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North Korea repeats offer for nuclear talks
BEIJING (Reuters) - A top North Korean diplomat repeated an offer for international talks over his country's disputed nuclear programme during a meeting in China on Wednesday, saying the denuclearisation of the peninsula was the "dying wish" of North Korea's founder. The Beijing trip by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan
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Rupee gains, but still close to record low
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee rose on Wednesday, yet remained within close of its record low hit last week, as outflows from equity markets added to concerns about the funding of the current account deficit ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on its stimulus programme. Such concerns have compounded because
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Time to stop arguing about climate change, World Bank says
LONDON (Reuters) - The world should stop arguing about whether humans are causing climate change and start taking action to stop dangerous temperature rises, the president of the World Bank said on Wednesday. Jim Yong Kim said there was 97 to 98 percent agreement among scientists that global warming was real
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Half-way to lost decade, Europe’s growth task as tough as ever
LONDON (Reuters) - Half-way towards a lost decade for Europe's economy, pessimism persists about the political will to halt a worrying slide in the region's potential growth. Without sweeping reforms to boost productivity, Europe's output will remain sub-par, making it harder for governments to reduce debt burdens that are unsustainable financially
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Gyula Horn, the man who tore the Iron Curtain, dies at 80
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Gyula Horn, who as Hungary's last communist foreign minister ripped a hole in the Iron Curtain in 1989, has died at the age of 80 after long illness, the government said on Wednesday. His decisions helped trigger off tumultuous months in which European communist regimes collapsed like dominoes,
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Global stocks, bonds drop as Fed points to reduced bond buying
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled and benchmark Treasury bonds rose to yields not seen since March 2012 on Wednesday after Ben Bernanke laid out a blueprint for the wind-down of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program that has bolstered risky assets. Bernanke's comments were more explicit than markets expected. He said
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Global stocks, bonds drop as Fed points to reduced bond buying
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled and benchmark Treasury bonds rose to yields not seen since March 2012 on Wednesday after Ben Bernanke laid out a blueprint for the wind-down of the Federal Reserve's bond-buying program that has bolstered risky assets. Bernanke's comments were more explicit than markets expected. He said
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Iran says appeals for "jihad" in Syria fuel radicalism
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, prominent cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called for jihad in Syria after fighters from Shi'ite Lebanese
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Wall St slumps after Bernanke hints at slowing bond buying
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would start to reduce its stimulus measures later this year if the economy is strong enough. Equities have been closely tethered to ultra-loose monetary policy, which has been
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Brazil protests proceed as smaller cities join the fray
SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA (Reuters) - Protesters blocked roads in Sao Paulo and marched toward a stadium hosting a major international soccer game in Brazil's northeast on Wednesday in a growing wave of nationwide demonstrations against poor public services, inflation and other woes in Latin America's biggest country. After more than a week,