EU antitrust regulators are set to approve U.S. cable company Comcast’s bid for European pay-TV company Sky without demanding concessions, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Comcast is battling Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox for Sky. The media mogul’s bid to buy all of Sky has been delayed by politicians and regulators […]

The very thought of visiting a hospital emergency department is stressful enough for many people, even without the discomfort or pain of an examination or treatment. Enter an immersive virtual-reality program created by three graduates being used in France to relax patients and even increase their tolerance of pain — without resorting to drugs. “What […]

NATO has defended the use of economic sanctions against Russia, suggesting they could prevent Moscow from invading other countries. After annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that has not been recognized internationally, Russia said it would not return the region. In response, the United States and European Union have imposed economic sanctions on […]

President Donald Trump should be given some leeway in his effort to rebalance America’s trade relationships, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNBC on Friday. If Trump was able to get North Korea to the negotiating table in spite of the criticism he faced late last year for his “fire and fury” comments to Kim […]

Britain’s markets watchdog will press ahead with a new premium listing next month aimed at attracting companies like state-controlled Saudi Aramco to London, although the rules have been “refined” following investor criticism. The Financial Conduct Authority’s initial proposal last year led to suggestions the British government had influenced the watchdog to try to secure the […]

Brexit negotiations have been dragging for months because the British government is not focused on what really matters, a U.K. lawmaker told CNBC on Friday. The process that will take the U.K. out of the European Union (EU) remains far from complete. The U.K. has still not outlined in precise terms how it intends to […]

Switzerland’s upcoming vote on how to create money is intellectually challenging for the traditional banking system, an economist told CNBC on Friday. The wealthy nation is due to vote Sunday on whether it should have a so-called sovereign money system — meaning the central bank would be the only provider of Swiss francs. In other […]

BT Group‘s Chief Executive Gavin Patterson will step down later this year after the British telecom company’s chairman said a change in leadership was needed. Patterson, who has led BT for almost five years, announced 13,000 job cuts last month in an attempt to address multiple pressures on the business. But a failure to hit […]

Canada’s Senate on Thursday voted to legalize recreational marijuana, clearing a major hurdle that puts the country on track to become the first Group of Seven nation to permit national use of the drug. The upper chamber Senate voted 56-30 in favor of the legislation but included amendments that the House of Commons will need […]

British Prime Minister Theresa May urged lawmakers to back the legislation that will end Britain’s membership in the European Union, ahead of a series of crunch parliamentary votes that could see a rebellion by those who want closer EU ties. May’s Brexit plan will begin its most severe test to date on June 12 when […]