The United Nations paid at least $18 million last year to companies with close ties to Bashar al-Assad, some of them run by cronies of the Syrian president who are on US and European Union blacklists. Contracts for telecommunications and security were awarded to regime insiders including Rami Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin. UN staff ran up a $9.5 million bill at …

Noble Group Ltd. received a fresh broadside from Iceberg Research as the trader’s long-time foe predicted that the commodity company will probably fail, while telling executives that the anonymous commentator won’t be silenced by being sued. The trader’s shares fell. “Noble is sinking in a perfect storm,” the researcher said in a report on Thursday. “The company is walking towards …

The best thing to do with mistakes is learn from them. So as part of her vacation reading, UK Prime Minister Theresa May might want to glance at the just-released British Election Study showing what was foremost on voters’ minds as they cast ballots in the 2017 general election: Brexit The election was supposed to be a walk in Hyde …