LONDON (AP) — Eurozone inflation hit a record 8.1% in May amid surging energy and food costs fueled in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Annual inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency soared past the previous record of 7.4% reached in March and April, according to the latest numbers published Tuesday…
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Historically skeptical about European Union efforts to deepen cooperation, Danish voters on Wednesday will choose whether to abandon the country’s decision three decades ago to opt out of the bloc’s common defense policy. The Danish referendum comes as the latest example of European countries seeking closer defense links with allies in…
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s president highlighted the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party as part of his country’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO and said both nations doing so would carry security risks for Turkey. The group known as PKK has waged a 38-year insurgency against Turkey that has led to tens of…
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese manufacturing activity started to rebound in May after the government eased anti-virus restrictions that shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers, an official survey showed Tuesday. The monthly purchasing managers’ index of the national statistics agency and an industry group, the China Federal of Logistics and purchasing, improved to 49.6% from…
Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street closed out a month buffeted by worries about a possible recession, inflation and rising interest rates. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7% to 27,472.49. Japan’s parliament late Tuesday enacted a $21 billion extra budget to tackle soaring fuel and food prices following…
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that next month’s summit in Madrid will be a “historic” opportunity to strengthen the alliance in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Speaking at a gala in Madrid to mark Spain’s 40th year as a NATO member, Stoltenberg said he looked forward to welcoming…
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Monday it may use an arrangement similar to that used for payments for its gas supplies to pay its dollar-denominated foreign debts. The Vedomosti business daily quoted Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying that Russia will offer the holders of its Eurobond obligations to accept a payment system bypassing Western…
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition and the main opposition party have reached a deal to move ahead with a big increase in defense spending that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced three months ago. Scholz said three days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 that Germany would commit 100 billion euros ($107 billion) to a…
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops pushed deeper into a key eastern Ukrainian city Monday, fighting street by street with Kyiv’s forces in a battle that has left Sievierodonetsk in ruins. In a bid to pressure Moscow to end the war, the European Union agreed to embargo most Russian oil imports by the end of…
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders agreed Monday to embargo most Russian oil imports into the bloc by year-end as part of new sanctions on Moscow worked out at a summit focused on helping Ukraine with a long-delayed package of new financial support. The embargo covers Russian oil brought in by sea, allowing a temporary…
