Insight: Obama's North Korean leap of faith falls short

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. diplomats filed into North Korea's grim embassy in Beijing last month they found an unlikely surprise: Starbucks.

Europe's reform drive risks running out of steam

PARIS: European leaders are caught between former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's injunction "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste" and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's admission that "We all know what to do. We just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it."

US extends trade benefit program to South Sudan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday added oil exporter South Sudan to a U.S. trade program for developing countries, allowing the newly independent nation to ship oil and thousands of other goods to the United States without paying U.S. import duties.

Ifo cheer fades as euro zone debt fears resurface

LONDON (Reuters) - Spain's and Italy's stock markets fell on Monday as fears they will struggle to enact reforms needed for growth returned, but a report that Germany may agree to combine the euro zone's two bailout funds temporarily lifted the two countries' bonds.

North Korea rocket plan upstages summit on keeping nuclear material away from terrorists

SEOUL, South Korea - The security summit opening Monday was supposed to be an opportunity for President Barack Obama and other leaders to find ways to keep nuclear material away from terrorists. So far, North Korea has upstaged that agenda.

Banks urged to raise fresh capital

The taxpayer could be asked to stump up yet more cash to support Britain's banks after the Bank of England's new risk watchdog urged them to raise more capital to weather future financial shocks.

China signs $31bn currency exchange deal with Australia

China and Australia have signed a currency swap agreement in a bid to promote bilateral trade and investment.

US exempts Japan and EU nations from Iran oil sanctions

The US government will not impose sanctions on Japan and 10 European Union nations that have reduced their oil imports from Iran.

High fuel prices threaten airline sector, IATA warns

GENEVA: The airline industry group IATA cut back its 2012 profit forecast for the airline sector to $3.0 billion (2.3 billion euros) from $3.5 billion on Tuesday, as tensions in the Gulf push fuel prices up.

Greece default insurance pays out $2.5 billion

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors holding insurance contracts on Greek government bonds will receive more than $2.5 billion in compensation after the country pulled off a complex debt restructuring.

US asks China to end 'distorting' currency policy

SHANGHAI: The US ambassador to China on Monday called on Beijing to end its "distorting" currency practices and stop discrimination against US firms, amid growing trade frictions between the two countries.

Jobless claims fall, manufacturing holds up

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing in the Northeast held up in March, providing more signs the economy was firmly on a self-sustaining growth path.

Fitch warns that UK's AAA-rating is at risk

George Osborne faced fresh questions about the credibility of his austerity policies just days before the budget on Wednesday night, when Fitch became the second of the major credit ratings agencies to warn that the UK's coveted AAA-rating is at risk.

Obama warns China against 'skirting the rules'

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned China to stop limiting its exports of so-called “rare earth” minerals used to make high-technology products.

German investor confidence most in 21 months

German investor confidence has risen to the highest level since June 2010.

Insecurity threatens Afghanistan with economic crisis

KABUL (Reuters) - Security fears ahead of a NATO combat force pullout in 2014 may prompt wealthy Afghans to keep shifting billions of dollars to safe havens in Dubai and elsewhere, threatening the country's economic survival, the deputy central bank governor warned.

Mideast Quartet to meet amid stalled peace talks

(Reuters) - The Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and European Union - will meet on Monday to discuss the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, the United Nations said.

UK committee concerned about Olympic security cost

LONDON (AP) — The 2012 London Olympics run a serious risk of going over budget, a British government committee warned Friday, complaining that unexpectedly staggering security costs will make it hard to stick to the 9.3 billion pound ($14.6 billion) spending plan.

China cyber capability endangers U.S. forces: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese cyberwarfare would pose a genuine risk to the U.S. military in a conflict, for instance over Taiwan or disputes in the South China Sea, according to report for the U.S. Congress.

Greece edges towards passing final debt swap hurdle needed for €130bn bailout

Greece has been edging towards a deal with its private-sector creditors as the hours ticked away towards Thursday's deadline for the agreement required to trigger a fresh €130bn bailout for its troubled economy.

Conflict in Iran would have disastrous consequences: India

WASHINGTON: Warning that any attack on Iran would be disastrous for the region, India has said that a series of recent media reports in the US have distorted its foreign policy objectives and energy security needs.

China domestic security spending rises to $111 billion

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will increase spending on police, militia and other domestic security arms by 11.5 percent to $111 billion this year, figures released on Monday showed, ahead of a leadership succession that has kindled fear of instability.

Moody's downgrades Greece's sovereign debt rating after debt swap

NEW YORK: Moody's Investors Service on Friday cut Greece's sovereign debt rating to the lowest possible level after a debt-restructuring deal that imposes hefty economic losses for private creditors.

IMF urges lower ECB interest rate

The European Central Bank should cut its basic interest rate further to help growth in the struggling eurozone, the International Monetary Fund said in a paper released Thursday.

World Bank says UN goal of halving poverty met

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Developing countries appear to have already met a United Nations goal to halve extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries by 2015, thanks mainly to China's economic boom, the World Bank said on Wednesday.