By Trevor Hunnicutt and Sakura Murakami TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression in a comment that seemed to stretch the limits of the ambiguous U.S. policy to…
Newly appointed French minister refuses to resign after rape accusations
PARIS (Reuters) – Damien Abad, France’s newly appointed minister for Solidarity and the Disabled, again strongly denied on Monday he had raped two women, adding he had no intention to resign from the government. “Should an innocent man resign? I don’t …
Italy looking for two bids for airline ITA as deadline looms -sources
By Francesca Landini and Giuseppe Fonte MILAN (Reuters) -Italy expects to attract at least two rival bids for ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, before the deadline for its part privatisation expires at midnight on Monday, two sources close to the…
Sub-prime lender Amigo given lifeline by UK court
LONDON (Reuters) – British sub-prime lender Amigo has been granted court approval to pay compensation to past customers mis-sold loans and a chance to stay in business and resume lending, the company said on Monday. Amigo has been fighting for its life…
Seeking hugs, embattled Juan Carlos meets his son King Felipe of Spain
MADRID (Reuters) – King Felipe of Spain met his father Juan Carlos in a low-key private meeting in the Royal residence on Monday, marking their first encounter since the former king left the country in 2020 under a cloud of scandals that still hangs ov…
Exclusive: Four EU countries call for use of Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine
By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia will call on Tuesday for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the European Union to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, a joint letter written …
Pensions watchdog warns about climate risk in rebuke of HSBC banker who downplayed danger
By Carolyn Cohn and Lawrence White LONDON (Reuters) -UK pension schemes should not ignore climate change, a senior executive at The Pensions Regulator said on Monday, the first watchdog to weigh in after a top HSBC banker was suspended after playing do…
ECB rate hikes a done deal as inflation is priority: Villeroy
DAVOS (Reuters) -European Central Bank rate hikes in July and September are essentially a done deal as fighting off high inflation must take priority, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Monday. ECB President Christine Lagarde…
Sweden’s Klarna to lay off 10% of staff, Dagens Industri reports
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish payments company Klarna will lay off about 10% of its 7,000 employees, Swedish business daily Dagens Industri reported on Monday, as the fast-growing firm looks to balance its books ahead of a new financing round. The news…
JPMorgan’s UK consumer bank tops half a million customers
LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan’s consumer bank Chase in Britain has attracted more than half a million customers since launching eight months ago, in the most detailed snapshot given by the Wall Street giant to date on how the digital venture is progressi…