European Union governments agreed on Friday to start talks with China to remove restrictions on foreign investment and set clearer rules on doing business after months of trade disputes over Chinese solar panels and EU wine.

• October 19, 2013

General Motors (GM.N) has decided to put its Russian operations back under the control of its European wing - a victory for GM Europe's new president and a signal of support for a workforce that has endured massive job cuts in the hunt for profitability.

• October 19, 2013

Deal or no deal, the U.S. Congress' dance with default impressed policymakers and investors in China and Japan with just how vulnerable their own economic revival plans are to the next political tantrum on Capitol Hill.

• October 18, 2013

The European Union and Canada agreed a multi-billion-dollar trade pact on Friday that will integrate two of the world's largest economies and paves the way for Europe to do an even bigger deal with the United States.

• October 18, 2013

Britain opened the door to investment from China in its nuclear sector on Thursday as finance minister George Osborne invited Chinese companies to take stakes in new nuclear projects.

• October 17, 2013

Moscow expressed skepticism over the results of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers which ended on Wednesday, with a senior Russian diplomat saying the two sides were "kilometers apart" in their approaches.

• October 17, 2013

World stocks and the dollar marked time on Wednesday as cautious investors focused on hopes that U.S. politicians would strike a last-minute deal to prevent the country defaulting on its debt.

• October 16, 2013

A month of combat in the U.S. Congress over government spending showed signs on Monday of giving way to a Senate deal to reopen shuttered federal agencies and prevent an economically damaging default on federal debt.

• October 15, 2013