
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call an election for Oct 14 if MPs vote against his Brexit strategy, a top official said on Monday on the eve of a parliamentary showdown. MPs from Johnson's own Conservative Party are preparing to join opposition lawmakers in a vote on Tuesday to try to force him to delay Brexit if he cannot strike an agreement with Brussels in the next few weeks.

Tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets across the UK on Saturday to show their opposition to government moves to close parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline on October 31.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc will not change the divorce deal agreed with Britain and that he is not optimistic of avoiding a no-deal outcome.

Washington's envoy for Venezuela said on Thursday he was hopeful that the European Union will impose sanctions against Caracas in the coming months and the United States was examining more measures to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

As wildfires rage through the Brazilian Amazon, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said Dublin will vote against a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur unless Brazil takes action to protect the rainforest.

The International Monetary Fund's board on Wednesday recommended a rule change that would scrap the age limit for its leader, clearing the path to the top job for Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva.

Britain said on Monday it will immediately end freedom of movement for people from the European Union after Brexit on Oct 31, in a policy shift under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “Freedom of movement as it currently stands will end on October 31 when the UK leaves the EU,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

Matteo Salvini, who has plunged Italy into turmoil by pulling out of a coalition government, could eventually take the country out of the EU, a former prime minister warned on Sunday.

When dealing with the Malvinas issue, and its people, Argentina must stick to its diplomatic milestones and not feel attracted to push or take advantage of the UK which seems bogged in Brexit, or further isolated by the recent trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, argues Fernando Petrella, a deputy foreign minister with Guido Di Tella, ex-ambassador before the United Nations and currently head of the Argentine Foreign Service Institute.

Brazil's agriculture minister on Tuesday defended a record number of pesticide and weedkiller approvals this year, saying the government was not “putting poison on anyone's plate.”