Muhammad Naeem (2nd R), a spokesman for the Office of the Taliban of Afghanistan, stands next to a translator speaking during the opening of the Taliban Afghanistan Political Office in Doha June 18, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous

Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

KABUL/WASHINGTON - Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact.  Full Article | Video 

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks to the press following the Fed's two-day policy meeting at the Federal Reserve in Washington, June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Bernanke: Fed may trim bond buying this year

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the U.S. economy is expanding strongly enough for the central bank to begin slowing the pace of its bond-buying stimulus later this year.  Full Article 

Members of the Brazilian law enforcement troops chase demonstrators during protests ahead of the Confederations Cup soccer match between Brazil and Mexico outside the stadium of Fortaleza June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Brazil's protests: Not quite a 'Tropical Spring'

SAO PAULO - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability.  Full Analysis 

Mary Jo White, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (R) and Martin Gruenberg, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (L) attend the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council in Washington April 25, 2013. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

SEC shift puts pressure on other agencies

WASHINGTON - The decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to seek admissions of wrongdoing in select cases is expected to put pressure on other federal financial regulators to get tougher with their own Wall Street settlements.  Full Article 

FBI Director Robert Mueller speaks before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing about the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 19, 2013. Reuters/Larry Downing

Tea Party rallies as FBI says probe a top priority

WASHINGTON - More than a dozen FBI agents are assigned to a criminal probe into Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative political groups, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, calling the case a "high-priority investigation" that needs to be pushed aggressively."  Full Article 

Italian designers Domenico Dolce (R) and Stefano Gabbana acknowledge the audience at the end of their Spring/Summer 2013 collection at Milan Fashion Week September 23, 2012. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
Business

Dolce and Gabbana convicted of tax evasion

MILAN - Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine on Wednesday for hiding hundreds of millions of euros from the Italian tax authorities.  Full Article 

Ian Bremmer

The new Iranian president’s restrained power

When President Hassan Rohani takes office in August, he will have the potential to bring about meaningful changes within the confines of Iran's usual restrictions.  Commentary 

David Patrikarakos

Rohani: A survivor in the snakepit of Tehran

Rohani is the Beria of the Islamic Republic: He knows how to negotiate the pit of vipers that is Iranian politics.  Commentary 

Nicholas Wapshott

David Cameron takes on the tax havens

There is nothing more likely to spark anger than an unfair tax regime. That puts Britain's prime minister David Cameron, who like most conservatives believes in low taxes, in a bind.  Commentary 

John Lloyd

Trusting in our new security state

To adapt to our new surveillance status quo we have to trust the state, the government, the politicians, the businesses, the bureaucracies, the police, the security forces, the journalists and, yes, ourselves.  Commentary 

Sheldon Whitehouse

The price of ignoring climate change

Climate change endangers much of the world economy. Economists calculate that a 3.5-degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature would reduce global gross domestic product by 1 percent.  Commentary 

Edward Hadas

Rate rigging costs more than money

In cash terms, the manipulation of supposedly objective reference rates and prices is a petty crime: relatively small gains for a few and microscopic losses for many. Ethically, though, the tolerance of untrustworthy behaviour makes the industry look particularly bad.  Full Article