Politics

• Friday, July 7th 2017 - 06:43 UTC

  CBI calls for UK to remain in the single market and customs union until the final Brexit deal

  

  The UK should stay in the single market and customs union until a final Brexit deal is in force, according to the CBI. Carolyn Fairbairn, head of the business lobby group, said it was “impossible” that all the details of a new trade deal with the European Union would be in place by March 2019. That is when talks about the UK's withdrawal are due to formally finish.

• Friday, July 7th 2017 - 06:25 UTC

  Hague warns on Brexit impact for UK foreign influence, including protecting Falklands

  

  Brexit will “undoubtedly” harm the UK’s ability to work with other EU countries on foreign issues and its influence in the world, warns former Conservative foreign affairs minister William Hague, including protection of the Falkland Islands, and ensuring solidarity among 28 countries.

• Friday, July 7th 2017 - 06:00 UTC

  UK will fund 21 projects from Argentine government agencies and civil society

  

  The British Embassy in Argentina has selected 21 project bids submitted by government agencies and civil society organizations which will award almost 10 million pesos worth of funding during the second half of 2017. The initiative follows on the spirit of the 2016 September Joint Statement.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 19:29 UTC

  The plight of Ascension Island residents cut off from the Falklands' Airbridge

  

  Ascension Island, home to around 800 people, is even more cut off than it used to be after weekly flights linking the island to the UK were stopped - due to a dodgy runway and the wrong kind of RAF aircraft, according to a BBC report. The British overseas territory is the tip of an old volcano in the Atlantic Ocean, mid-way between Africa and Brazil. It's so remote, that when the Portuguese discovered it on Ascension Day in 1501, they didn't even bother colonizing it.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 07:04 UTC

  Morales accuses Chile of violating International Court of Justice rules

  

  Bolivian President Evo Morales accused his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, of violating rules of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague by “revealing” the content of the report filed by that country in the dispute over the use of the Silala River, while causing an “unnecessary” conflict in the media.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 06:57 UTC

  Brazilian plan to review purchase of Bolivian natural gas

  

  Petrobras should cut the maximum amount of natural gas it buys from neighboring Bolivia in half in an effort to encourage domestic importers and distributors to enter the market, according to a Brazilian government study.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 04:53 UTC

  Maduro's goons storm Venezuela National Assembly and beat up lawmakers

  

  About a hundred government supporters stormed into Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, where they beat up several lawmakers. Witnesses said the confrontation came after an assembly session to mark the country's Independence Day, Wednesday July 5th.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 04:26 UTC

  Scandal in EU: Juncker calls the European parliament “totally ridiculous”

  

  The head of the European Union’s executive called its parliament “totally ridiculous” during a spat over low MEP attendance. After EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the few dozens of the 700-plus MEPs for attending a plenary session, he insisted that “parliament is not serious” for failing to show up in large numbers for the keynote debate of the day.

• Thursday, July 6th 2017 - 03:54 UTC

  All eyes to be focused on gestures from the first face-to-face Trump-Putin meeting

  

  The first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg. The Kremlin says terrorism; Syria and Ukraine will top its agenda.

• Wednesday, July 5th 2017 - 20:52 UTC

  Brazilian industrial output grows for a second month during May

  

  Industrial output in Brazil rose for a second straight month in May, government data showed on Tuesday, underpinning hopes that the economy will not fall back into recession despite an escalating political crisis.