The U.S. economy slowed sharply from January through March, decelerating to just a 1,1% annual pace as higher interest rates hammered the housing market and businesses reduced inventories.

Thursday's estimate from the Commerce Department showed that the nation's gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — weakened after growing 3.2% from July through September and 2.6% from October through November.

The European Union moved Wednesday to overhaul its euro single currency rulebook as the 27-nation bloc's economies creak under high debt caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine.

"Our common EU fiscal rules date back to the 1990s and we have since withstood major economic shocks," European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said. "We now face different challenges and economic priorities, and our rules need to reflect these changes."

British regulators on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, thwarting the biggest tech deal in history over worries that it would stifle competition in the fast-growing cloud gaming market.

The Competition and Markets Authority said in its final report that "the only effective remedy" to the substantial loss of competition "is to prohibit the Merger." The companies have vowed to appeal.

Boeing lost $425 million in the first quarter — more than Wall Street expected — but said Wednesday that it plans to boost production of its best-selling plane later this year.

Sweden's central bank on Wednesday raised its key interest rate, saying inflation "is still far too high and underlying inflation has been much higher than expected."

Riksbanken raised its policy rate by half a percentage point to 3.5% and added that it will "probably" be raised further by a quarter-point in June or September.

An appeals court has upheld Apple's exclusive control over the distribution of iPhone apps, rejecting the latest attempt to force one of the world's most powerful companies to dismantle the digital walls protecting its most lucrative product.

The 92-page decision issued by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the findings of a lower-court judge who presided over a 2021 trial that revolved around an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game.

Depositors at First Republic Bank pulled more than $100 billion out of the bank during last month's crisis, as fears swirled that it could be the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

San Francisco-based First Republic said Monday that it was only able to staunch the bleeding after a group of large banks stepped in to save it by depositing $30 billion in uninsured deposits.

In a sign fears about the global financial system have eased for now, major central banks are scaling back their offer of emergency dollar loans to banks, a crisis step launched after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. fed fears about wider troubles.

The European Central Bank said Tuesday that it and other central banks found that pressure on banks' cash needs has dropped and the crisis credits were not being used much lately.

Kelly Curto is taking her first trip outside the U.S., and the die-hard fan of the British royal family is making it the one at the top of her bucket list — heading to London for King Charles III's coronation.

After arriving on May 5, the 44-year-old school bus driver from Long Island and a friend will head to the Mall, the ceremonial avenue to Buckingham Palace where the monarch's pomp-filled procession will pass by the following day.

Lebanon is becoming increasingly engaged in augmenting investment in clean and renewable energy. Such an endeavor presents a range of high-impact co-benefits. Socially, it will grant the Lebanese population access to reliable energy; economically, it will drive new commerce and create new job opportunities, reduce prices in the case of exceeding supply hence boosting growth; while environmentally, it will improve air quality and reduce emissions. Countries from the MENA region, such as Syria and Iraq also face similar challenges as power outages prompt the population and institutions to search for clean and renewable energy solutions to cover their electricity needs, thus creating promising business prospects in this sector. 

As demand has weighed heavily on Lebanon, due to its budget deficit, the country seeks to have 30% of its electricity mix generated from renewable energy sources by 2030. However, this ambitious objective is faced with a number of obstacles such as the country's power sector which suffers from a significant supply-demand imbalance, simply depicted as high generation costs and a substantial lack of financial sustainability. Electricité du Liban's (EDL) available installed capacity is 1,616 MW, which contrasts with a peak demand of up to 3,000 MW compensated by high private generator subscriptions, the deterioration of buying power, and the skyrocketing fuel prices.