Politics

• Thursday, October 5th 2017 - 08:25 UTC

  Tories rally round Theresa May in Manchester, but doubts about her future linger

  

  Tory MPs have rallied round Theresa May after her conference speech on Wednesday was marred by mishaps. James Cleverly said he was “proud” of the PM for contending with a persistent cough and a prankster and John Redwood said MPs backed her “strong message”.

• Thursday, October 5th 2017 - 08:18 UTC

  Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay launch bid to host the 2030 World Cup

  

  Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay formally launched South America’s three-nation bid to host the 2030 World Cup on Wednesday and said Argentina would likely host the majority of the tournament’s stadiums. The presidents of the three nations, who announced in August that they were teaming up to bid for the tournament, kicked off the campaign at the Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires’ government palace.

• Thursday, October 5th 2017 - 08:11 UTC

  European Commission supports Madrid: “Catalonia has chosen to ignore the law”

  

  Three full days after Catalonia’s controversial independence referendum, a top European Commission official finally spoke out about the issue tearing Spain apart. The Spanish government’s “proportionate use of force” was necessary to uphold the rule of law, Vice President Frans Timmermans said.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 13:20 UTC

  Chancellor Hammond acknowledges private sector needs more clarity on Brexit

  

  Businesses need more clarity on Brexit, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has acknowledged. Speaking at the BBC's Today program he said the sooner the government gave businesses more certainty about the process, the sooner the economy would pick up.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 09:59 UTC

  Bolivian army veterans refuse to attend 50th anniversary of “Che” Guevara's death

  

  A row has broken out in Bolivia between the government and army veterans over the 50th anniversary of the death of the Cuban revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The Bolivian government is planning a series of commemorations next week in the presence of foreign guests.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 08:22 UTC

  Petrobras controversy: Brazil denies any current plans to privatize the company

  

  A senior official in Brazil said there are no current plans to privatize the national oil company to deal with its massive debt, according to a new report by Reuters. Fernando Coelho Filho, the minister of mines and energy, had suggested that Petrobras could face such a sale in the future, but did not provide a concrete timeline.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 08:09 UTC

  Good Friday agreement must not be damaged by Brexit, says EU parliament coordinator

  

  European Parliament's Brexit coordinator has said he got a “shock” on his recent visit to Belfast when he saw the city's peace walls. Guy Verhofstadt described Northern Ireland as having a “frozen conflict”, and said the Good Friday Agreement must not be damaged by Brexit.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 08:02 UTC

  “Working class tantrum towards immigration” spurred the Leave vote and Brexit

  

  One of the reasons for the Brexit vote was working class voters throwing “a bit of a tantrum” over immigration, UK government minister Sir Alan Duncan claimed before an audience in Chicago. He said the campaign had “stirred up a lot of sentiment” about migration among people who do not usually vote.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 07:40 UTC

  Boris Johnson tells Tories, “let the British lion roar” and praised Theresa May's leadership

  

  Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said it is time to “let the British lion roar” as he called for Brexit to be a moment of national renewal. Addressing Tory activists he said the UK “can win the future” and should stop treating the referendum result as if it were “plague of boils”.

• Wednesday, October 4th 2017 - 07:02 UTC

  Catalonia expected to declare independence in matter of days; King says situation is extremely serious and calls for unity

  

  Catalonia will declare independence from Spain in a matter of days, the leader of the autonomous region has told the BBC. In his first interview since Sunday's referendum, Carles Puigdemont said his government would “act at the end of this week or the beginning of next”.