Politics

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 10:16 UTC

  Catalonia is back at starting point: separatists win a slim majority

  

  Catalonia's separatists look set to regain power in the wealthy Spanish region after local elections on Thursday, deepening the nation's political crisis in a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and European Union leaders who backed him. With nearly all votes counted, separatist parties won a slim majority in Catalan parliament, a result that promises to prolong political tensions which have damaged Spain's economy and prompted a business exodus from the region.

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 09:56 UTC

  Argentina: Approval of reform bills triggers markets

  

  Merval, the main index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, rose 1.51% Thursday, closing at 28,494.01 points - close to exceeding the maximum of the year, by 28,500 points. The Argentine stocks were driven by the approval of the pension and tax reforms passed this week in the House of Representatives.

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 09:49 UTC

  Peruvian president manages to survive impeachment but emerges weaker

  

  Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski survived an impeachment vote in congress late Thursday, thwarting an attempt by opposition lawmakers to oust him over ties to the Brazilian construction giant implicated in the region's biggest corruption scandal.

• Friday, December 22nd 2017 - 06:45 UTC

  Theresa May pledges no compromise on Falklands' right to self determination

  

  In a personal Christmas message to Falkland Islanders, Prime Minister Theresa May emphasized that she would not allow anyone to compromise Islanders’ right to self determination. Her full message follows:

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 11:07 UTC

  Transition period after Brexit ends the last day of 2020, states EC

  

  The European Union wants a transition period after Brexit to end no later than the last day of 2020, according to the European Commission's negotiating directives agreed on Wednesday. That date, coinciding with the end of the EU's seven-year budget period and 21 months after Britain departs the EU, had long been expected as the target end point of the transition.

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 10:59 UTC

  Mrs. May reaffirms Gibraltar will be part of UK Brexit negotiations

  

  Gibraltar will not be excluded from any aspect of the UK’s Brexit negotiations, Prime Minister Theresa May insisted again, after the European Commission appeared to indicate that Spain would have a veto on any transitional arrangements covering the Rock.

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 10:32 UTC

  UN Jerusalem vote: Trump threatens to cut off financial aid to countries that support the resolution

  

  United States president Donald Trump has threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that back a United Nations resolution opposing the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Earlier this month, Mr Trump took that step amid international criticism.

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 10:23 UTC

  Catalonia hangover vote: challenge for a stable Spain, and for Europe

  

  As voters in Catalonia ready themselves for Thursday’s election results, they will not be alone in anxious anticipation. Nobody has bet more on the outcome than Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has urged Catalans to step back from what he sees as an illegal, reckless insistence on independence.

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 10:05 UTC

  President Maduro “cries” for Argentina and pledges to work for the people

  

  The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, condemned the repression carried out by the Argentine security forces of president Mauricio Macri during the debate in Congress of the pensions' reform system, and underlined that the television reports from Buenos Aires called on him to work ever harder for the benefit of the people.

• Thursday, December 21st 2017 - 09:34 UTC

  Argentina's tax reform bill passed in the Lower House by 146 to 77 votes

  

  Argentina’s business-friendly President Mauricio Macri continued his year-end legislative winning streak on Wednesday when the lower House of Congress approved his plan for cutting corporate income and employer social security taxes.