Reuters

(Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that "in-depth dialogue" was the way to reduce rising tensions between Russia and the West, including in the nuclear sphere, but that "the collective West" was refusing to engage despite the potential dangers.

Russia's war in Ukraine has seen East-West ties hit their most dangerous moment since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had started the first... (continue reading...)

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Superior Court of Justice has denied state-run oil company Petrobras an appeal against the collection of some 987 million reais ($192.68 million) in taxes, the company said late on Tuesday.

The taxes relate to sales of oil derivatives from March 2002 to October 2003, Petrobras said in a securities filing. The firm said it would assess whether a fresh appeal could be lodged against the decision.

($1 = 5.1225... (continue reading...)

By Bhargav Acharya and Kopano Gumbi

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's headline inflation slowed slightly in April, but analysts said an interest rate cut was unlikely next week when the central bank's monetary policy meeting overlaps with a national election whose outcome is uncertain.

Headline consumer inflation dropped to 5.2% year on year in April from 5.3% in March, Statistics South Africa data showed on Wednesday, whereas... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - PDD Holdings beat first-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday, powered by strong adoption of its international shopping site, Temu, and as Chinese domestic discount e-commerce platform Pinduoduo attracted more price-conscious customers.

Consumers in China have preferred less expensive shopping platforms such as Pinduoduo and Bytedance's Douyin at a time when a prolonged property sector downturn and rising local debt weighed on the... (continue reading...)

By Danilo Masoni and Samuel Indyk

MILAN (Reuters) - A record-breaking run in European shares has made them more vulnerable to possible pull-backs in the latter part of 2024, although the region's recovering economy and the start of a rate-cut cycle is seen pushing them back to new peaks in 2025.

Fund managers and equity strategists surveyed from May 13 to 22 see the STOXX 600 index at 513 points by end-2024, implying a 1.9% fall from... (continue reading...)