London / AFP British Prime Minister Theresa May completed a major overhaul of the government on Thursday, promoting leading Brexit campaigners and stunning observers by picking gaffe-prone Boris Johnson as her top diplomat. After six years as interior minister under David Cameron, May took office on Wednesday signalling her intention to start with a clean slate — before ruthlessly ejecting ...

  Berlin, Germany / AFP Europe’s media reacted with incredulity, sarcasm and sometimes dismay on Thursday to the news that top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson is Britain’s new foreign secretary. In a shock move, new PM Theresa May appointed the eccentric former London mayor, known for his political antics and gaffe-prone style, as the top diplomat to lead the country ...

  Dallas / AFP Funerals were held for two of the five officers killed in last week’s sniper shooting in Dallas, one day after President Barack Obama addressed a public memorial service honoring the slain police. Onlookers paused to pay their respects to Lorne Ahrens of the Dallas Police Department and Brent Thompson, an officer with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, as ...

  Caracas / AFP Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has extended the country’s state of “economic emergency” for another 60 days, an official newspaper reported, a sign of declining conditions in the crisis-hit country. The state of emergency, in place since January, was necessary due to “extraordinary… social, economic, political, natural and ecological” pressures, according to the presidential decree, signed by Maduro ...

  Washington, United States / AFP White House hopeful Donald Trump will announce his pick for vice president in New York Friday, he said on Twitter, as speculation runs rampant over a handful of potential running mates. Among those believed to be at the top of the Republican’s list are Indiana Governor Mike Pence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and ...

  Bloomberg Britain’s new Brexit Czar argued this week that negotiations on the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union could begin around the end of this year, with December 2018 a probable date for departure. Appointed late on Wednesday by Prime Minister Theresa May, David Davis will now be Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union having campaigned to ...

  Bloomberg Philip Hammond, the U.K.’s newly appointed chancellor of the exchequer, said the vote to leave the European Union had “rattled confidence” and that he will take “whatever measures” needed to shore up the British economy. “The number one challenge is to stabilize the economy, send signals of confidence about the future, the plans we have for the future ...

  Bloomberg Germany’s government bonds lagged behind their higher-yielding peers as speculation major central banks will inject another dose of monetary stimulus curbed demand for the safest assets. Italian 10-year securities rose for a second day, while the extra yield Spanish bonds offer over German debt narrowed to the least since March. The split in the market came before an ...

  Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc was awarded £69 million ($91 million) by a London judge following a long-running dispute over fees charged on card transactions with Mastercard Inc. Mastercard charges on U.K. credit and debit card transactions restricted competition, according to a Competition and Appeal Tribunal judgment published on Thursday. The judgment is the first in a series of claims ...

  Bloomberg Monsanto Co. has revived talks with BASF SE about a possible combination of their agrochemicals businesses, according to people familiar with the matter, after it rejected a $62 billion takeover offer from Bayer AG. The U.S. company is exploring various transactions, including the potential acquisition of BASF’s agriculture-solutions unit, the people said, asking not to be identified as ...