London / AFP ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger were among 140 European celebrities who signed a “love letter to the British people” on Thursday, hoping they will stay in the EU. The letter, also signed by Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven, French former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier and French-American actress Julie Delpy, comes with exactly ...

  Brussels / AFP European Council President Donald Tusk urged Europeans to abandon dreams of a federal Europe as these will only stoke the rise of anti-EU populists. The former Polish prime minister, who presides over EU leaders summits, made the comments three weeks before Britain votes in a June 23 referendum on EU membership. “There is no worse prospect ...

  PARIS / AP Floods inundating parts of France, Germany and Belgium have killed five people and trapped thousands in homes or cars, as rivers have broken their banks from Paris to Bavaria. And it isn’t over — more rain is forecast for the coming days in some regions, and authorities in the French capital predict the Seine River won’t reach ...

  Caracas / AFP Venezuela’s opposition learns on Thursday whether authorities will let them proceed with efforts to call a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro, whom they blame for the country’s fall from booming oil giant to basket case. The National Electoral Board (CNE) must accept or reject an initial petition with 1.8 million signatures endorsing a recall vote ...

  Kabul / AFP Gunmen on Thursday kidnapped at least 17 people travelling in civilian vehicles in northern Afghanistan, officials said, in the second group abduction within a week, underscoring the worsening security situation in the country. The passengers, all minority Hazaras, were pulled out of their vehicles in Sancharak district in Sar-e-Pul province and taken to a remote area ...

  Bloomberg The world’s food-import bill is set to tumble to a seven-year low in 2016 as a decline in grain prices and lower freight rates more than compensate for increased imports, according to the United Nations. Countries around the globe will probably spend $986 million importing food this year, the first drop below $1 trillion since 2009, the UN’s ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly rose in April, adding to indications that Latin America’s largest economy is close to hitting bottom. Production rose 0.1 percent in April after a 1.4 percent jump in March, the national statistics agency said on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro. That surprised all but one of the 37 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, whose median ...

  Bloomberg Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits declined for a third consecutive week, signaling sustained firming in the labour market. Jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 267,000 in the week ended May 28, a Labor Department report showed on Thursday. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for applications to edge up to 270,000. Dismissals have been unusually ...

  Bloomberg Monsanto Co. agreed to allow Argentina to help collect soybean royalty payments, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, a deal that may hasten the end of a lengthy dispute between the U.S. seed company and farmers in one of the world’s biggest agricultural exporters. St. Louis-based Monsanto also agreed to give the government full control ...

  Elkhart / AFP President Barack Obama shifted into full election campaign mode, accusing Republicans of trying to dupe middle class American voters about the economy and prey on their fears. Democrat Obama ditched his suit jacket and rolled-up his shirt sleeves for an hour-long partisan political speech in a predominantly Republican district of Indiana, a battleground state in the heart ...