Reuters

By Deisy Buitrago

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will not grant safe passage to leave the country to six opposition aides who have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas, a ruling party official said late on Wednesday.

Senior Argentine officials told Reuters this month the administration of President Nicolas Maduro had reneged on April promises to allow the aides to leave. The opposition says Maduro is targeting rivals ahead of... (continue reading...)

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's new interest rates framework may discourage money-market lending because banks will find it cheaper to tap the ECB, policymaker Joachim Nagel said on Thursday.

The ECB wants to wean banks off free cash after 10 years of money printing but it is trying to do so gently enough not to upset the financial system.

Under a new framework unveiled in March, the ECB set a 15 basis-point spread... (continue reading...)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on Thursday to deepen their "strategic partnership" while scolding the United States for a series of moves that they said threatened their countries.

Following are the key points of the joint statement, which is 7,000 words long in Russian, on "the deepening of the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era."

* Russia... (continue reading...)

LONDON (Reuters) - British police charged a man with multiple counts of racially aggravated criminal damage on Thursday, after a series of anti-Muslim incidents last October and November at the office that serves Palestinian interests as well as mosques and businesses in the capital.

Police said Jonathan Katan was arrested last November after red paint was thrown or sprayed at a number of different locations on 11 occasions between Oct. 16 and Nov.... (continue reading...)

By Foo Yun Chee, Ilona Wissenbach and Angelo Amante

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/ROME (Reuters) - Lufthansa has offered to keep some competing ITA short-haul routes in an effort to secure EU antitrust approval for its bid for a stake in the Italian airline, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The offer is part of a package of remedies submitted to EU competition enforcers last week to allay concerns that the deal could... (continue reading...)