Plans by China to draw up a blacklist of US technology firms might sound great to hardliners as a retaliatory measure against Washington, but would most likely backfire. Pulling the trigger on such a threat could end up proving that the importance of the world’s most populous country as a global buyer may be smaller than many imagine. Beijing has ...

A round of local elections could have gone very badly for Italy’s government, a makeshift coalition of the populist Five Star Movement and the center-left Democratic Party. Matteo Salvini’s right-wing grouping had hoped to secure a string of victories, including in Tuscany — a left-wing stronghold. A good Salvini performance might even have toppled the coalition. However, the right only ...

After a decade of scandals and multiple bailouts, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is back in the spotlight. This time, the Italian government is shopping around the 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) lender ahead of a European Union deadline for Rome to exit the bank next year. Loaded with legal risks that dwarf its market value, any investor will ...