U.S.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 points to reduced Fed bond buying this year

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank expects to slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and bring them to a halt around mid-2014, comments that weighed on stocks and pushed bond yields to a 15-month high.  Full Article 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen following a security handover ceremony at a military academy outside Kabul June 18, 2013. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghanistan to shun U.S. talks with Taliban

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. peace talks with the Taliban until they were led by Afghans and would suspend negotiations with the United States on a troop pact.  Full Article | Video 

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 

People walk past a branch of Iran's Bank Mellat in Istanbul August 18, 2010. Picture taken  August 18, 2010.       REUTERS/Murad Sezer

UK court ruling threatens Iran sanctions

LONDON - Western government sanctions against Iran suffered a big setback when Britain's top court ruled that the government was wrong to have imposed sanctions on the biggest Iranian private bank over alleged links to Tehran's nuclear program.  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.  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 

Hassan Jazera, one of the leaders of the Ghurabaa al-sham brigade, aims a mounted weapon on a pick-up truck at Aleppo's district of al Sakhour June 15, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman

Syria's Islamists seize control, moderates dither

ALEPPO, Syria - During a 10-day journey through rebel-held territory in Syria, Reuters found that radical Islamist units are sidelining more moderate groups that do not share the Islamists’ goal of establishing a supreme religious leadership in the country.  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