Business

LONDON, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government intends to present a bill to parliament on Friday to enable Britain to leave the European Union next month, his spokesman said.

“We plan to start the process before Christmas and will do so in the proper constitutional way in discussion with the speaker (of the House of Commons),” Johnson’s spokesman told reporters.

The announcement came as Johnson begins a new week with a fresh mandate to fulfil his promise to push through his election promise to “Get Brexit Done” on Jan 31.

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Not just onion, retail prices of potato and other vegetables have also shot up in the national capital on Monday as recent winter rainfall has damaged some of the crops, according to traders.

At the Azadpur wholesale mandi here, prices of main vegetables, especially onion, are ruling high in the range of Rs 70-90/kg, potato at Rs 22/kg, tomato at Rs 18/kg.

Beijing, Dec 16 (AFP/PTI) China on Monday called the expulsion of diplomats from the US a "mistake", following reports that Washington quietly expelled two embassy officials in September after they drove onto a sensitive military base in Virginia.

The incident is the latest spat between the world's two biggest economies and comes days after they announced a truce in the form of a mini-deal to reduce some tariffs in a bruising trade war which has weighed on both sides.

15 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey criticised a European Council decision rejecting last month’s Turkish-Libyan maritime pact, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The European Union has no authority to decide maritime jurisdiction and the EU is not an international court, they cannot give a verdict on the legality of the Libyan agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

15 Dec 2019; MEMO: On Thursday Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, and Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohammed, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Doha, forming a joint high committee between the two countries,

ISTANBUL, Dec 15 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey called on the European Union, to increase funding for Syrian refugees being sheltered on Turkish land.

“As long as the migration crisis is there, we have to continue to cooperate, and we have to work together,” said Faruk Kaymakci, deputy minister of foreign affairs and director for EU affairs.

TEHRAN, Dec 15 (NNN-IRNA) – The value of Iran’s preferential trade with the Eurasian countries reached 194.2 million U.S. dollars in Nov, Head of Iran’s Customs Administration, Mehdi Mirashrafi, said.

During the one-month period, Iran exported commodities worth 28.2 million dollars to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) members, while importing 166 million dollars of commodities, through preferential trade, Mirashrafi was quoted as saying.

Iran and the EAEU trade agreement, which had been reached earlier, was implemented on Oct 27.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government says it will postpone planned punitive tariffs on U.S.-made automobiles and other goods following an interim trade deal with Washington.

Sunday’s announcement came after Washington agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on $160 billion of Chinese goods and to cut in half penalties that already were imposed.

TEHRAN, Dec 15 (NNN-IRNA) – Spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), played down the likelihood of restoration of diplomatic ties with the United States, through prisoner swap.

Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for SNSC, said, prisoner swap between Iran and the U.S. is not the start of “any new path” for mutual negotiations.

Khosravi’s comments came, as Brian Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran, said, recent prisoner exchange will lead to a broader discussion on consular affairs between the U.S. and Iran.

Kolkata, Dec 14 (PTI) Tea growers in Assam have started feeling the pinch of the ongoing protests with partial disruption in production at many gardens and sale of the crop at the Guwahati auction centre being hampered, industry insiders said on Saturday.

Transportation of the produce has also been affected due to the ongoing stir, they said.