International

• Friday, December 16th 2016 - 10:44 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates unchanged: global outlook has become more fragile

  

  The Bank of England voted unanimously on Thursday to keep the UK's main interest rate at a record low of 0.25%, and anticipated that the next rate move could be in either direction. The last change was a rate cut in August, in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU.

• Friday, December 16th 2016 - 10:00 UTC

  Brexit: UK wants to first discuss status of Britons in Europe and EU citizens in UK

  

  UK Prime Minister Theresa May wants an early deal on what Brexit means for the status of Britons in Europe and EU citizens in the UK, she has told EU leaders. The prime minister's comments came as she updated fellow leaders on the UK's plans for leaving the European Union.

• Friday, December 16th 2016 - 09:32 UTC

  Obama says Putin was aware of US elections' hacking to favor Trump and anticipates sanctions

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised his intelligence agencies' hacking of the U.S. presidential election and turned it from a general attempt to discredit American democracy to an effort to help Donald Trump, three U.S. officials said on Thursday.

• Friday, December 16th 2016 - 08:07 UTC

  Despite Falklands issue, Argentina interested in bilateral trade agreement with UK

  

  Argentina would be interested in negotiating a bilateral free-trade agreement with the U.K. as it prepares to leave the European Union, potentially turning around harsh relations between the two countries.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 14:02 UTC

  Israel welcomes Donald Trump’s plan to move US embassy to Jerusalem

  

  Israel's officials have welcome Donald Trump’s campaign promise to switch the US embassy from Tel Aviv, saying it would be as easy as changing a sign on a building. But other Middle East countries fear such a move will not help the overall situation.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 12:14 UTC

  Anti-Trump Harvard professor warns 20 Republican electors could vote otherwise

  

  Harvard University constitutional law professor Larry Lessig has said that 20 Republican members of the Electoral College are considering voting against Donald Trump, which would put anti-Trump activists more than halfway changing the overall outcome.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 11:51 UTC

  India on the path to become #4 country based on military budget, ahead of UK and France

  

  According to a Jane’s Defence Weekly report published Tuesday, India is on the path to surpassing Britain in terms of spending within three years to move into fourth place on the national military budget ranking lists. The new figures see India leaving Russia and Saudi Arabia behind, to move into fourth place in the global charts. The UK currently ranks sixth, one notch behind France. The United States and China remain at the top.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 11:46 UTC

  Sweden's military back to Cold War era mode in view of Russia's expansion

  

  Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), an authority operating under the Defense Ministry and tasked with civil protection, public safety, emergency management and civil defense, has instructed local governments to reactivate the “Total Defense Strategy” civil defense procedures from the Cold War and be prepared for an armed conflict because “the security situation in our region has deteriorated.”

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 10:49 UTC

  European summit overwhelmend with challenges and a more uncertain future

  

  Leaders of the European Union meet on Thursday in Brussels for a summit fraught with disputes on how to handle the many crises they face, bar on possibly the biggest rift of all, how to handle Brexit. After a day of talks on migrants, Turkey, Russia, defense in the era of Donald Trump and the Euro zone economy in the age of austerity, leaders will see British Prime Minister Theresa May out and then agree over dinner how to get rid of her for good.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 09:58 UTC

  Putin, most powerful world person for the fourth time running; Trump on second spot

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin again leads Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people, followed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the No. 2 spot. The annual ranking of 74 individuals was released Wednesday. It considers personal influence, financial resources, whether the person can affect a country's GDP or a company's value, and their power in multiple spheres as factors in determining the list.