International

• Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:46 UTC

  Bank of England unanimously leaves interest rates at 0.5% for the 71st month

  

  Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% for the 71st month in a row and kept its stimulus programme of quantitative easing (QE) unchanged. Most forecasters now think interest rates will not rise before next year.

• Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:32 UTC

  China's import of key commodities falls sharply during January

  

  China's imports of key commodities eased in January after the record high set in December, as expected as the earlier heavy purchases to take advantage of weak prices had swollen inventories, preliminary customs data released has shown.

• Saturday, February 7th 2015 - 05:41 UTC

  Grandeur of the Seas struck by Norovirus cuts shorts Caribbean cruise

  

  A ten-night sailing of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship was cut short by one day after nearly 10% of passengers were struck by norovirus. An unrelated medical emergency expedited the need for the ship to dock early as bad weather made an at-sea transfer impossible.

• Saturday, February 7th 2015 - 05:33 UTC

  Gauguin's “When will you marry me” painting sold in 300 million dollars

  

  A new record price for an artwork, nearly 300 million dollars, may have been achieved with the sale of a Paul Gauguin canvas by a Swiss collector. The buyer is rumored to be the Qatar Museums.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 23:36 UTC

  Anti-austerity Podemos party becomes Spain's second party and political option

  

  Spain’s anti-austerity left-wingers Podemos would come in second, ahead of the Socialist party (PSOE), if general elections were held today, a polling firm declared this week, as the party, barely one year old, continues its surge in popularity.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 23:02 UTC

  Qatar Airways takes 10% of IAG, owner of British Airways and Iberia

  

  Qatar Airways has emerged as the owner of a 10% stake in International Airlines Group (IAG), the owner of British Airways (BA) and Iberia. The Gulf airline is already a member of the Oneworld Alliance.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 07:15 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez will write letters to Mia Farrow and Navratilova explaining the Nisman case

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez plans to write actress Mia Farrow and retired tennis star Martina Navratilova to rebut their recent criticism and explain that the scandal engulfing her is a smear campaign, officials said Thursday.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 06:53 UTC

  FAO Food Price Index continued de decline in January; cereal record crop anticipated

  

  The FAO Food Price Index continued to decline in January, averaging 182.7 points for the month, or 1.9 percent below its December 2014 level. Lower prices reflect strong production expectations as FAO also raised its 2014 forecast for world cereal production to a record high and noted that early indications for crops in 2015 are favorable.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 02:22 UTC

  UK launches an overseas voter registration campaign for 7 May election

  

  This week the UK Electoral Commission has launched a dedicated overseas voter registration campaign. The campaign aims to encourage British citizens living overseas to register to vote ahead of the UK Parliamentary General Election, due to take place on Thursday 7 May 2015.

• Friday, February 6th 2015 - 02:11 UTC

  Rise of the vulture investing class

  

  The oil markets are showing some life, having rallied 11% over a two-day period. But if a bigger rebound is not around the corner, it won’t just be oil companies that will be feeling the pain: their lenders will also face some steep losses if drillers can’t come up with the cash to cover debt payments.