Venezuela is seeking to repatriate about $550 million in gold bars from the Bank of England because of fears it could be caught up in international sanctions on the country, two sources with direct knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Venezuela’s hard currency holdings have dwindled as existing U.S. financial sanctions have effectively blocked President Nicolas Maduro’s government from borrowing on international markets.

The Trump administration on Thursday issued a new round of sanctions banning U.S. citizens from having dealings with anyone involved in “corrupt or deceptive” gold sales from Venezuela, as part of efforts to boost pressure on Maduro.

Maduro’s government is seeking to bring 14 tonnes of gold held in the Bank of England back to Venezuela, according to two public officials with direct knowledge of the operation, who asked not to be identified.

The Bank of England has sought to clarify what Venezuela wants to do with the gold, one of the officials said.

Venezuela’s central bank did not respond to a request for comment. The Bank of England declined to comment.

The plan has been held up for nearly two months due to difficulty in obtaining insurance for the shipment, needed to move a large gold cargo, one of the officials said.

“They are still trying to find insurance coverage, because the costs are high,” the official said.

Venezuela is in its fifth year of recession with annual inflation at more than 400,000 percent, leading to increased incidence of hunger and disease and spurring an exodus of some 2 million citizens.

Maduro says his government is…

Neither Ireland nor the European Union would ever sign up to a backstop agreement to keep the Irish border open after Brexit that could be ended unilaterally by Britain, Ireland’s foreign minister said on Monday.

The sides in the negotiations have signaled progress on agreeing customs arrangements for an emergency Irish border fix but differences persist on the lifespan of the so-called “backstop”.

“The Irish position remains consistent and v[ery] clear that a ‘time-limited backstop’ or a backstop that could be ended by UK unilaterally would never be agreed to by Ireland or the European Union,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.

“These ideas are not backstops at all + don’t deliver on previous UK commitments,” he added on Twitter.

Coveney made his comment after Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit Minister Dominic Raab had privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of the backstop after three months.

With just five months until Britain is due to exit the EU, May has yet to nail down a divorce deal, with the Irish border insurance arrangement to keep open the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland still the oustanding issue.

Cautious optimism that a deal between the EU and London may be in the offing has also been kept in check by the reality that such an agreement might not pass the British parliament.

Coveney’s message quickly won endorsement from the EU’s deputy Brexit negotiator, Sabine Weyand, who reacted by saying: “Still necessary to repeat this, it…

Prince Charles acknowledged Britain’s role in the slave trade on Monday calling it an appalling atrocity that had “left an indelible stain on the history of our world”.

In a speech in Ghana, which served as a major hub where African slaves were held before being shipped away, most across the Atlantic, the heir-to-the-British throne said the “profound injustice” of the past could never be forgotten.

“At Osu Castle on Saturday, it was especially important to me – as indeed it was on my first visit there forty-one years ago – that I should acknowledge the most painful chapter of Ghana’s relations with the nations of Europe, including the United Kingdom,” Charles said.

“The appalling atrocity of the slave trade, and the unimaginable suffering it caused, left an indelible stain on the history of our world.”

Britain abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807 although the full abolition of slavery did not follow for another generation.

Two days ago the prince visited Christiansborg Castle in Osu which originally operated as a Danish slave trade fort and from where it is estimated more than 1.5 million Africans were traded.

The castle later became the seat of the Ghanaian Government after the country’s independence from Britain in 1957.

“While Britain can be proud that it later led the way in the abolition of this shameful trade, we have a shared responsibility to ensure that the abject horror of slavery is never forgotten,” Charles said in his speech.

The prince and his wife Camilla are on the second leg of a tour of three African nations, having…