International

• Thursday, November 2nd 2017 - 11:34 UTC

  PM May and Netanyahu mark centenary of the contentious Balfour Declaration

  

  PM Theresa May is to host her Israeli counterpart as part of events marking the centenary of a British pledge which paved the way for Israel's creation. Benjamin Netanyahu's visit comes on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration of British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine.

• Thursday, November 2nd 2017 - 09:01 UTC

  The silent majority of Catalonia and the December 21st election-referendum

  

  By Gwynne Dyer - It's been going on for a while. “Recently in Catalonia we have been living through a kind of 'soft' totalitarianism...the illusion of unanimity created by the fear of expressing dissent,” wrote best-selling Catalan author Javier Cercas in the Spanish newspaper El País in 2014. Those who didn't want independence kept their heads down and their mouths shut, in other words.

• Thursday, November 2nd 2017 - 08:49 UTC

  London could lose 75.000 financial services jobs by 2019, when UK leaves the EU

  

  The Bank of England expects Britain to lose up to 75,000 financial services jobs in the years after its departure from the European Union in 2019, the BBC reported. London dominates global currency trading and is Europe’s main finance hub.

• Thursday, November 2nd 2017 - 08:31 UTC

  Fallon resigns saying his behavior “has fallen short”, and argues “culture has changed over the years”

  

  Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has resigned, saying his behavior may have “fallen short” of the standards expected by the UK military. He told the BBC that what had been “acceptable 15, 10 years ago is clearly not acceptable now”.Fallon is the first politician to quit following recently revealed claims of serious sexual abuse in Parliament.

• Wednesday, November 1st 2017 - 08:27 UTC

  Royal Navy forced into “cannibalization” to meet the shortage of spares

  

  The Royal Navy seems to be copying some of its Latin American peers. In effect the shortage of spares for Royal Navy warships and submarines has forced the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to strip parts from the rest of the fleet, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

• Wednesday, November 1st 2017 - 08:17 UTC

  Germany marks the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation

  

  A special religious service is being held in the German town of Wittenberg to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. On this day, 31 October, in 1517, Martin Luther is said to have nailed 95 theses to the door of All Saints' Church in the town.

• Wednesday, November 1st 2017 - 08:02 UTC

  Europe prepares to have jets fly with an eco-fuel mix from vegetable oil and animal fat plus kerosene

  

  Jets in Europe will soon run on eco-fuel produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. The new fuel will be mixed with traditional kerosene. According to latest reports, planes running on the mixture of renewable and traditional fuel will start flying next year from Geneva in Switzerland.

• Wednesday, November 1st 2017 - 07:52 UTC

  Labour pressing UK government to release 58 Brexit impact studies

  

  The British Labour party is seeking to up the pressure on ministers over their refusal to release a series of Brexit impact studies. The government has confirmed that 58 reports looking at different sectors of the economy have been prepared, but is resisting calls to publish them; saying to do so would undermine the UK's negotiating position.

• Tuesday, October 31st 2017 - 08:30 UTC

  Brazil: the return of deepwater oil

  

  By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com - On a historic auction for deepwater oil assets in Brazil, the oil majors showed up on October 27 and bought several offshore blocks, indicating a high level of interest in the country after a major policy overhaul allowed private investment.

• Tuesday, October 31st 2017 - 07:58 UTC

  Uncertainty and inflation expected to make Bank of England reverse monetary policy

  

  Bank of England is expected to reverse emergency action taken following the Brexit referendum, when it cut rates from 0.5% to 0.25% to avert a recession. While a slump has not materialized, the British economy appears in worse health than most other major countries, with potential to be blown further off course by faltering talks to leave the EU.