Bloomberg As Britain ponders its future in the European Union, investors are betting an amount almost the size of Iceland’s economy on the pound falling to levels last seen in the 1980s. At least 11 billion pounds ($15.5 billion) has been wagered this year on options that would profit if sterling fell to or below $1.3502, a 4 percent drop ...

Bloomberg Two days after IS attacks on Brussels, European Union ministers are trying to overcome their divisions and convince citizens that they can stop the wave of terrorism as police hunt for a new suspect possibly involved in the bombings. As Belgian police continue their search for the surviving perpetrators, EU interior ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday afternoon to ...

Bloomberg With a combination of defiance, sadness and anger, people in Brussels tried to return to normality a day after the terrorist massacre that many feared was coming. Machine-gun wielding soldiers guarded subway entrances and searched commuters’ bags and coats before they were allowed to travel as suspects in Tuesday’s bombings remained at large. Many people followed advice to work ...

London / AFP A British man who sparked outrage on Twitter with a message about confronting a Muslim woman over the Brussels attacks has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, London police said on Thursday. “I confronted a Muslim woman yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said ‘Nothing to do with me’. A mealy ...

Beijing / AFP Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss the deteriorating situation on the Korean peninsula with his US counterpart Barack Obama when he visits Washington for a nuclear security summit next week, a senior Beijing official said on Thursday. North Korea’s most recent atomic test in January and a series of rocket launches are likely to be ...

Seoul / AFP North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has claimed an “historic” advance in the country’s nuclear strike capability with the successful test of a solid-fuel rocket engine, state media said on Thursday. The announcement came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye ordered the military to “strengthen readiness” in the wake of multiple North Korean threats to launch nuclear and ...

Damascus / AFP Pro-government forces pushed a fierce bid to recapture Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra from extremists on Thursday as Moscow hosted top US diplomat John Kerry for talks on the fraught peace process. The IS group called on civilians still living in Palmyra to leave, as army and pro-government militia battled the extremists on several fronts along the ...

Brussels / AFP Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam wants to be extradited to France “as soon as possible” to face charges following his arrest in Brussels, his lawyer said on Thursday. Asked if his client had prior knowledge about Tuesday’s suicide bombings at Brussels airport and on a metro train, lawyer Sven Mary said in English: “He didn’t know it.” ...

United Nations / AFP The UN Security Council should keep its military liaison office open in Dakhla, Western Sahara, to avoid setting a dangerous precedent, a UN official said. The world body said on Tuesday it had closed the office at Morocco’s request and withdrew three military observers posted there. It was the latest twist in a running dispute between ...

BAGHDAD / AP The Iraqi military backed by US-led coalition aircraft on Thursday launched a long-awaited operation to recapture the northern city of Mosul from IS militants, a military spokesman said. In the push, Iraqi forces retook several villages on the outskirts of the town of Makhmour, east of Mosul, early in the morning on Thursday and hoisted the Iraqi ...