Arkema shares fell sharply on Thursday after two explosions were reported at its flood-hit chemical plant in Crosby, Texas. Chemicals were released into the atmosphere after Arkema’s U.S.-based complex sustained significant damage from Tropical Storm Harvey. One police officer helping to secure the site was reportedly taken to a nearby hospital after inhaling fumes, while […]

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator has lamented a lack of developments in the third round of Brexit negotiations, saying that no “decisive progress” has been made on any principal subjects. Michel Barnier said Thursday that the three-day talks in Brussels with his British counterpart David Davis, and their respective delegations, had secured “useful clarification […]

Rapid gains by the euro against the dollar are worrying a growing number of policymakers at the European Central Bank, raising the chance its asset purchases will be phased out only slowly, three sources familiar with discussions told Reuters. The scheme is due to expire at the end of 2017 but formal talks over its […]

Euro zone inflation rose to 1.5 percent year-on-year in August, narrowly beating analyst expectations and edging slightly closer to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target, according to flash estimates released by Eurostat on Thursday. The European Union’s statistics office projected consumer prices in the euro zone would reach its highest level in four months in […]

The United States on Thursday flew some of its most advanced warplanes to South Korea to take part in bombing drills aimed at intimidating North Korea, after Pyongyang fired a midrange ballistic missile over Japan earlier this week, South Korea’s military said. Two U.S. B-1B supersonic bombers and four F-35 stealth fighter jets joined four […]

British Prime Minister Theresa May is in Tokyo this week, actively attempting to assuage fears that Japanese business leaders have on the possible impact of Brexit on their U.K. businesses. But corporate owners don’t necessarily care about the bilateral terms between Japan and Great Britain. Instead, they really want a liberal global trading environment. And […]

The French government is to unveil final details of proposed labor reforms Thursday in what is seen as a key plank of President Emmanuel Macron‘s political and economic strategy for the next five years but also a highly contentious issue inside the country. The recently-elected president wants to make the labor market more flexible to […]

China’s stronghold as the leading BRICS economy could be up for contention by the end of the next decade, according to a new report which suggests that India is set to see a surge in innovation. India’s innovation growth rate is expected to rise significantly over the next 15 years, placing it ahead of Russia […]

U.K. and EU diplomats are locked in the third round of talks this week in Brussels, but real negotiations have yet to begin, the European Parliament chief for Brexit warned in an exclusive interview with CNBC. “Let’s be honest, I think it’s maybe the first round of negotiations,” Guy Verhofstadt, who represents the European Parliament […]

Russia’s central bank stepped in to launch one of the largest bank rescues in the country’s history, stoking fears of a possible systemic crisis in its banking sector. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said late Tuesday it planned to rescue Otkritie, the country’s seventh-largest bank by assets according to Interfax data, amid concerns about […]