A Ukranian service member prepares a Kalashnikov tank machine gun near the frontline town of Kupiansk in Ukraine, November 13, 2025. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy |
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People walk near the Bank of England building in London, Britain, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo |
- The Bank of England cut interest rates to 3.75% from 4.0%, but it signalled that the already gradual pace of lowering borrowing costs might slow further. The ECB is widely expected to keep its policy rates steady and signal little appetite for cuts in the near term.
- For European markets overshadowed by the US since the summer, investors are hoping a spending bonanza in Germany moves the dial in 2026. But first, they need to see evidence it will deliver. Read our analysis.
- Dealmakers got what they wanted in 2025: an almost record-breaking year for mergers and acquisitions despite a rocky start due to Trump's global trade war. And there's still more to come. Here's what to expect.
- The US crypto sector had a lot to celebrate in 2025 as the Trump administration eased oversight. But the party may fizzle next year, according to industry executives, as solutions to core problems are yet to come.
- Lured by the promise of richer margins, a wave of Chinese consumer brands is making deeper inroads into American retail to offset sluggish spending at home. Take a look at how this counterintuitive trend accelerated this year despite tariffs.
- China split off a Belgium-sized island with an economy comparable to a mid-ranked country from the mainland for customs processing, part of a bid to join a major trans-Pacific trade deal and establish a new Hong Kong-style commercial hub.
- Japan is set to raise the tax-free income threshold and expand deductions for middle-income earners under a deal between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's minority government and a key opposition party.
- US oil and gas producers in search of fresh drilling territory are looking to expand in Western Canada's Montney basin, a remote yet massive shale play that is already a hotbed of M&A activity and could see more deals soon, according to executives, analysts and advisors.
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How China built its 'Manhattan Project' to rival the West in AI chips |
A Chinese flag is displayed next to a "Made in China" sign seen on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration |
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines or EUVs, according to two people with knowledge of the project. The Chinese government is targeting 2028 for working chips, but sources say 2030 is more likely. Reuters technology correspondent Fanny Potkin joins today's World News podcast with more. |
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Portuguese Catholic priest Father Guilherme Peixoto performs on a turntable in Monterrey, Mexico, December 14, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril |
Under sweeping stage lights in Monterrey, Mexico, a packed dance floor pulses as a Catholic priest in a clerical collar raises one hand from the stage, electronic beats thundering through the hall. For Father Guilherme Peixoto, it has never been about breaking Church rules, but about building community. If his sold-out shows are an indication, the message has resonated. |
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