The U.K.’s International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is to visit Mexico Wednesday to launch discussions for a post-Brexit deal as part of the Britain’s ongoing efforts to secure its trading future outside of the EU. Fox is to meet with Mexico’s Minister of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal to discuss continuing trade cooperation between the […]
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EU executive to start legal action against Poland over judiciary reform
The European Commission said on Wednesday it would start legal action against Poland over a law reforming the judiciary that undermines the independence of judges and therefore breaks EU treaty rules. The Commission also sent Poland a new recommendation under a separate rule-of-law monitoring procedure asking it to address its concerns about several issues questioned […]
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FIVE years ago, Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, pledged to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro. At the time, many people were predicting that the euro zone would break up. But Mr Draghi pulled off the trick; no countries have left the single currency. Borrowing costs have come down and […]
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ON JULY 1st Hong Kong marked 20 years of mainland rule with a rare visit from Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier. Mr Xi arrived on an Air China flight from Beijing. The next visit by a Chinese president is unlikely to take place until 2022, when Hong Kong will be half way through its 50-year […]
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UK economy expands 0.3 percent in second quarter, meets estimate, sterling slips
The U.K. economy grew 0.3 percent in the second-quarter of this year, in line with expectations. However, the Office for National Statistics noted a “notable slowdown” in the first half of 2017. The U.K. had grown at a pace of 0.2 percent in the first quarter of this year. The slight uptick in the British […]
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Russia lawmaker says US should expect painful response to sanctions — but could it really retaliate?
Any Russian response to fresh sanctions from the U.S. is unlikely to cause any major harm for American investors and could merely be a symbolic gesture, according to one political analyst. Moscow stepped up its war of words against Washington Wednesday after the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of imposing new sanctions. […]
Read moreItaly’s biggest lender UniCredit has suffered attacks on client data, with around 400,000 of its Italian customers affected by unauthorised accesses of data, potentially including personal andbank account details, it said on Wednesday. No passwords were stolen in the attacks, which first occurred in September and October last year and then again in June and […]
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Italy's 'immortal' Silvio Berlusconi bouncing back in polls and could become kingmaker
The center-right party of Italian politician and ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is leading voter polls in the country and could now be central to forming a new government in elections looking likely in early 2018, according to analysts. Despite a political career that has been plagued by corruption allegations and sex scandals, Berlusconi is seeing […]
Read moreSperm counts in men from America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have dropped by more than 50 percent in less than 40 years, researchers said on Tuesday. They also said the rate of decline is not slowing. Both findings — in a meta-analysis bringing together various studies — pointed to a potential decline in male […]
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World's largest cement maker posts second-quarter earnings beat following Syria scandal
LafargeHolcim posted slightly better-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday as the world’s biggest cement maker sought to put a scandal over payments to armed groups in Syria behind it. The Franco-Swiss company reported adjusted operating profit of 1.735 billion Swiss francs ($1.82 billion) for the three months ended June 30, slightly ahead of the average estimate […]
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