary angered Beijing. There were plans for trade talks between Mr Hammond and senior Chinese government figures during the brief visit this week. But last week, Gavin Williamson had indicated the UK's intention to send an aircraft carrier to the Pacific.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 09:20 UTC

  US/China trade talks resume in Washington... and are going “extremely well”

  

  US-China trade talks aimed at ending a damaging tariff war will resume from this Tuesday in Washington, the White House has announced. The last set of talks ended Friday in Beijing with no deal, though US President Donald Trump said the discussions were going “extremely well” and suggested he could extend a Mar 1 truce deadline for an agreement to be reached.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 09:19 UTC

  Sixteen states sue Trump on his national emergency order to build the wall with Mexico

  

  Sixteen US states sued President Donald Trump's administration on Monday over his decision to declare a national emergency to fund a wall on the southern border with Mexico, saying the move violated the constitution. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in California, said the president's order was contrary to the Presentment Clause that outlines legislative procedures and the Appropriations Clause, which defines Congress as the final arbiter of public funds.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:57 UTC

  Trump's promise to Juncker: no additional import tariffs on EU cars... For the time being

  

  United States President Donald Trump has promised European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that he will not impose additional import tariffs on European cars for the time being, Juncker was quoted in a published interview as saying on Monday.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:54 UTC

  Honda will shut-down its plant in England by 2022; some 3.500 at stake

  

  Japanese car giant Honda is expected to announce the shutdown of its plant in south west England in 2022, putting 3,500 jobs at risk, media reports said on Monday. The car manufacturer is to announce the closure of its Swindon plant on Tuesday, according to Sky News, but still keep its European headquarters in nearby Bracknell.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:39 UTC

  Brazil bans upstream mining dams following the Brumadinho disaster that killed 300

  

  Brazil's government on Monday banned new upstream mining dams and ordered the decommissioning of all such dams by 2021, targeting the type of structure that burst last month in the town of Brumadinho, killing hundreds of people.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:33 UTC

  Citigroup poised to boost revenue as advisor of Brazilian public asset sales

  

  Citigroup Inc expects to boost annual revenue in Brazil over the next years by advising potential public asset sales and through a revival in capital markets, its chief executive officer in Brazil told journalists on Monday. Marcelo Marangon said Citi expects its annual revenue in Brazil to grow to US$1.5 billion from US$1.1 billion over the next years. He did not specify a timeframe for the goal.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:25 UTC

  Bolsonaro fires head of president's office: “difference of opinion on important issues”

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday fired one of his most senior aides and cabinet members, Gustavo Bebianno, amid a scandal involving campaign financing for some of his party's congressional candidates. Bebianno was secretary general of the president's office.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:08 UTC

  Russian bank freezes Venezuela's oil company accounts, fearing US sanctions

  

  Russian lender Gazprombank has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under US sanctions, according to Reuters.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:05 UTC

  PM Theresa May writes to 317 Tory MPs urging to unite behind a Brexit deal

  

  Theresa May has written to all 317 Tory MPs, urging them to unite behind a Brexit deal while warning them “history will judge us all” over the process. Efforts will resume this Monday to persuade the EU to agree changes to the “backstop” plan to prevent the return of customs checks on the Irish border.