By Angus McDowall BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army has restored control over all areas surrounding the capital Damascus for the first time since early in the seven-year-old war, after pushing Islamic State militants out of a south Damascus pocket, the military said. Pro-Syrian government forces have been battling for weeks to recover al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the adjacent Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp from Islamic State since driving rebels from eastern Ghouta in April.
By Matt Spetalnick and James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea released three American prisoners and handed them over to U.S.
By Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump aired differences over trade and NATO on Friday at a White House meeting where they tried to put on a show of warmth and friendship despite tensions between the two allies. With Trump poised to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium soon that will impact European exports, Merkel said the decision is now in Trump's hands on whether to grant exemptions to European Union nations.
By Suvashree Choudhury MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's government and the central bank will ensure there is an adequate amount of currency notes, following reports that banks' automated teller machines had run out of cash in different parts of the country, the government said on Tuesday. Cash withdrawals in India go up during crop harvest season which is usually during March to April, and then during festival season in October, but there has been an unusual rise in currency demand in the last three months
By Tomo Uetake and Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - From a rising Nikkei stock market to falling measures of volatility, there is little in Japan's financial markets to suggest that this may be a nation on the verge of a political upheaval. Public support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the architect of the Abenomics brand of reforms that has helped weaken the yen, raised economic growth levels and lifted corporate profits, is at record lows as his administration is embroiled in scandals involving suspected cronyism. That has drastically reduced the odds of Abe being re-elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in September and becoming Japan's longest serving prime minister
By Joseph Nasr and Rene Wagner BERLIN (Reuters) - German investor morale plunged to its lowest level in more than five years in April on growing fears of a trade war with the United States that would hurt exporters and damage an economy which already shows signs of weakening. The ZEW research institute's index of economic sentiment among investors, published on Tuesday, dropped more than 13 points on the month, its sharpest decline since July 2016
By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan will likely maintain its view inflation will reach its 2 percent target next fiscal year and project it will stay near that level the following year, in new forecasts due out next week, sources familiar with its thinking said. But the central bank will reassure markets it is nowhere near an exit from years of ultra-loose policy given risks to the inflation outlook, such as uncertainty on how quickly companies would raise wages to meet labour shortages, the sources said
By Norihiko Shirouzu and Adam Jourdan BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is scrapping a limit on foreign ownership of automotive ventures, representing a major shift from policy in place for more than two decades, even as trade tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing. The country will remove foreign ownership caps on companies making fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2018, for makers of commercial vehicles in 2020 and the wider car market by 2022, China's state planner said in a statement
BERLIN (Reuters) - German investor morale plunged to its lowest level in more than five years in April as economic data weakened and uncertainty linked to rising trade tensions between China and the United States increased, a survey showed on Tuesday. The ZEW research institute said its monthly survey showed a reading for economic sentiment among investors had dropped for a third month in a row to -8.2 from 5.1 in March.
(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, raised its earnings forecast for the year and posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by strength across its businesses.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has ended talks to sell its Indian retail and wealth management business to private lender IndusInd Bank Ltd, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. The German bank is now considering retaining the business under its new chief executive, Christian Sewing, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged up on Tuesday, supported by investors' growing concern over the potential for disruptions to crude supply, especially in the Middle East. Brent crude oil futures were up 4 cents at $71.46 a barrel by 1145 GMT, while U.S. crude futures edged up 8 cents to $66.30 a barrel
(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported a 27 percent rise in quarterly profit, driven by a surge in trading amid increased market volatility.
(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, fueled by growth in its core insurance and health-services businesses and raised its earnings forecast for the year.
(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Tuesday and raised its full-year sales forecast, helped by growing demand for its cancer drugs. J&J's pharmaceuticals sales rose 3.8 percent to $3.04 billion, driven by sales of its cancer drugs such as Darzalex, Imbruvica and Zytiga that rose 45 percent to $2.31 billion in the quarter. J&J raised its full-year sales forecast to $81.0 billion to $81.8 billion from its previous forecast of $80.6 billion to $81.4 billion
By James Pomfret and Venus Wu GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - As Washington and Beijing face off in a simmering trade dispute, Chinese exporters are expressing concerns about an escalation, although many say they expect the worst to be averted as negotiations continue.
By Elias Glenn BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy grew at a slightly faster-than-expected pace of 6.8 percent in the first quarter, buoyed by strong consumer demand and robust property investment. Resilience in the world's second-largest economy will likely keep a synchronized global recovery on track for a while longer, even as China faces rising tensions with the United States that could impact billions of dollars in trade.
By Jan Harvey LONDON (Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday as sharper appetite for risk benefited cyclical assets at bullion's expense, though losses were capped by the dollar's slip to three-week low against a basket of currencies. Gold rallied to a 2-1/2 month high last week as heightened tensions over Syria and U.S.