WASHINGTON Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby on Tuesday started to ease the backlog of 16 Obama administration nominees stalled before the panel, scheduling a March 15 confirmation hearing for two Securities and Exchange Commission nominees. The... More »
The 2016 U.S. presidential election may succeed where the world’s central banks have failed, but not as they would wish: in bringing back inflation through protectionism. One of the most striking aspects of the election campaign is the way in which Donald Trum... More »
NEW DELHI The government unveiled a budget for the poor on Monday, announcing new rural aid schemes and skimping on a bank bailout, in a strategy shift that seeks to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party in coming state elections. Finance Minister ... More »
BRUSSELS The United States has set out limits to its use of data collected in bulk about European citizens after a new information-sharing pact was agreed this month, according to documents seen by Reuters. A clear explanation of what information could be used... More »
BRUSSELS British and EU negotiators agreed much of a reform package on Thursday to help keep Britain in the European Union, leaving Prime Minister David Cameron to settle tricky final issues, notably on migration, at a summit next week, diplomats said. After t... More »
LONDON Prime Minister David Cameron and European Council President Donald Tusk failed on Sunday to reach a deal on Britain’s EU renegotiation after talks in London, but agreed to another 24 hours of “crucial” discussions. The meeting was seen as vital to findi... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio praised Iran’s release of five detained Americans on Sunday, but sharply criticized the deal the White House made to win their freedom saying it would lead to more Americans being taken “ho... More »
WASHINGTON Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and a Syrian refugee who now lives in Michigan will be among 23 special guests at President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, the White House said on Sunday. Inviting Americans whose stor... More »
WASHINGTON The chief executive of a successful American exporter will have a prime spot on Tuesday night to watch President Barack Obama make the case in his final State of the Union address for a sweeping Asian trade deal he hopes will be part of his legacy. ... More »
BENGALURU/NEW YORK The global economy finished last year on a fragile footing, with factory activity in China shrinking for the 10th month running in December, while euro zone manufacturing picked up but U.S. activity slowed. Coming on a day of volatility in A... More »
DUBAI President Hassan Rouhani ordered his defense minister on Thursday to expand Iran’s missile program, in defiance of a U.S. threat to impose sanctions over a ballistic missile test Iran carried out in October. Under a landmark agreement it clinched with wo... More »
BEIJING Russia overtook Saudi Arabia for the third time this year in November as China’s largest crude oil supplier, customs data showed on Monday, as Russia captures fresh demand from China’s new crude buyers. China brought in about 949,925 barrels per day (b... More »
WASHINGTON Locked in budget talks in the twilight of his Senate career, Harry Reid saw an unexpected opening to bargain for his legislative wish list. It had become apparent to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Reid that lifting the longstanding ban on U.S. oi... More »
HAVANA U.S. President Barack Obama is welcome to visit Cuba but not to meddle in its internal affairs, a senior foreign ministry official said on Wednesday on the eve of the first anniversary of the two countries’ historic rapprochement. “The day that the pres... More »
U.S. and Cuban officials said on Wednesday they had made important headway in a months-long effort to restore scheduled flight service between the countries after half a century of confrontation. An agreement would pave the way for U.S. airlines to schedule fl... More »
PARIS France has detected the first cases of low pathogenic H5N3 bird flu and found more cases of highly infectious strains in an outbreak of the disease in the southwest of the country. Three cases of H5N3 bird flu were found at three different farms in the s... More »
LONDON Britain and Italy said on Tuesday that they agree on the need to reform the European Union to protect the rights of the bloc’s non euro zone members, promote business and tackle the migration crisis. Britain is renegotiating some of the terms of its EU ... More »
BUENOS AIRES By the end of President-elect Mauricio Macri’s first four-year term, Argentina will have doubled wheat shipments and surpassed Russia and Brazil as a corn exporter, by some estimates, as the abandonment of years-long trade restraints unleashes the... More »
KUALA LUMPUR From Turkey to the Philippines to Malaysia, it’s been an overseas trip for U.S. President Barack Obama that often veered off-script. By now, Obama was supposed to have showcased the long-promised benefits of his strategic shift toward Asia as he n... More »
BERLINGerman exports and imports bounced back in September after plunging in the prior month but failed to allay concerns that a slowdown in emerging markets will leave its mark on Europe’s largest economy. The Federal Statistics Office reported on Monday that... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/YANGONWestern banks are cutting trade finance in Myanmar after learning that part of the country’s main port is controlled by a man blacklisted by Washington, threatening to stop nascent U.S. economic ties with the Southeast Asian nation in... More »
SEOUL South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Monday to try to resolve as soon as possible a row over “comfort women” forced into prostitution in Japanese wartime military brothels, a feud that has been a major obs... More »
LONDON Britain is seeking an “emergency brake” to allow countries which are in the European Union but outside the euro zone to delay decisions that could threaten their interests, the Financial Times reported. Britain, which is not a member of the 19-member si... More »
ZURICH The anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP) won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday’s national parliamentary election, keeping pressure on Bern to introduce quotas on people moving from the European Union. Success for the SVP, coupled with gains... More »
The U.S. administration hopes to release the full text of a Pacific trade deal within the next 30 days, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview with CNN. The United States sealed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 trading partner... More »
ATLANTA A dozen Pacific nations closed in on a sweeping free-trade pact on Sunday in Atlanta but failed to finalize terms on the fifth day of round-the-clock talks, dashing hopes raised by an earlier breakthrough on protections for new biotech drugs. U.S. offi... More »
SAN JOSE, California Lights flashed and chants of “Modi, Modi” filled the 18,000-seat sports arena in San Jose, California, on Sunday as the Indian premier took the stage for the final event of his Silicon Valley tour, marked by sporadic protests over his huma... More »
BEIJING British finance minister George Osborne said on Monday Britain would like to continue helping the gradual internationalization of the yuan and that it welcomed the potential for majority Chinese investment in future nuclear projects. Speaking at the st... More »
MOBILE, Ala, Airbus Group NV (AIR.PA) threw a party for its new U.S. workers ahead of the formal opening Monday of its first commercial jet factory in the United States, and representatives of the machinists union joined the crowd. The International Associatio... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican party presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Sunday high salaries paid to chief executives were a “joke” and a “disgrace” and said these were often approved by company boards stacked with the CEO’s friends. Trump, a real estat... More »
WASHINGTON Saudi Arabia is satisfied with assurances from U.S. President Barack Obama about the Iran nuclear deal and believes the agreement will contribute to security and stability in the Middle East, a senior Saudi official said on Friday. Saudi King Salman... More »
LONDON China’s giant manufacturing industry contracted and euro zone and U.S. growth eased in August in data published on Tuesday, while the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for world growth this year. Stocks on major markets tumbled along with com... More »
NEW YORK Microsoft Corp avoided a potentially costly setback to its mobile phone business on Friday as the U.S. International Trade Commission declined to block the import of its devices in a longstanding patent dispute. The decision rejected a ruling in April... More »
SANTIAGO When the creators of an elaborate 2013 Cadillac commercial began to scout for shooting locations three years ago, they began in Argentina, where varied landscapes and creative talent had long attracted ad producers. But when it came time to import the... More »
BERLIN French Economy Ministry Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday developments in China pose a risk that should not be underestimated. He was speaking at an event with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the German capital. (Reporting by Andreas Ri... More »
BEIJING China said it would launch a three-month crackdown on underground banking to curb money-laundering and illegal funds transfers as unstable markets stoke fears of capital flight. Worries over China’s economic slowdown and possible interest rate rises by... More »
SHANGHAI China’s currency fell to a four-year low on Wednesday, slumping for a second day, after a central bank devaluation on Tuesday, and government sources believe the yuan may be allowed to slide even further to help the country’s exporters. The yuan trade... More »
DUBAI Emirates Airline [EMIRA.UL] said Tuesday that state-owned Gulf Arab airlines were not to blame for overcapacity on services between the United States and Dubai, rejecting criticism by U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines (DAL.N). Delta said Sunday it had reduced... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. backers of the Iran nuclear deal are increasingly confident of enough Democratic support to ensure it survives review by Congress, despite fierce opposition by majority Republicans and a massive lobbying drive. By the time the House of Represen... More »
HUSSEIN LOOKOUT, Israel As U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter walked along an Israeli lookout near the border with Lebanon, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon turned to him and said: “Probably Hezbollah is watching us.” Israel warned during Carter’s visit o... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday welcomed the “new beginning” of ties between the United States and Cuba but said many differences remained between the two nations and that full normalization will be a long and complex process. Kerry, in... More »
VIENNA A senior Iranian negotiator voiced hope on Monday that a nuclear deal with six major powers would be completed but cautioned that there was work to be done and he could not promise the talks would finish by Tuesday night, Iranian media reported. “I cann... More »
WASHINGTON Loss of U.S. Export-Import Bank financing would put Boeing Co (BA.N) at a “huge competitive disadvantage” since its rivals still have access to such financing support, the head of the company’s commercial aircraft division told reporters on Monday. ... More »
VIENNA A dispute over U.N. sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and a broader arms embargo were among issues holding up a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers on Monday, the day before their latest self-imposed deadline. “The Iranians want... More »
BEIJING China’s trade deficit in services widened to $18.3 billion in May, as Chinese tourists continued to spend more abroad than foreigners visiting the country, the foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday. The deficit was led by a $16.2 billion gap in sp... More »
