Bloomberg President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping ended their call Thursday with plans to hold their first face-to-face summit, but the US and China are unlikely to halt their bickering in the months before the two leaders finally meet. The world’s two largest economies risk a fresh showdown as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi kicks off an Asian tour Friday ...

Bloomberg A US delegation met with senior Taliban officials in Uzbekistan to discuss efforts to unfreeze some $3.5 billion in central bank reserves as the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan deteriorates. The US delegation told the militant group and technocrats there was a need to accelerate efforts to unlock the reserves and reiterated the funds should be used to benefit the ...

Bloomberg Ukraine said it’s close to restarting grain shipments, although the timing will depend on go-ahead from the United Nations, which helped broker last week’s deal, and there were still few details available about how the process will unfold. “Our side is fully ready,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in the Odesa region, where he was watching grain being loaded ...

Bloomberg Rishi Sunak conceded he was the underdog in the race to be the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister, but vowed to fight for every vote. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer admitted his pledge not to cut personal taxes until inflation is under control was not universally popular, telling Conservative members at the first official hustings ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will unveil plans for a referendum on changing the Australian constitution to set up a representative Indigenous body in parliament, moving a step closer to fulfilling a major part of his policy agenda. In a speech to the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture in Australia’s Northern Territory on Saturday, Albanese was to propose to ...

  Bloomberg Financial firms may be fined and stripped of their regulatory authorisation unless they put their customers’ needs first under far-reaching reforms from the UK City regulator. Banks, insurers and other companies will have to ensure their services are actually good for their clients and that this approach is taken at all levels of the business, Ian Searle, head ...

  Bloomberg A strong quarter from Standard Chartered Plc’s traders provided a boost to the emerging market-focused bank despite fears that a slowing global economy could squeeze its lending business. The London-based bank reported underlying pretax profit rises 7% to $1.32 billion in the second quarter, as its traders benefitted from volatility in global markets along with many of its ...

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc’s profit fell more than expected in the second quarter after it booked charges and penalties in the US, marring a strong period for the bank’s bond traders. The British lender said a market plunge would increase the cost of buying back US investment products it mistakenly oversold. Barclays also expects to pay $200 million in penalties ...

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA posted its highest profit on record as lending income rises amid the prospect of higher interest rates and volatile markets lifted securities trading in the second quarter. Revenue at the unit that houses BNP’s retail operations rises 11%, reflecting higher fees, rising rates and gains in specialised businesses, the Paris-based firm said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg Spain is seeking to tax banks for windfall profits made from net interest and fees charged to clients, in the boldest move against lenders by any major European Union nation to offset the impact of a worsening cost-of-living crisis. A bill introduced to parliament aims to set a 4.8% tax on Spanish banks. It also seeks to charge ...