another emergency summit in brussels today over britain still on was over the exit from the european union european council president proposed a flexible one year extension of people of collective would rejoice at the announcement the french port is the major terminal for trains and ferries between the u.k. and the continent and fears about the potential effects of briggs that are running high. a massive traffic jam at customs in cali that's what happens when french customs officials work to rule they perform their jobs very slowly as a form of protest to cope with brags that the french government has promised seven hundred extra officials the trade unions say that's far too few especially if there's a no deal brings it. each day the euro tunnel shuttle train carries four thousand five hundred vehicles through the channel tunnel near kalai alone the last all very happy if britain were to leave the customs union goods inspections would immediately become more stringent. but the infrastructure isn't in place for that it's still under construction and there aren't enough personnel. the new building for veteri

comes to matters of trade at least the relationship is going in the right direction that's european union council president donald to take on the final communique for this year's brussels summit. negotiations have been difficult about that fruitful. we managed to create a joint statement which sets. out this shit based on the reciprocity china has compromised on several key questions international companies will no longer be pressured into disclosing their technological know how to their chinese partners also cut back on state subsidies and in future trade relations will be developed in accordance with united nations principles and world trade organization regulations. or higher that. we need to speed up negotiations on the china europe investment agreement with a view to making decisive progress by the end of the current year. then we can conclude a high quality china europe agreement before the end of next year it should be fair for institutional investors from both sides and ensure mutual openness. there are good reasons for the chinese compromises the complaints by european companies about un

and things seem to be moving in that direction that's the european union council presidents take after this year's e.u. china summit. they go see shows have been difficult about it fruitful. we managed to agree a joint statement which said that the rich. there should be based on the reciprocity with a q that means compromises china says international companies will no longer be pressured to disclose technological know how to be a chinese partner ranging will also cut back on state subsidies and in the future trade relations will be developed in accordance with the united nations principles and the world trade organization regulations the e.u. is also giving a lot of ground. the chinese telecoms giant while way is unlikely to see its technology banned from use in europe's ultra high speed five g. mobile data network that decision was controversial because of while we've government ties and fears of digital espionage so beijing's charm offensive in europe must carry on. and authorities in singapore have seized a thirteen ton of pangolin scales valued at around thirty eight million dollar

house of commons voted to seek an extension article 50, an agreement was reached with the european union counciln relation to that. he's raised the question of commencement order with me previously. the commencement order is due to come on on the date we live european union. now, my friend i know once to leave your opinion and we can of course leave european union if i do suggest to my friend because the back the deal that we can guarantee leaving. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this week in "the guardian" reported that 15 tory counselors who were suspended for islamophobia or racism had been quietly reinstated. the conservative party has so far failed to quell fears that they are in denial about islamophobia. since as the prime minister about this in june 2018, there has been no concrete action. will the prime minister instructor party chairman to respond to the three letters i've sent him on the subject? and when will the tory party adopt the definition of islamophobia? >> i say to the honorable gentleman that the conservative party has a process which can deals with complaints of islamophobia and

council that a civilian transition must be made within the next fifteen days. as long as this is not the case as long as the transition is not managed by civilians the european union will not recognize the legitimacy of the transitional military council but as soon as a civilian transition takes place the european union will be ready to kompany it both politically and also economics for the first shipment of humanitarian aid has arrived in venezuela president nicolas maduro took credit for the arrival of a during a televised speech he also claimed previous attempts to deliver it from the us were a smokescreen to cover an american intervention. they're like little money. or they're cynical hypocritical false narrative of humanitarian aid it was neither aid nor humanitarian it was a politicize show of the u.s. and colombian governments to intervene in mina's well or you already know they're right and the venezuelan people stood up and defeated the show or folks humanitarian aid on thievery twenty third as always there is lots more news on our website c.n.n. dot com get the latest on all the stories we're following there al jazeera dot com those are the headlines her

last week, we will continue to abide by our duty is sincere cooperation as members of the european union. the councilnt that we have come to tonight is for that extension to the 31st of october as i say, i am clear that we should all be working now in the uk to make sure we can find a way forward in parliaments, get a majority in parliament, ratified the withdrawal agreement, and make sure we leave as soon as possible. paul. reporter: . first relieving on the 21st of march, the 22nd of may, are your party back i'm going to consider this a trick or treat? what i say is we could've left on the 29th of march and be out of the european union now. if parliament had agreed with the matured and permit to agree that withdrawal agreement. i had hoped that apartments would have agreed to ratify the withdrawal agreement so that we could have left oi'i agreement so that we could have left on the 22nd of may. if we can now find an agreement implement and put the legislation through in time we could still leave on the 22nd of may and not hold those european punditry elections. what we must all be working for is to

absolutely honored and delighted to have us with us today the secretary general of the council of the european union. he is the top adviser to the highest ranking european official, european council president donald tusk, general mickelson is well known in brussels, a man who has managed an extraordinary array of portfolios from brexit to the refugee crisis with calm, with discipline and with the ability to bring great focus and eventually consensus on very divisive issue. he's by training a diplomat with a career serving as danish ambassador to china for three years, served as denmark's permanent representative to the european union and there are 2800 people who work for him at the council. next we have the honorable randy schrieber, assistant secretary of defense for indopacific security affairs. randy is well-known as a long-time asia hand with deep insights in the region, extensive contacts, someone who has been responsible for implementing the national defense strategy which certainly handles -- focuses a great deal on changing u.s. -- the free and open indopacific. randy served of course under

european union leaders have offered u.k. prime minister theresa may a flexible extension until october thirty first european council president donald tusk says the agreed to it and there will be a review in june so this means the u.k. will not crash out of the e.u. on friday. in june when we meet again we will not be renegotiating among ourselves or the u.k. the agreement that was a reach months ago because the withdrawal agreement must be respected in its entirety we don't want the withdrawal agreement to be called into question because that will jeopardize the backstop agreement we've negotiated with the irish frames the talks about or has more from brussels. october thirty first that's what we heard from the e.u. council president. he was just giving a press conference there with the code. of the commission it was very clear that both were extremely tired and it's not surprising because they have been up for many many hours discussing a possible extension and it would seem that during those discussions it was very difficult indeed we have heard from officials that the president emanuel might call the french president was

response said that it was easier to find an agreement within the european union that it is within the house of commons. tonight the european council to grant the european union an extension on article 50. until the 31st of october. this means an additional six months for the uk. during this time, the call will be entirely in the u.k.'s time, the call will be entirely in the u. k.'s hands. time, the call will be entirely in the u.k.'s hands. it can still ratify the argument in which case the extension will be terminated. it can also reconsider the whole brexit strategy. that might lead to changes in the political declaration but not in the political declaration but not in the withdrawal agreement. until the end of this period, the uk will also have the possibility to revoke article 50 and cancel brexit altogether. the uk will continue its cooperation as a full member state with all its rights and is a close friend and trusted a lie in the future. let me finish with a message to our british friends. this extension is as flexible as i expected and a little bit shorter than i expected. but it's still enough. to find the best possible

will withdraw from the european union before and then council those participation in that parliament vote however obviously nobody knows what's going to happen because now it's up to the european union to say what they think on all this we is the european union of such. ones and the reason no reason to further extend those the lines we hope london will provide more clarity before wednesday the bull is not here in the netherlands or in paris or berlin the ball really is in london another extension requires the u.k. to put forward a plan with clear and credible political backing in their absence of such a plan would have took knowledge that the u.k. chose to leave the use in a disorderly. mannah basically the use position is for any extension they would need to have a clear plan about what it is that the king wants to achieve in that extension and what the common approach is however obviously throughout this time there has been no common approach professor of european law francesco reserve believes theresa may is hoping to scare parliament into approving her bags a deal she's trying to

from the european union before and then council those participation in that parliament vote however obviously nobody knows what's going to happen because now it's up to the european union to say what they think on all this and we know that from the likes of germany there parliamentary foreign affairs committee had has according to reuters described this motive as a domestic tactical maneuvering situation given how difficult it has been at home here in westminster to try to reach some kind of agreement on anything when it comes to bracks that we have heard from germans foreign ministers see many questions are still to clarify a similar position taken by the dutch of course from france indications that they want to clear plan in terms of how this is going to move forward and obviously the situation is not there quite yet so basically the position is for any extension they would need to have a clear plan about what it is that the u.k. wants to achieve in that extension and what the common approach is however all the asli throughout this time there has been no common approach so we are expecting

we are delighted to have with us ofay the secretary-general the council of the european union. he is the top advisor to highest-ranking european official, european council donald tusk. he is well-known in brussels as a man who has managed an extraordinary array of portfolios from breaks it to the refugee crisis and calm with discipline and the ability to bring great focus and eventual unanimity on divisive issues. extinguished -- distinguished, a danish diplomat with a career serving as the danish ambassador to china for three years. he served as denmark's permanent representative to the european union and there are 2800 people who work for him at the council. , the assistant secretary of defense for indo pacific security affairs. randy is well-known as a longtime asia hand with deep insights in the region, extensive contacts, someone who has been responsible for implementing the national defense strategy which certainly handles -- focus is a great deal open indog free and pacific. some might say this is the real pivot to asia being implemented under randy's leadership. georgeed

european union. it is possible they will elect meps in may and of course they will have their voting rights within the european councilke part in some of the decisions that the european union takes along the way. so they will act as a full member and that is not the way the french side wanted. they wanted some limits as to what impact the uk had. asa limits as to what impact the uk had. as a final thing to say on what donald tusk had to say there at the end was "don't waste the time". they have given the uk six months and they're hoping in that time the process that theresa may has set out tonight and she spend one hour talking to the 27 l, they are hoping that process will deliver something tangible because at the moment i think they are frustrated with the process. there is no majority in the house of commons for anyway forward and they are urging the uk side now to get serious and find a way forward in the coming months. in that context, we are not likely hear from theresa may. usually she appears within half an hour of two leaders having spoken addressing journalists first and then we will get thoughts of other eu

will withdraw from the european union before and then council those participation in that parliament vote however obviously nobody knows what's going to happen basically the position is for any extension they would need to have a clear plan about what it is that the u.k. wants to achieve in that extension and what the common approach is however all the asli throughout this time there has been no common approach. for a sort of european laura jill universe differences believe that to reason most just buying time for a divorce still. she's trying to buy a little bit more time and i've read her letter to during our new sumption that she's going to basically frighten her own backbenchers and particularly the argy hard core and the do you pay with labor labor is the fear factor so bad my deal or else that that's what the game is because essentially the refined what's already agreed in if you read the letter she insists on her withdrawal deal so i think that many people in the really kind of lead up with this i think many of them are absolutely astonished that the british political establis

european union. the prime minister wants a short postphonement of the date the uk leaves — until the 30th ofjune, but the european councilonald tusk says there should be a longer delay — the date to be agreed — of up to a year. and this, he says should come with conditions, including no re—opening of negotiations on the withdrawal agreement. the uk is currently due to leave the eu in two days‘ time at 11pm on friday, 12 april. our political correspondent, alex forsyth, has more. it was first stop berlin yesterday as the prime minister tried to win support for her latest brexit plan. then the diplomatic push continued in paris, theresa may trying to convince eu leaders to sign up to a short delay to brexit ofjust a few months. later tonight, all the eu countries will gather here in brussels to discuss her request. and what will happen is farfrom certain. a draft version of what they might agree suggest they will back an extension to the brexit process to stop the uk leaving without a deal on friday. but for how long? so far, that part has been left blank. last night, donald tusk, the president of the european council, pub

will withdraw from the european union before and then council those participation in that e.u. parliament vote however obviously nobody knows what's going to happen basically the position is for any extension they would need to have a clear plan about what it is that he wants to achieve in that extension and what the common approach is however obviously throughout this time there has been no common approach to. the crew and embassy in london is being closely watched after wiki leaks said that its co-founder julian assange will be expelled within days possibly even though as the whistle blows been holed up inside since being granted asylum the six years ago. outside the embassy for us with the latest. wiki leaks dropped a bombshell on pace the night claiming that julian assange could be expelled from the ecuadorian embassy just behind me in a matter of hours or days we can leak suggested that i am a papers. could be used as a pretext now these papers allege that the ecuadorian president benefits from an offshore accounts in panama which the president strongly denies and although

will withdraw from the european union before and then council those participation in that parliament vote however obviously nobody knows what's going to happen and basically the use position is for any extension they would need to have a clear plan about what it is that the u.k. wants to achieve in that extension and what the common approach is however all be asleep throughout this time there has been no common approach. to speak now to professor francesco to suit so who is a professor of european law at university very good to have you on francisco i think it's fair to say this point i think people who voted leave all agree shambles what's going on with briggs that the question is. this situation now is to reason my buying time to give her a chance to try and finally pass a divorce deal or could the attack chely be staying longer maybe indefinitely. that's a difficult question to our i just the cynic in me would say that she's trying to buy a little bit more time i've read her letter today on the assumption that she's going to basically frighten her own backbenches and particularly

european union have agreed to delay brexit until october 31. speaking after hours of talks at an emergency summit in brussels, the president of the european councilusk, described the extension as ‘flexible‘. he urged the uk not to waste any more time, and said the course of action was entirely in its hands. britain will remain a full member state of the eu for now, with the option of cancelling brexit altogether. my colleague christian fraser is in brussels. he outlined what exactly, the extension is for. well, in the words of donald tusk, it needs to be used wisely. i don't think there's much confidence at the moment in the political process in westminster but at least theresa may has set out a process this evening. she spoke to the leaders forjust over an hour, a better performance, we're told, than the one she put on in march at the eu summit here in brussels. but still, plenty of questions for the 27 other european leaders, in fact they were locked in discussions for some nine hours. and largely, that was because there was a disagreement between the german and the french camps in particular on how long this extension should be. the german cha

european union. whatever happens our decisions in the european council are all taken unanimously but i stand by that clear position taken on the shoulder extension i stand by it in the spirit of friendship with the british both the government and the british people but i think it's france's job at moments like this to try to stick to its principles because it was then israel and president nicolas maduro says he has reached a deal with the red cross to bring humanitarian aid into the country madeira made the comments during a televised address and but she also accused u.s. vice president mike pence of racism and what he called tremendous hatred and said demanded that the u.n. recognize opposition leader as interim president during a speech at the united nations security council. under the vice president of the united states mike pence ridiculous to the security council of the united nations you can understand the city's racist supremacy they believe me as superior to us they believe they give orders to venezuela to the world they believe they are the empire who gives orders that governs the takes tha

they have been saying that it is russia blocking the council, but the european union is also facing theame logic. none of these configurations between russia and they use the exact same language, so the only threat that ties them together is the french. the defense minister was in libya, claiming he was rating that's waiting for his victories. antonio was interview a -- was in chipola -- tripoli last month. that is a serious problem. brent: we appreciate your insight tonight. unfortunately, we are out of time. thanks for coming on the show. the united states has declared iran's revolutionary guard a terrorist organization. the white house says a move that is technology iran is a sponsor of state terrorism which relies on the revolutionary guard to exported. the decision triggered an instant response and itt said it can declare u.s. forces in the middle east terrorists. to explain the new policy, mike pompeo said the u.s. wants to exert maximum pressure on iran. >> for 40 years, they have actively engaged in terrorism and graded, supported and created -- created and supported other terro

continue to abide by our duty and sincere as members of -- cooperation as members of the european union. the councilnt we have come to is to the extension of october 31. i am clear we should all be working in the u.k. to make sure we can find a way forward in parliament, get a majority to ratify the withdrawal agreement, and make sure we can leave as soon as possible. firstly, we are leaving on the 29th of march, then the 22nd of may, now it can be halloween. do you think your party back home will consider this a trick or a treat? >> we could have left on the 29th of march, we could be out of the european union now if our limit had agreed -- had a majority in parliament that agreed. i hoped they would agree to ratify the withdrawal agreement to leave on the 22nd of may. if we can find an agreement in parliament and put the legislation through in time, we can still leave on the 22nd of may and now hold the european parliamentary elections. what we must all work for is to find a way we can get a majority in parliament to leave the european union, deliver on the referendum and, you it as soon as possib

see in these i meetings of the leaders of the european union in the european council i would claim that there is a clear trend here. the first element is the recognition that there are no big states left in europe. that has been more difficult realization for some than others. that has sunk in today. when we look at the global world , this global picture, cannotual member states really exercise their sovereignty as they used to in this world. a joint exercise of sovereignty in this world or it will not happen. thesecond realization is union has been strong on values and will continue to be, we need to be more serious about our interest. we have to take into account the world we live in and we cannot be naive. we have to not shy away from using leverage where we have it in order to pursue those interests. finally, the eu must define its relationship between the u.s. and china. in thisto find our role context. how that ultimately plays out does not only depend on us, it depends on china and the u.s.. we are seeking cooperation with them both. we want to preserve the rules-based internatio

european union . and this all as well paul i guess has to go to the european council special summit next week and people are still saying look the french president emanuel might call he might kybosh the whole thing yes i mean there's no appetite while there's little appetite in europe to have this whole sorry saga as far as the concerned go on and on in the coming months potentially creating a headache for them is britain going to join the european election the european parliamentary elections if britain breaks its some point later this year all those newly elected british m.e.p. they're going to have to relinquish their seats and have them reallocate it to other countries it's a headache it's a massive headache that frankly people like amount of matt brown are asking themselves well why do we really need to put ourselves through this pull you keep us in touch i'm sure in the meantime thanks so much. algeria's former president has issued a statement asking for forgiveness for any mistakes he's made the eighty two year old stepped down on tuesday after weeks of protests the speaker of the upper house . i

european union and the u.k.'s effort to leave it, or brexit. the new deadline is october 31. the atlantic council is the host of this event. >> good morning. welcome, everyone to the atlantic council -- -- business and economic center. thank you so much for joining us today. it's a real pleasure to welcome back the vice-president, as well as our moderator from price waterhouse coopers. we have a wide variety, but the main is to take stock of brexit and the future, current state of affairs between the european union and the u.k. and the vice-president will share his thoughts on sustainable finance, and he's been the vice-president for euro dialog with a party with the captain markets union. prime minister of latvia between 2009-2014 and served as country's minister of finance between 2002-2004. our moderator, dr. alexis crowe, he leaves the geopolitical practice and is also a fellow here at the atlantic council. the discussion is part of our euro growth initiative which aims to foster robust transatlantic dialogue between europe and the u.s. and the events, not only on the record, but on tv for yo

i'm michael from the european network of credit unions and world council of credit unions and my question is, when do you expect the compromise on the capital amendments directed to be finalized formally. >> well, as regards amendments to the capital requirements, what we call cr. cid. they have been already agreed last december and now we are just going through this formal process. so from that point of view, i cannot give you the specific date, but it's shortly because i would say the deal is already done and we are just finalizing formal procedures in council and european parliament so i don't know exactly at which stage you currently are, but it's rather a matter of weeks, not months. so, but of course, work is not finished with adoption of current banking package, so what this banking package did, it basically introduced internationally agreed standards in eu legislation, including agreements reached in comity, but in between there is new set of agreements in basel comity, so-called bozell 3 and so-called how to implement bozell 3 in eu law. >> thank you so much, mr. vice-president.

what the european union under the europe council president donald tusk said he needs more from theresaay than the letter she put out next week. his thinking of a sort of flexible extension, if you like. an extension for possibly a year, but with the opportunity for britain to get out of the european union if it manages to make a deal internally that is suitable to the european union prior to that, but, you know, there are huge difficulties in this. the european union is divided on this. france is taking a strong position. and the idea that britain could put up euro meps to stand in an election on the 23rd of may and say two days later, no, actually, we've got a deal, we don't need that, we're taking them out of the equation when part of britain leaving is actually allowing the european union to put forward meps in other areas, for example, two additional in ireland. it's a very, very messy and tangled situation. it's making no one happy, george. >> all right. nic robertson following the story in london. thank you, nic. >>> so it could be the most competitive israeli election ever and i

european union on the 12th of april, without a deal. however, there is still time for the prime minister to come to the european council with proposals. pean union cannot sustainably be the hostage to a political crisis in the united kingdom. we'll have the latest on the brexit crisis, and we'll be considering the importance of the new parliamentary bill being introduced. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. plot. murder the labourmp plot. murder the labour mp rosie cooper. the national action sentence case memberjack renshaw. i was targeted, not as rosie cooper the person, but as rosie cooper the member of parliament. i was to be murdered to send a message to the state. two time olympic championjames cracknell on being the oldest ever competitor in the oxford cambridge boat race. it is 5pm. our main story is the continued search for a breakthrough in the political crisis over brexit. cabinet has been meeting for several hours chaired by the prime minister as they ponder implications of last night's votes in the commons when every alternative proposal was defeated. they face the prospect of a cross—party group of mps putting forwar

. >> i'm from the european network of credit unions and world council credit unions, and my questions, when do you expect to compromise on the amendments to the capital requirements directive to be finalized formally? >> well, as regards amendments to the capital requirements directive, actually they have been already agreed last december, and now we are just going through this formal process. so from that point of view i i cannot give you a specific date that it's shortly. does i will say the deal is already done and we are just finalizing normal procedures in council and european parliament. i don't know exactly, but it's rather a matter of weeks, not months. but, of course, work is not finished with an option of current banking package, so what banking package did it basically introduced internationally agreed standards in eu legislation, including agreements reached in basel comedy, but in between there's new set of agreements in basel, so-called finalization of basel iii, and currently we've already started consultations with different stakeholders on how to implement finalizati

having a broader consensus away which greenwald the un security council was getting while the european union and i think. the other a lot of extremely important to begin with president putin is going to have discussion with the chinese new ship on hold again have a joint strategy to handle this crisis because this is a lingering questions and the like and the soul of this in this old east issue this crisis is also a threat. for some allies issued because we don't know at what point of these they have these it's the fact the lock would use a nuclear weapon stated this crisis can explode into a bigger crisis and that would be difficult to control and it really depends in what manner it doesn't garner draw on the genders all of it because they're they're not the kind of the solution that the americans are looking for i think that he's not going to be accepted by the not with you and maybe it may not be acceptable fog fog of the other countries in the region because they have defied leadership of the china of war. but at the same time they've also lawn that the u.s. must withdraw nuclear umbrell

council but in fact the european union is also facing the same blockage the g. seven is also facing the same blockage the p three plus three u.s. u.k. france italy u.a.e. and egypt none of these configurations include russia and they use the exact same language so the only thread that ties them together was the french and the french have been giving assistance they have to let me on the defense minister was and was in russia in eastern libya eleven days ago claiming that he was waiting for after his victories now with the duplicity of the highest order to us assume that they back into or give international support to the u.n. but government in tripoli was giving discrete military and diplomatic support and immunity for half there in eastern libya because until it gets there was was in tripoli last week and was unable to name him they've given the u.n. the hardest job possible on earth because they've been blocking and paralyzing the u.n. for the last eleven days and that is a serious problem that he has to face and because the humanitarian catastrophe that could

european union to negotiate so any commitments made here would be those objectives that we take into that process but still with the european union so to add to the position of the uk government and the council has said they would be willing to look at that entire declaration the past few weeks or months or years they did not leave in march and the goodwill of the european union so they got the uk out of this mess so let that be your lesson. >> so what the european union he must use his time with the option. it is a new possibility. >> talking between the 1997 general election so will you say there is not enough time to hold these referendums and does not enforce any brexit deal. and by that waiver mister speaker let me ask. so a simple yes or no vote. had your government and offer that referendum? yes or no? is it a place for their support? yes or no? and finally will the prime minister recognize to open up questions for the government please get your head out of the sand. >> i say to the right honorable gentlemen the opposition on that issue has not changed it has been rejected twice by the house for when legislation goes through there will be members who do support the referendum i contin

european union for another delay to bragg's that letter to the e.u. for a three month extension until the end of june brussels the president of the european council donald toast and tend to propose a flexible twelve month delay. now u.s. politicians are stepping up efforts to end support for the saudi and you a led war in yemen congress has given final approval to a resolution to stop all military aid to the conflict and sent the bill to the white house for the president's signature but donald trump says he'll veto the move a report from washington. i don't want to see fourteen million yemenis starve to death harsh words for saudi arabia filled the house chambers that if the saudis don't stop their blockade and let food and medicine in within six months we will see one of the great humanitarian crisis in the world and with that in a vote of two hundred forty seven to one hundred seventy five the house joined the senate in sending the message the congress wants the u.s. military to stop supporting the saudi coalition's war in yemen this is the first time that he u.s. congress has rebuked a president on a war powers resolution which was a concern for some