Politics

• Tuesday, February 12th 2019 - 09:41 UTC

  UK and Switzerland sign a post-Brexit “continuity agreement” on trade

  

  The UK and Switzerland have signed a deal to continue trading after Brexit as they did before it. The “continuity agreement” - based on the EU's existing free trade deal with Switzerland - was agreed in December but ratified on Monday.

• Tuesday, February 12th 2019 - 09:36 UTC

  UK food industry blasts the “catastrophic impact” of a no-deal Brexit

  

  The UK food industry has threatened to stop co-operating with government policy consultations, saying it is busy trying to stave off the “catastrophic impact” of a no-deal Brexit. The warning came in a letter to Environment Secretary Michael Gove from more than 30 business leaders.

• Tuesday, February 12th 2019 - 09:30 UTC

  Mrs. May to tell Parliament Brexit talks at crucial stage: “we need to hold our nerve”

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May will tell British lawmakers this Tuesday they must hold their nerve over Brexit to force the European Union to accept changes to the divorce deal that would pave the way for an orderly exit.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 09:31 UTC

  Conflict leads nowhere, “we must look at real challenges: protecting fisheries in the South Atlantic”

  

  In a long interview published this weekend in Clarin, UK ambassador Mark Kent emphasized on the coincidences of UK and Argentina, admitted his appeal in Twitter, a form of soft power, which has made him one of the most popular foreign diplomats in Buenos Aires.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 08:51 UTC

  Institute for Fiscal Studies says more billions needed to end Hammond's austerity

  

  Philip Hammond must spend billions extra to end austerity, says think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). To maintain per capita spending across government departments which don't have ring-fenced budgets, he must find an extra £5bn a year by 2023, it adds. And maintaining spending on unprotected services as a share of national income would require £11bn on top of spending plans set out in the 2018 Budget.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 08:40 UTC

  PDVSA telling customers to deposit oil sales in an account of Russia's Gazprombank

  

  Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is telling customers of its joint ventures to deposit oil sales proceeds in an account recently opened at Russia's Gazprombank AO, according to sources and an internal document, reported Reuters on Saturday.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 08:33 UTC

  Guaidó warns Venezuelan military that blocking humanitarian aid is a “crime against humanity”

  

  Opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognized by some 50 countries as Venezuela's interim president, warned the military on Sunday that blocking humanitarian aid from entering the country is a “crime against humanity.”

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 07:34 UTC

  Bolsonaro recovering from pneumonia, thanks Brazilians for their prayers and ministers for helping lead the country

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has beaten fever caused by pneumonia after his abdominal surgery two weeks ago, his hospital said on Saturday. The president, 63, “has no fever and has made good clinical and post-operative progress,” Albert Einstein Jewish Hospital in Sao Paulo said in its daily update.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 07:27 UTC

  Twelve French submarines for Australia: US$ 50bn contract

  

  Australia formally signed a US$50 billion contract with France to build 12 states of the art submarines on Monday, a signal of the country's willingness to project power across the Pacific.

• Monday, February 11th 2019 - 07:16 UTC

  Epistolary exchange between PM Mrs. May and Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn

  

  Theresa May has responded to Jeremy Corbyn's letter setting out his five demands for a Brexit deal. The prime minister queried his call for the UK to stay in a customs union with the EU - but welcomed more talks with Labour on a Brexit agreement.