Bloomberg For the last eight months, an urgent question has been echoing through the halls of power in Rome, Brussels and Frankfurt: What’s to be done about Italy’s banks? Saddled with some 360 billion euros (US$400 billion) in soured loans and a sputtering economy, Italy’s lenders have been sliding toward the type of crisis that other European countries dealt ...

  BLOOMBERG A week after Britain began voting to leave the European Union, global markets are still being dominated by the consequences. There are signs the tension is easing: The pound held steady after former London Mayor Boris Johnson said he won’t run to succeed David Cameron as U.K. Conservative Party leader, offering the chance of a smoother transition of ...

  Bloomberg Mergers and acquisitions involving Canadian firms slid in the second quarter as market volatility, the U.S. election and the U.K.’s Brexit vote disrupted dealmaking, which reached a nine-year high of nearly $123 billion in the first half of the year. Deals involving Canadian firms were struck in a broad range of industries, including industrials, consumer, and in infrastructure ...

  Bloomberg Investors are setting their sights away from the U.K. in their search for markets less vulnerable to fallout from Britain’s vote to exit the EU. Amundi SA sees value in emerging-market rates, given that further central bank accommodation is possible after Brexit. While others appear to snub Europe altogether and turn to U.S. stocks, Indosuez Wealth Management favors ...

London / AFP Brexit campaigner Michael Gove announced a surprise bid on Thursday to become Britain’s next prime minister, in a blow for his close ally Boris Johnson’s chances, as turmoil gripped both the country’s main political parties after the shock vote to leave the EU. The race for the leadership of the governing Conservative Party kicked off as impatient ...

  Paris / AFP Hamza Attou, who helped key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam flee to Brussels, has been charged and taken into custody in France, the Paris prosecutor said on Thursday. The 22-year-old Belgian has been charged over his role in accompanying Abdeslam back to Brussels shortly after the IS-claimed attacks in the French capital on November 13 left 130 ...

  MELBOURNE / AP A teenager pleaded guilty on Thursday to plotting to run over and behead a police officer as part of an IS group-inspired attack on an Australian Veterans’ Day ceremony. Sevdet Besim, 19, pleaded guilty in Victoria state’s Supreme Court to one count of planning for a terrorist act, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. ...

  Manila / AFP Authoritarian firebrand Rodrigo Duterte warned of a “rough ride” after being sworn in as the Philippines’ president on Thursday, promising a relentless war on crime and corruption, but also to be a unifying leader. Duterte, 71, won last month’s election in landslide after a campaign dominated by foul-mouthed threats to kill tens of thousands of criminals ...

  Beijing / AFP Beijing will reject any ruling by an international tribunal in a contentious case brought by the Philippines over the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said, as tensions mount over the disputed waters. The United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in a closely watched case challenging China’s ...

  Kuala Lumpur / AFP A vocal critic of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged with corruption on Thursday in a further blow to the divided opposition, which alleged that the case was politically motivated. Lim Guan Eng, who has repeatedly demanded that Najib explain a massive financial scandal that engulfed his administration last year, appeared in the High ...