British annual inflation was unchanged in March, official data showed Wednesday, easing the pressure on the Bank of England to hike rates amid ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.

The global economy is likely to pull out of a brief growth slump later this year — with a little help from the world's central banks and from U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators.
Global finance leaders gathered from the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank agree that the global economy has lost momentum this year. But they expect growth to pick up in the second half of 2019, as central bankers ease up on interest rates.

A Japanese court on Friday ruled that Carlos Ghosn will remain in detention until April 22, as prosecutors grill the former Nissan boss over allegations of financial misconduct.
The 65-year-old will be held in custody at a detention centre in Tokyo until then, whereupon authorities will either have to press formal charges, release him or re-arrest him if they feel he has other accusations to answer.

France will vote against the start of trade talks between the European Union and the United States, the French presidency said Thursday, despite EU members agreeing in principle to begin the discussions.

EU member states gave the green light on Thursday for Brussels to open trade talks with Washington, diplomatic sources said, ending months of stalemate due to opposition from France.

German prosecutors confirmed Thursday they raided 19 separate locations across the country as part of a massive investigation into so-called "cum-ex" tax fraud.
Frankfurt's public prosecutors office said 181 investigators and tax officials raided 19 offices and private homes located across the states of Hessen, Lower Saxony, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria on Tuesday, in an operation relating to three separate cases.

Saudi Arabia has slashed its oil production by more than promised as part of a pact to boost oil prices, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, while warning of mixed signals for global demand.

The pound held its gains Thursday after Britain and its EU partners agreed to once again extend the deadline for Brexit, days before the cut-off for avoiding an economically calamitous no-deal divorce.
After hours of late-night talks Prime Minister Theresa May was given until the end of October to pass her deal for leaving the bloc through parliament, having failed three times already.

The wife of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn arrived at a Tokyo court Thursday for a closed-door hearing to answer questions over her husband's alleged financial misconduct, according to local media.

Uber is seeking to raise some $10 billion in what would be the largest stock offering of the year, with details coming this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The global ride-hailing giant is seeking a valuation close to $100 billion -- an impressive figure but below some earlier estimates amid an ebbing of enthusiasm on growth and profitability, the report said.
