European markets are set to open lower on Tuesday morning, as investors monitor key political and economic risks while oil prices hover close to multi-year highs. The FTSE 100 is seen down around 19 points at 7,690, the CAC is expected to open 14 points lower at 5,525 while the DAX is poised to start […]

The numbers are still coming in after polls closed over the weekend in Iraq’s first election since defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) late last year. And they are pointing to a shock win for firebrand Iraqi cleric Moqtada al Sadr, who wasn’t even running for prime minister, along with his coalition allies, the Iraqi Communist […]

The Catalan parliament has elected the separatist lawmaker Quim Torra as regional president, giving fresh impetus to attempts to split from Spain. The vote Monday ends five months of political deadlock and makes Torra the seventh Catalan leader since Spain returned to a democracy in the 1970s. Torra narrowly won the vote 66 to 65 […]

A dramatic upswing in oil prices over recent months could soon create a “particularly hostile environment” for global investors, Citi economists warned Monday. The price of crude has risen over the past two years, from $26 in 2016 to $77 on Monday, as the balance between supply and demand has been steadily tightening. This has […]

Uber named its new U.K. boss Monday amid an ongoing battle with London’s transport regulator over its license to operate in the city. The ride-hailing giant said Jamie Heywood, U.K. director of electronics at Amazon, would join Uber next month as its new regional general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe. London’s transport authority, Transport […]

One of the U.K.’s top spies has made a rare public speech, accusing Russia of “flagrant breaches of international rules” over a poisoning attack on U.K. soil in March. In a speech to security chiefs in Berlin Monday, MI5 Director-General Andrew Parker said the “reckless attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal, using a highly lethal nerve […]

HSBC claimed on Monday it had performed the world’s first commercially viable trade finance transaction using blockchain technology. The bank issued a letter of credit for U.S. food and agriculture firm Cargill. The trade finance transaction involved a bulk shipment of soybeans from Argentina to Malaysia. The letter of credit was issued from HSBC to […]

Two anti-establishment parties in Italy are set to present details of a coalition agreement Monday, but market participants do not seem substantially worried about the prospect of a populist government. The left-wing Five Star Movement (M5S) and the right-wing Lega are due to meet the country’s president Monday afternoon to outline plans for a new […]

Britain on Monday awarded defense firm BAE Systems 2.4 billion pounds ($3.26 billion) to work on two submarine program, the company said in a statement. The Ministry of Defense gave BAE a 1.5 billion pound contract for delivery of the seventh Astute class submarine, and a further 900 million pounds for the next phase of […]

Moqtada al-Sadr was leading in Iraq’s parliamentary election with more than half the votes counted, the electoral commission said, a surprise comeback for the powerful nationalist Shi’ite cleric who had been sidelined by Iran-backed rivals. Shi’ite militia leader Hadi al-Amiri’s bloc, which is backed by Tehran, was in second place, according to the count of […]