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US prosecutors have reached an agreement with Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of the Chinese tech giant’s founder, to resolve fraud charges against her. The details of the agreement are set to be announced in a court hearing in Brooklyn at 1pm, Eastern time, according to a letter from Nicole

Investors in an Evergrande offshore bond say they have yet to receive a closely watched interest payment just hours before the deadline, adding to uncertainty over an unfolding liquidity crisis at the world’s most indebted property developer. The $83.5m payment has a deadline of midnight in New York on Thursday, or noon Friday in Hong

Deepening worries over Evergrande have ignited selling in a $428bn corner of the Asian debt market, underscoring how the crisis at the Chinese property developer is spreading to other assets as traders and investors brace for a crucial payment deadline on Thursday. Yields on US dollar-denominated bonds issued by riskier Asian borrowers have soared to

Chinese markets fell on their first day of trading this week after a public holiday as concerns built in global markets over a possible default by property developer Evergrande on an international bond repayment. But the losses were not as heavy as feared after the real estate company, which has total liabilities of more than

Shares in Asia swung between gains and losses in the wake of Wall Street’s worst one-day fall in four months, as investors braced for the possibility of a default by Chinese property developer Evergrande. Shares in Japan sold off sharply on Tuesday, after being closed on Monday for a public holiday, with the benchmark Topix

Shares in Chinese and Hong Kong property groups fell to their lowest levels in half a decade as an escalating liquidity crisis at developer Evergrande showed signs of spreading beyond the sector. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, faces obligations of more than $300bn to creditors and other businesses and a crucial interest payment

When Antony Blinken came to Paris on June 25, French leaders told the US secretary of state that France attached the “utmost importance” to its strategic submarine deal with Australia — a deal now sunk by the new Aukus pact, according to senior French officials. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, also stressed that he

France has recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra for consultations, in a diplomatic protest against a new security pact under which Australia will buy nuclear-powered submarines from the US and cancel its existing contract with Paris.  Jean-Yves Le Drian, French foreign minister, issued a statement on Friday night saying he had been told to

The European Central Bank expects to hit its elusive 2 per cent inflation target by 2025, according to unpublished internal models that suggest it is on course to raise interest rates in just over two years. This would be at least a year earlier than most economists expect the ECB to raise its deposit rate

Washington has launched a new trilateral security partnership with London and Canberra which will support Australia’s plan to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, a move that will strengthen the allies’ ability to counter China. The move is US president Joe Biden’s latest effort to bolster alliances amid increasing tensions with China over disputes ranging

America’s fledging offshore wind power industry risks being left “dead in the water” if US authorities clamp down on the use of foreign materials and equipment, according to the Spanish-owned company jointly building the country’s first big project. Bill White, head of offshore wind at Avangrid, part of Iberdrola, said that strict demands for local

Chinese police are using a new anti-fraud app installed on more than 200m mobile phones to identify and question people who have viewed overseas financial news sites, according to individuals summoned by the authorities. The app was launched in March by the public security ministry’s National Anti-Fraud Centre and blocks suspicious phone calls and reports

Beijing wants to break up Alipay, the 1bn plus-user superapp owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, and create a separate app for the company’s highly profitable loans business, in the most visible restructuring yet of the fintech giant. Chinese regulators have already ordered Ant to separate the back end of its two lending businesses, Huabei,

The failure by the US to bring Covid-19 cases under control is scrambling business expectations of a rapid economic revival, forcing companies to reset plans and revise forecasts as they also grapple with a new federal vaccine mandate.  Revenues have fallen at a quarter of US small businesses in each of the past three weeks

The US judge presiding over Epic Games’ high-profile antitrust case against Apple declined to give either side a full victory. Kate Adams, Apple’s chief counsel, called the verdict “a huge win”, pointing to the court’s ruling that “Apple is not a monopolist under ‘either federal or state antitrust laws’”. However, the iPhone maker is being

Joe Biden has held his second call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since becoming US president in an effort to break an impasse in the relationship between the countries after two rounds of top-level meetings produced little progress. The White House said the two leaders had a “broad, strategic discussion” and that Biden had “underscored

Janet Yellen has warned that the US Treasury will run out of cash next month unless Congress increases the borrowing limit, as Joe Biden’s administration grows increasingly worried about a possible debt default. In a letter to congressional leaders on Wednesday, the US Treasury secretary said she could not offer “a specific estimate” of when

An executive with responsibility for Apple’s secretive car project has left for Ford in a stinging departure that potentially spells the end of the iPhone maker’s automotive ambitions. Doug Field, who joined Apple in 2018 as vice-president for special projects from Tesla, will become Ford’s chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer with immediate effect, the

Germany has accused Russia of launching a spate of cyber attacks on politicians amid suspicions that Moscow is interfering in this month’s election to decide who succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor. Germany’s foreign ministry said it held Russia responsible for illegally targeting a number of national and regional politicians with “phishing” emails to gain access

A frantic summer of dealmaking has put 2021 on track to break records, with almost $4tn of deals already agreed since the start of the year, as companies rush to exploit cheap financing and bumper profits. There were $500bn of transactions globally in the usually quiet month of August, up from $289bn in the same