• Reuters

    Exclusive-German government slightly raises 2024 GDP forecast to 0.3%, source says

    The German government will raise its growth forecast for the German economy this year to 0.3%, from a previous forecast of 0.2%, a source told Reuters. In 2025, the government expects gross domestic product to grow by 1.0%, according to the source.

  • Associated Press

    South Korea slows plan to hike medical school admissions as doctors' strike drags on

    Desperate to end a weeks-long strike by thousands of doctors, South Korea’s government said Friday it will slow down a plan to admit more students to the country's medical schools from next year. More than 90% of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike since late February, when the government announced a plan to recruit 2,000 more students next year. The government adopted a compromise proposal put forward by the presidents of six state-run universities on Thursday, under which medical schools will increase admissions over several years.

  • Reuters

    Wall Street's "fear gauge" at over 5-month high on rate cut, Mideast worries

    The CBOE Volatility index, an options-based measure of investor expectations for near-term stock market gyrations, hit 21.33 points, crossing the psychological mark of 20 points for the first time since Oct. 30, 2023. Israel launched an attack on Iranian soil on Friday, sources said, in the latest tit-for-tat exchange between the two arch foes that has threatened to drag the region deeper into conflict and sent investors scrambling for safe-haven assets.