International

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 09:00 UTC

  UK government preparing great Brexit night celebration, including special coins for January 31st

  

  Britain will issue special coins, fly the Union Jack and project a countdown clock on the walls of Downing Street - but not bong Big Ben - on Brexit night, the government said on Friday.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:58 UTC

  Support words from IMF chief for Argentina's efforts to recover the economy

  

  International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday the lender has had “very constructive” exchanges with Argentina's new Peronist government and would do whatever possible to assist the indebted country.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:49 UTC

  “Overwhelming similarity” in Hong Kong and Venezuelan protests

  

  Protests in Hong Kong bear an “overwhelming” similarity to political unrest that has wracked Venezuela in recent years, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Friday.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:47 UTC

  UK lists both Hezbollah's military and political wings as a terrorist group

  

  Britain's finance ministry on Friday said it had added Lebanon's entire Hezbollah movement to its list of terrorist groups subject to asset freezing. The ministry previously only targeted the Shiite organization's military wing but has now listed the whole group after the government designated it a terrorist organization last March.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:46 UTC

  IMF warns that the US/China accord is a “trade truce, and not the same as trade peace”

  

  The United States and China still have a long way to go to resolve their trade disputes although the partial deal signed this week is a step forward, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday. “Trade truce is not the same as trade peace,” she said.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:44 UTC

  China's economy weakened to its slowest pace in three decades

  China's economy weakened to its slowest pace in three decades last year as weaker domestic demand and trade tensions with the United States took their toll, official data showed on Friday.

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:41 UTC

  US will screen travelers from Chinese city of Wuhan for symptoms of new respiratory virus

  

  The United States will begin screening efforts at three U.S. airports to detect travelers from the central Chinese city of Wuhan who may have symptoms of a new respiratory virus that so far has killed two people and infected 45 more, public health officials said on Friday (Jan 17).

• Saturday, January 18th 2020 - 08:30 UTC

  Rare 1937 Edward VIII sovereign coin sold for one million pounds

  

  A rare 1937 Edward VIII sovereign coin has been bought by a private collector for 1 million pounds (US$1.31 million), making it the most expensive British coin ever. The coin was one of six prepared by the Royal Mint when Edward became king in 1936 and was due to be mass produced for general circulation from Jan 1, 1937.

• Friday, January 17th 2020 - 17:34 UTC

  Chinese media warned not to “nitpick” the US/Beijing Phase 1 trade deal

  

  Chinese state media on Thursday warned against any “nitpicking” as Beijing portrayed the Phase 1 trade deal with United States and its new commitments to massive purchases of US goods as a boon for China's economy.

• Friday, January 17th 2020 - 17:02 UTC

  Falklands/South Georgia governments relation mutually beneficial, but MOU “has not been made public”

  

  The relationship between the Falkland Islands Government and South Georgia Government “brings both direct and indirect benefit to the Falklands” assured Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI ) Chief Executive Helen Havercroft.