Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - Political parties representing the French left-wing said they had reached an agreement to form a 'Popular Front' to contest the snap parliamentary election which will be held over the coming month.

"A new page in the history of France has been written with this new Popular Front!" said a joint statement issued on behalf on the parties.

This united left-wing 'Popular Front' is set to go head-to-head against the... (continue reading...)

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as the greenback notched gains against a basket of major currencies and the Bank of Canada reiterated it could cut interest rates further.

The loonie was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3750 to the U.S. dollar, or 72.73 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3715 to 1.3763.

"The U.S. dollar has maintained its bid tone since... (continue reading...)

By Michael S. Derby and Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that she believes the largest Chinese banks are mindful of U.S. sanctions against Russia and do not want to violate them, but added the U.S. will not rule out taking action if it deems it necessary.

"I think that the largest financial institutions in China have been trying to comply and have a very strong motive not to be... (continue reading...)

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden said on Thursday it had called in Iraq's charge d'affaires in Stockholm to protest against a death sentence handed down to a Swedish citizen in Iraq.

The foreign ministry said Iraqi authorities had confirmed that one Swedish citizen had been sentenced to death and that it had also received information that one or two other Swedish citizens had been handed the same sentence.

"Iraq's chargé d'affaires was... (continue reading...)

By Maytaal Angel

LONDON (Reuters) - World cocoa prices rose back above $10,000 a ton on Thursday, heading towards the year's record peaks as the chocolate industry's supply crisis worsened after top producer Ivory Coast halted bean exports for June and forward sales for next season.

The news came a day after reports that Ghana, the world's second largest producer of the chocolate ingredient, is looking to delay delivery of up to 350,000... (continue reading...)