The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday with U.K. inflation remaining above target and economic growth is showing signs of picking up.

The decision was widely anticipated in financial markets but the split on the nine-member rate-setting panel was much closer than expected. Five members of the Monetary Policy Committee opted to keep rates unchanged while four voted for a quarter-point cut.

A walled compound in Lebanon housing hundreds of people who fled their homes in Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad over a year ago has drawn allegations that the residents are Assad loyalists, which they deny.

The attention on the compound in Hermel town highlights the sensitivities around Syria's transformation after a long civil war, suspicions that can linger about identity and minorities' fear of retaliation.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Iran in a wide-ranging call as the U.S. administration pushes Beijing and others to further isolate Tehran.

Trump said the two leaders also discussed a broad range of other critical issues in the U.S.-China relationship, including trade and Taiwan and his plans to visit Beijing in April.

Nuclear talks between Iran and the United States will take place Friday in Oman, the Iranian foreign minister said, as tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.

The announcement Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after hours of indications that the anticipated talks were faltering over changes in the format and content of the talks. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, sent a blunt warning to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of the talks.

Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo scored in each half as Barcelona beat second-division Albacete 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.

Albacete had shocked Real Madrid in the round of 16, eliminating the Spanish powerhouse in what was the debut of new coach Álvaro Arbeloa.

Morocco has decided to appeal a ruling that resulted in fines of $415,000 and match bans because of a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final, its soccer federation said Tuesday.

CAF, African soccer's governing body, last month fined the host and Senegal over unrest at last month's final in the Moroccan capital.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola turned a soccer news conference on Tuesday into a passionate address on the "hurt" he is feeling at seeing humanitarian tragedies around the world.

Guardiola did not return to England in time for his regular pre-match media duties in the lead-up to City's Premier League game at Tottenham on Sunday, after giving a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in his home city of Barcelona.

U.S. President Donald Trump has extended a 26-year-old free-trade agreement with African countries that was left in doubt last year when his administration allowed it to expire while enforcing his policy of reciprocal tariffs.

Trump on Tuesday signed into law an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

More than 3,000 people in southern Spain spent Wednesday evacuated from their homes and schools shut as a storm bringing what weather forecasters called "extraordinary" rain battered the Iberian Peninsula.

Spanish weather agency AEMET placed parts of the southern region of Andalusia under the highest red alert for torrential rain, warning that Storm Leonardo risked triggering floods and landslides.

Many hoped the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would bring relief to the war-battered territory, but for the first few Palestinians allowed to cross, it proved more harrowing than a homecoming.

Three women who entered Gaza on the first day of the reopening told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Israeli troops blindfolded and handcuffed them, then interrogated and threatened them, holding them for several hours and inflicting what they said was humiliating treatment until they were released.