Reuters

In a country where the Big Six banks control 80% mortgage market share, Canada's smaller lenders are making some rare headway after the Bank of Canada's sudden and sharp interest rate increases this year raised the bar to qualify for home loans.

Poland's central bank raised its main interest by 25 basis points in September, the lowest rise in the current rate hike cycle so far, as it expects lower growth and continued inflationary pressure, it said on Wednesday.

Thousands of supporters of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gathered early on Wednesday to join the far-right leader at rallies mixing Independence Day military displays with political demonstrations less than a month before a heated election.

Wall Street's main indexes made cautious gains on Wednesday, with growth stocks in the lead as bond yields eased after a recent rally.

A deal to cap dividends at Nornickel, the world's top palladium and refined nickel producer, will lapse at the end of this year as its co-owners avoid renewing a row which could anger the Kremlin, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

European countries have increased gas inventories by a record volume this year, but they will still need to reduce consumption sharply this winter to protect themselves from a possible disruption in supplies from Russia.

While Venice was rolling out its red carpet for the opening of its Film Festival a week ago, director Evgeny Afineevsky was racing to finish his sobering documentary about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's decision to allow its seafarers to leave the country despite wartime restrictions will free up vital manpower for both Ukrainian grain exports and the wider global shipping industry, industry figures told Reuters.

Five Hong Kong speech therapists were found guilty on Wednesday of a conspiracy to publish seditious children's books that were deemed anti-government, a decision denounced by rights campaigners as a blow to free speech in the China-ruled city.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss said she would set out plans to tackle soaring energy bills on Thursday but would not impose a windfall tax on energy producers, with borrowing instead set to increase to fund the costly intervention.

Largely fruitless negotiations between Ecuador's government and indigenous groups are testing President Guillermo Lasso's ability to head off renewed street protests and ensure fiscally crucial mining investments, indigenous leaders and industry experts say.

Greenhouse owner Pieter Wijnen would like to focus on growing vegetables, but since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, his life has revolved around gas and electricity prices rather than his red and yellow bell peppers or mini cucumbers.

Once shunned by mainstream parties, the anti-immigration, far-right Sweden Democrats look poised to be main power brokers on Sunday, embraced by a right-wing opposition that has come to see them as key to ending nearly a decade of Social Democrat rule.

Standard Lithium Ltd is trying to become the first new U.S.

The European Commission will propose a price cap on Russian gas, alongside measures including a mandatory EU cut in electricity use and a cap on the revenue of non-gas power generators, the bloc's chief said on Wednesday.

Luxury goods group Richemont successfully batted away proposals from activist investor Bluebell Capital at an annual shareholder meeting Wednesday in which tensions flared.

A year after El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, the area where the world's first cryptocurrency city was meant to be built - a circular metropolis powered by a volcano - is still dense jungle.

Labor groups and investors have filed a shareholder proposal asking Apple Inc to review how it treats workers' rights, looking to build on recent momentum to unionize workers at the iPhone maker's retail stores.

Britain's surging inflation could slow thanks to plans by new Prime Minister Liz Truss to help households and businesses cope with rocketing energy costs, but it was too soon to say what that means for interest rates, the BoE's chief economist said.

Shares in Ubisoft Entertainment tumbled on Wednesday after it announced a deal that sees China's Tencent Holdings raise its stake in the company, a move which analysts say dampens the prospect of a full sale of the French game maker.

Walmart and health insurer UnitedHealth Group are planning to team up to provide preventive care for people aged 65 and up and virtual health-care services for all age groups, the companies said on Wednesday.

Vitalii Zhyvotovskyi, a 51-year old from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, is trying to rebuild his house after it was heavily damaged during Russia's occupation of the area earlier this year.

Apple Inc on Wednesday is expected to unveil a new range of iPhone 14 models and Apple Watches that will test how willing consumers are to upgrade gadgets in the face of inflation and economic gloom.

The trial in Ambac Financial Group Inc's $2.7 billion case against Bank of America is expected to begin in New York state court on Wednesday, 12 years after the bond insurer sued over troubled mortgage-backed securities issued before the 2008 financial crisis.Starting in 2004, Ambac insured securities backed by 375,000 home loans from the bank's Countrywide unit.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's new regulatory chief Michael Barr will on Wednesday outline his plan for overseeing Wall Street banks and reviewing regulations, in his first public remarks since joining the central bank in July.

European Union members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed to restrict the entry of Russian citizens travelling from Russia and Belarus, their foreign ministers said on Wednesday.

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday in what the army described as return fire against an attacker but which his family called an unprovoked shooting.

Kuwait's parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim said he would not run in legislative polls this month, handing a victory to opposition figures who had been critical of him in a domestic political standoff that has hindered fiscal reform.

Control of the U.S. Congress is at stake in November's midterm elections, along with President Joe Biden's remaining policy agenda.