Reuters

By Bernardo Caram

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil estimates aid measures taken by authorities after deadly floods in its southernmost state will cost at least 13.4 billion reais ($2.6 billion) from its budget, according to finance ministry data compiled by Reuters.

Heavy rains, which have battered Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state since late April, caused historic floods that killed over 150 people, while nearly 100 residents are still... (continue reading...)

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The Croatian parliament on Friday approved a government dominated by the conservative pro-European HDZ party, led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, marking his third term in the job following a parliamentary election last month.

The long-ruling HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), which led the NATO member country of 3.8 million people to join the EU's Schengen free travel area and the euro zone last year, formed a coalition with... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - It's every amateur photographer's nightmare: you spy a once-in-a-lifetime picture, and you forget to change your camera settings.

But it can happen to a seasoned professional, too.

Reuters stringer Radovan Stoklasa was one of the few people left in a makeshift press centre in the Slovakian town of Handlova about 40 minutes after Prime Minister Robert Fico had briefed reporters on a cabinet meeting that had just ended.

(Reuters) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, point man for the energy sector and negotiations with the OPEC+ grouping, has been given new responsibilities for coordinating the economy, according to a government announcement issued on Friday.

The announcement, posted on the government.ru website, gave a list of Novak's additional duties, including coordination of socio-economic policies, overseeing measures to offset Western sanctions,... (continue reading...)

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rebound that has taken the U.S. stock market to record highs this week may have further to run, if history is any guide.

Fresh signs of a cooling economy calmed inflation worries in May, helping all three major U.S. stock indexes rise to records this week. The benchmark S&P 500, which fell over 4% in April, is now up 11% year-to-date.

Market strategists who track historical trends... (continue reading...)