Beirut / AFP Key Syrian rebel groups vowed on Monday to strike back against alleged regime ceasefire violations, casting doubt on the future of fragile peace talks due to resume in Geneva. A truce agreed in February dramatically curtailed violence across much of Syria, but fighting has surged in recent days around second city Aleppo, causing tens of thousands to ...

  SEOUL/ AFP South Korea’s president is to visit Iran early next month for what would be the two countries’ first summit talks, her office said Monday. Iran has been seeking to integrate into the global financial system and improve ties with other countries since nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January. Tehran last year agreed to curb nuclear activities in ...

  Addis Ababa / AFP More followers of an influential Iraqi Shiite cleric on Monday joined a rally in central Baghdad to press lawmakers to vote on a Cabinet shakeup proposed by the prime minister amid a simmering political crisis that could jeopardize the country’s fight against the Islamic State group. Police cordoned off a downtown square with razor wire ...

  Juba / AFP South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar’s highly-anticipated return to the capital Juba, to take up the role of vice president, was delayed on Monday, his spokesman said, citing “logistical reasons”. “We are committed to the peace agreement, but there have been logistical issues and the first vice president, Riek Machar, will come tomorrow,” spokesman William Ezekiel ...

  MILAN / REUTERS Italy has dubbed its new bank bailout fund Atlas, after the mythical Greek titan, because it is meant to hold up the sky above the nation’s lenders. But some of the fund’s own investors doubt that it can do the job. The 5-6 billion euro ($5.7-6.8 billion) fund was hailed by the government as an industry-led ...

  MADRID / REUTERS Spain’s Caixabank said on Monday it would launch a full takeover bid for the 56 percent of Portuguese lender Banco BPI that it does not already own for 1.113 euros ($1.26) per share. The offer was dependent on acceptance topping 50 percent and the Portuguese bank eliminating a 20 percent shareholder rights limitation, the Spanish bank ...

  REUTERS Arab National Bank, Saudi Arabia’s seventh-largest lender by assets value, reported a 2.8 percent fall in first-quarter profit, but still beat analysts’ forecasts. Net profit in the three months to March 31 was 749.2 million riyals ($199.8 million), compared to 770.6 million riyals in the corresponding period of the previous year, it said in a bourse statement. Four ...

  Bloomberg CDC Group Plc is seeking to purchase a 10.68 percent stake in I&M Holdings Ltd. of Kenya through a private share transfer, the lender said. The UK-based development finance institution entered into a conditional agreement to buy shares held by Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and Proparco, which have 6.25 percent and 4.43 percent respectively, according to a statement ...

BLOOMBERG No sooner will Mario Draghi return from his summer vacation than he’ll be looking to boost euro-area stimulus yet again, economists predict. Despite unprecedented measures by the European Central Bank (ECB) president so far, a survey of 47 analysts who cover the institution showed more than 60 percent think he isn’t yet done. The most likely date for fresh ...

  Bloomberg China’s home-price gains accelerated last month as the nation’s economic hubs such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen continued to lead the way amid surging liquidity that underpinned demand. New-home prices excluding government-subsidized housing climbed in 62 cities, compared with 47 in February, among the 70 cities tracked by the government, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. ...