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Iran, powers give themselves to July 7 to strike deal

By Parisa Hafezi and John Irish VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers gave themselves an extra week to reach a final nuclear accord after it became clear they would miss a deadline on Tuesday, with U.S. and Iranian officials sounding upbeat even though obstacles remain. With all sides accepting that Tuesday’s original deadline would come and go without an agreement, Iran and the six powers agreed to extend

Iran, powers give themselves to July 7 to strike deal

By Parisa Hafezi and John Irish VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers gave themselves an extra week to reach a final nuclear accord after it became clear they would miss a deadline on Tuesday, with U.S. and Iranian officials sounding upbeat even though obstacles remain. With all sides accepting that Tuesday’s original deadline would come and go without an agreement, Iran and the six powers agreed to extend

GE to sell European private equity financing unit to SMBC

General Electric Co said it would sell its European private equity financing business to a unit of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) for about $2.2 billion as the U.S. conglomerate sheds financial assets amid a restructuring. This makes the deal attractive to the core banking unit of Japan’s third largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) , which is trying to diversify away from the fiercely competitive corporate lending

GE to sell European private equity financing unit to SMBC

General Electric Co said it would sell its European private equity financing business to a unit of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) for about $2.2 billion as the U.S. conglomerate sheds financial assets amid a restructuring. This makes the deal attractive to the core banking unit of Japan’s third largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) , which is trying to diversify away from the fiercely competitive corporate lending

World's poorest gain access to water, but not toilets

By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The poor’s lack of access to sanitation threatens to undermine the health benefits they have gained from access to clean water, the United Nations said on Tuesday. More than 90 percent of the world population has access to clean water, but 2.4 billion people, most in rural areas, continue to live without toilets, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and World Health Organisation