David Cameron News

A British Royal Navy ship will supply aid to Gaza as part of an international effort to help set up a new humanitarian maritime corridor in early May, the foreign office and ministry of defence said on Saturday.The multinational effort, involving the United States, Cyprus and other partners, will develop a new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, British foreign minister David Cameron said."The situation in Gaza is dire and the prospect of famine is real. We remain committed to getting aid to those who so desperately need it…

Diplomatic efforts are underway to try to find a "climbdown" for Yemen's Houthis, the special U.S. envoy to Yemen said in a video recording released on Tuesday, in an apparent reference to finding a face-saving solution to ending their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.U.S. Special Envoy Tim Lenderking recorded his comments on Friday for a think-tank conference before flying to Oman for talks on the crisis that has triggered retaliatory U.S. and British strikes against Houthi weapons sites.Oman has been a mediator with the Iran-aligned Houthis…

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will travel to Oman on Tuesday where he is expected to call for stability over ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and de-escalating of tensions in the Middle East, the foreign office said on Tuesday.Cameron, on his fourth visit to the Middle East, will travel to Oman to meet his counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss how to diminish tensions across the region.The Houthi attacks on international shipping lines in the Red Sea will be a major focus of his discussions…

Britain and the United States on Thursday said they had imposed coordinated sanctions on four key Houthi figures for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.Attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the Middle East.Those sanctioned were Houthi Defence Minister Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi…

U.S. helicopters repelled an attack by Iran-backed Houthi militants on a Maersk container vessel in the Red Sea, sinking three ships and killing 10 militants, according to accounts by American, Maersk, and Houthi officials on Sunday.The naval battle occurred around 0330 GMT on Sunday as the attackers sought to board the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, Maersk and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely joined the ship's security team in repelling the attackers after receiving a distress call…

The crisis in global shipping and a tax exodus by big Greek vessel owners have helped finally seal the fate of London's Baltic Exchange after at least three approaches to buy it over the last six years of its near-three centuries history. Some 95 percent of shareholders voted on Monday in favour of a takeover deal from Singapore Exchange, valued at 87 million pounds ($112.87 million), trumping more than one effort from the London Metal Exchange to snap it up. "For Baltic shareholders it does release value…

The prospect of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union – nicknamed ‘Brexit’ – has raised a number of questions regarding the status, now and in the future, of sulphur regulations in the UK. In response to some of the questions raised, IBIA has investigated the short term reality and future scenarios. The EU’s sulphur regulations contained in Directive 1999/32/EC and subsequent amendments – the EU Sulphur Directive – go beyond the minimum requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s MARPOL Annex VI. The EU and IMO regulations are aligned regarding the 0.10% fuel sulphur limit for ships operating within an emission control areas (ECAs), but the EU Sulphur Directive has three key extra requirements.

The UK Chamber of Shipping remained neutral on the question of the UK’s membership of the EU but we recognise the decision of the British people. The chamber has always argued that the shipping industry is resilient by its nature. Shipping moves 95% of the UK’s international trade and we don’t see that changing. We may now be beginning the process of leaving the European Union, but we are still an island nation that has to make its way in the world through buying and selling, and the shipping industry is here for that very purpose. What we need now are cool heads. We’ve had the political debate, now it’s time for rational and strategic thinking.

Global capital markets reeled on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union, with $2 trillion in value wiped from equity bourses worldwide, while money poured into safe-haven gold and government bonds. Sterling suffered a record plunge. The blow to investor confidence and the uncertainty the vote has sparked could keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates as planned this year, and even spark a new round of emergency policy easing from major central banks. The traditional safe-harbor assets of top-rated government debt, the Japanese yen and gold all jumped. Spot gold rose more than 5 percent and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to lows last seen in 2012 at 1.5445 percent. Stocks tumbled in Europe.

The British government opened talks on Tuesday with potential buyers for Tata Steel's UK operations, including Sanjeev Gupta's commodities company Liberty Group, as it stepped up its battle to find a buyer for the loss-making business. Accused by opposition lawmakers of being "asleep at the wheel" when India's Tata Steel put its entire British operations up for sale last week, Prime Minister David Cameron also met ministers to discuss the options for a business which employs 15,000 people. Britain's business minister Sajid Javid met with Gupta in London to establish how firm his interest was in the business. He was later due to fly to Mumbai to meet Tata Chairman Cyrus Mistry to agree the process for a sale.

Peel Ports, one of Britain's largest port operators, expects to withstand the container shipping slump with a bold project aimed at attracting cargo to Liverpool away from southern gateways, its chief executive said. The container market, which ships retail goods from iPhones to designer clothes and food products, has been hit hard by a slowdown in demand for goods from Asia, especially China. The Baltic exchange's main sea freight index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk commodities such as coal, has fallen to the lowest level since data is available on the China slowdown. Peel Ports, which competes with Associated British Ports…

Groundwork has started on the renovation of a central shipyard complex that be used for outfitting future Royal Navy Successor submarines, British Forces News said. BAE Systems had announced last year a $459 million modernization of the entire shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, in anticipation of government approval of the nuclear deterrent submarines, which will replace Vanguard-class vessels. Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed earlier this week that Britain will order four new Successor submarines to replace the Vanguard-class of nuclear subs. Construction is expected to take up to eight years and create thousands of new jobs. The work on the Central Yard Complex is the first step of the site's redevelopment programme.

British and German warships made ready to sail for waters off Libya as Europe ramped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after up to 900 desperate migrants drowned last weekend on a boat heading for Italy. Yet hours after European Union leaders agreed in Brussels on Thursday to treble funding for EU maritime missions and pledged more ships and aircraft, 14 clandestine migrants were killed when a train ploughed into dozens of Somalis and Afghans making their way in darkness along a rail track in a Macedonian gorge. The incident highlighted the variety of routes that growing numbers are taking to escape war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and chance their luck in a wealthy region that offers, at best, a chilly welcome.

Britain is ready to force the sale of Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman's recently acquired North Sea energy assets unless it receives unspecified assurances within the next week, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Thursday. Britain on Wednesday wrote to Fridman's investment vehicle saying he had seven days to explain why he should be allowed to retain ownership of North Sea assets just acquired from German utility RWE. "If assurances are not supplied, we've set out our position and our intention to act, and the prime minister entirely agrees with that," Cameron's spokesman told reporters. RWE on Monday finalised the sale of its oil and gas production unit DEA UK to Fridman's investment vehicle LetterOne…

The U.K. Ministry of Defense has signed a $1.3 billion contract with BAE Systems for equipment to build the next generation of warships for the British navy, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today. BAE Systems has been working on plans to provide Britain with 13 new warships since 2010, Reuters reported, adding that the new contract enables the shipbuilder to continue developing the project by investing in the equipment and facilities needed before building can begin. According to the U.K.

Britain said on Monday it would ban fracking in national parks, reversing a policy announced last year, in a concession to the opposition Labour Party which had called for tighter controls to be written into law. "We have agreed an outright ban on fracking in national parks, sites of special interest and areas of natural beauty," said junior energy minister Amber Rudd during a debate on new laws regulating the extraction process. Last year the government said fracking -- extracting gas and oil by pumping chemicals, sand and water at high pressure into underground rocks -- would be possible within national parks in exceptional circumstances. The government also accepted a Labour proposal to tighten several other rules governing when and where fracking would be permitted.

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday pushed back against calls for further sanctions on Iran now over its nuclear program, saying such action could harm ongoing negotiations.   In a joint news conference, Obama and Cameron urged U.S. lawmakers to exercise patience and hold off on any legislation calling for further sanctions.   "There is no good argument for us to try to undercut, undermine the negotiations until they've played themselves out," Obama told reporters. "Congress needs to show patience," he added.   (Reporting by Jeff Mason, Roberta Rampton; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Britain said on Thursday it would start screening passengers entering the country through London's two main airports and the Eurostar rail link with Europe for possible cases of the Ebola virus. "Enhanced screening will initially be implemented at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar terminals," a statement from Prime Minister David Cameron's office said. "(It) will involve assessing passengers' recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and onward travel arrangements as well as a possible medical assessment, conducted by trained medical personnel."   Reporting by William James

BP and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) today announced a heads of agreement for the supply of up to 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year over 20 years starting in 2019. The agreement was signed in London by BP Executive Vice President, Dev Sanyal and CNOOC Chairman, Wang Yilin, in the presence of UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang. Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive said: “This is a significant deal for BP and China but it also marks a step up in global connectivity in the gas market. This is important for all countries and regions looking at the diversity of energy supply and energy security - it gives BP greater flexibility to respond to the changing energy demands from Europe, Asia and other regions.

An attempt by the UK’s Chamber of Shipping last week to persuade the British government that the industry needed more time to comply with new sulphur emission limits entering force on 1 January next year received short shrift from the shipping minister. However the Chamber, along with other European shipowners' associations, is reported to be determined to continue its campaign, reports shipping trade association Maritime London. The owners’ organisations say that switching to distillate fuel will be too costly and would lead to job losses and modal shifts from sea to road transport while the other option of fitting scrubbers has only just become available and it will take time to to fit this equipment.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday questioned France's plan to sell Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, saying fulfilling such an order would be unthinkable in Britain after the downing of the Malaysian Airlines plane in Ukraine. When asked about France's plan to press ahead with a 1.2 billion-euro ($1.66 billion) contract to sell the ships to Russia, Cameron said: "Frankly in this country it would be unthinkable to fulfil an order like the one outstanding that the French have. "But we need to put the pressure on with all our partners to say that we cannot go on doing business as usual with a country when it is behaving in this way." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and William James; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Diplomats flee Libyan chaos; Politicians appeal for international intervention. Clashes in Tripoli, Benghazi kill around 160 over two weeks, while Libyan capital face fuel, power shortages. A rocket hit a fuel storage tank in a chaotic battle for Tripoli airport that has all but closed off international flights to Libya, leaving fire-fighters struggling to extinguish a giant conflagration. Foreign governments have looked on powerless as anarchy sweeps across the North African oil producer, three years after NATO bombardment helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi. They have urged nationals to leave Libya and have pulled diplomats out after two weeks of clashes among rival factions killed nearly 160 people in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.

Construction of HMS Prince of Wales, the second of two new aircraft carriers for the U.K. Royal Navy, has moved forward with the docking of two of the ship’s largest hull sections – Lower Block 02 and Lower Block 03. The movement of the blocks into the dock at Rosyth marks the beginning of the ship’s assembly phase and comes only days after Prime Minister David Cameron announced that HMS Prince of Wales will enter into service, ensuring that the U.K. will always have one aircraft carrier available.