Breaking - News
A German oil producer has been accused by the head of Libya’s National OilCorporation of withholding more than £697m from the Libyan state and colluding with unlawful efforts by Libya’s UN-backed government to take over the sale of the country’s vastly profitable oil contracts.
The power struggle between the NOC and Wintershall – which denied that it owed any money and said it had always met its obligations to the state – has long-term implications for global oil prices and the Libyan economy...Read more HERE
The European court of justice has raised a ray of hope for British trade negotiators with a surprise ruling that will make it harder for national parliaments to block key components of any future post-Brexit deal between the EU and the UK.
In a long-awaited test case that had been expected to complicate the Brexit process, the court instead ruled that EU officials had exclusive powers to negotiate international trade deals without ratification by national and regional parliaments. Read more HERE
Henderson Island, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, has been found by marine scientists to have the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world, with 99.8% of the pollution plastic.
The nearly 18 tonnes of plastic piling up on an island that is otherwise mostly untouched by humans have been pointed to as evidence of the catastrophic, “grotesque” extent of marine plastic pollution. Read more HERE.
The new French president, Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor, Angela Merkel, have broken with previous statements by saying they would be prepared to look at changing EU treaties in order to allow a further integration of the eurozone.
Speaking at a joint press conference on Monday night during Macron’s inaugural visit to Berlin on his first full day in office, Merkel said: “From a German point of view, it is possible to change treaties if it makes sense in order to strengthen the eurozone. Read more HERE
Jeremy Corbyn will lay out plans for a “fat cat” tax under which big businesses, city banks and Premier League clubs will have to pay a levy if they offer workers hefty pay packages, the Guardian has learned.
The full Labour manifesto, to be published on Tuesday, will include a proposal that aims to disincentivise excessive pay by charging companies a 2.5% levy on earnings above £330,000 and 5% on those above £500,000. Read more HERE