Politics

• Thursday, May 3rd 2018 - 08:29 UTC

  Dominican Republic drops Taiwan and establishes relations with Beijing

  

  The Dominican Republic and China announced on Tuesday they were establishing diplomatic relations as the Caribbean country became the latest nation to dump Taiwan, leaving it with just 19 diplomatic allies around the globe. Taipei said it was “deeply upset” at the decision, which it blamed on “dollar diplomacy”. The move deepens the island's international isolation while its giant neighbor flexes its economic and political might on the global stage.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2018 - 08:19 UTC

  Congress members from Spain's ruling party divided on the Gibraltar question

  

  Internal divisions on Gibraltar within Spain’s ruling Partido Popular have been laid bare in two versions of a parliamentary motion to be debated in the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Spanish Senate on Thursday.

• Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:36 UTC

  No peace for PM May: Brexiteer MPs deliver an ultimatum on customs union

  

  Senior Brexiteer MPs have delivered an “ultimatum” demanding Prime Minister Theresa May drops one of the government's preferred post-Brexit customs options. A 30-page document passed to the BBC says a “customs partnership” would make meaningful trade deals “impossible” and render the International Trade Department “obsolete”.

• Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:31 UTC

  Petrobras increases offshore production: plans an extra million bpd output next year

  

  Brazil’s state-controlled Petrobras expects oil production to start by the end of June at its Tartaruga Verde e Mestica offshore platform, the second of seven facilities planned to be installed this year, a company executive said on Monday.

• Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:25 UTC

  UK agrees on new measures to increase transparency in offshore havens

  

  The British government has agreed to calls for new measures aimed at increasing transparency in offshore tax havens. Facing a possible Commons defeat, ministers said they would not oppose an amendment to force British overseas territories to publish details of the true owners of companies based there.

• Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:18 UTC

  Trump's 2015 “Super” health report was dictated by the president, claims doctor

  

  Donald Trump's former doctor has said he did not write a 2015 letter declaring the then-Republican presidential candidate's “astonishingly excellent” health, US media report. “[Trump] dictated that whole letter,” Harold Bornstein told CNN on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 10:30 UTC

  Brexit: EU feels there is “a real risk” no agreement can be reached with UK

  

  The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said that there is “a real risk” that no agreement will be reached with the UK in talks on its withdrawal from the political bloc. Speaking on a visit to the Border area of Ireland, Mr Barnier said that the EU was preparing for all options, including the possibility that Brussels and London cannot reach a deal on the UK’s departure in March 2019.

• Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 10:29 UTC

  European signatories reaffirm support for Iran deal, despite Trump saying Teheran is lying

  

  The UK has backed a “vitally important” nuclear deal with Iran, despite accusations from the US and Israel that Iranians are pursuing atomic weapons. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims thousands of “secret nuclear files” proved Iran covertly sought nuclear weapons - an accusation Iran rejects.

• Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 10:24 UTC

  Falklands annual Safeguarding Report calls for Islands to be “Model of Best Practice”

  

  Last week the Falkland Islands Government published their annual report on safeguarding and child protection issues in the Islands. The Government is obliged legally to publish an annual report on such matters, a requirement brought into law in 2014 after a number of historic issues were discovered and investigated in recent years. This document looks to summarize activities in this field over the past year and does not provide any details on individual cases.

• Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 10:05 UTC

  Argentina creates an Antarctica Joint Command, under Defense guidance

  

  Argentina has created the Antarctica Joint Command, which will operate under the orbit of the Ministry of Defense and be responsible for conducting operations in Antarctica, and areas of interest, in a continuous and permanent way.