Lebanon will demand Israel cease fire at face-to-face talks that began in Washington on Thursday, a senior Lebanese official ​said, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade blows despite a U.S.-backed truce declared last month. A State Department official confirmed that a meeting of ‌Lebanese and Israeli envoys, along with U.S. officials, had started at about 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). The talks, which are expected to continue on Friday, are the sides' third meeting since hostilities reignited between Hezbollah and Israel on March 2. Beirut is attending despite strong objections from Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah.

Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman BF.B 0.31%increase; green up pointing triangle rejected a roughly $15 billion takeover offer from rival Sazerac, according to people familiar with the matter. Advisers for Brown-Forman informed Sazerac on Monday that the company was rejecting the $32-a-share cash offer Sazerac recently made, the people said. Brown-Forman is publicly traded, but a majority of the company’s voting stock is controlled by Brown family members. Sazerac is privately held and entirely family owned.

Goldman Sachs’s Alternatives arm is buying Canadian data centre developer QScale in tandem with its founders as the partners press ahead with an ambitious expansion plan potentially worth billions. The bank’s specialized investment platform, which holds more than US$625-billion in assets ranging from private equity to infrastructure, is taking a majority stake in QScale, according to information made public Wednesday. QScale co-founder and president Martin Bouchard will also reinvest in the business, together with other senior executives and founders. The company will keep its current management and Lévis, Que., headquarters, a news release said.

Highlander Silver Corp. (TSX, NYSE American: HSLV) (“Highlander Silver” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Poonam Puri to the Company’s Board as an independent Director, effective immediately. Daniel Earle, President and CEO of Highlander Silver, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I am very pleased to welcome Poonam as a Director of the Company. Her extensive experience and corporate governance expertise will be a valuable resource to the Board as we fast-track project advancement across our portfolio of high-quality silver assets.”

China’s Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday that their two countries could clash over Taiwan if the issue was not handled properly, an unusually harsh admonition that stood in contrast to the American leader’s praise for his counterpart. The exchange at a highly anticipated summit in Beijing underscored just how far apart Trump and Xi remain on thorny issues, including the war in Iran, trade disputes and Washington’s relations with Taiwan, which is self-ruled but which China claims as part of its territory. It also suggested that Trump’s three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than substantive political or economic breakthroughs.

Shareholders in Italian yacht builder Ferretti on Thursday sided with China's Weichai Group in a shareholder feud, ending ​CEO Alberto Galassi's 12-year tenure as they named a new board, two ‌sources close to the matter said. The shareholders' vote does not end the uncertainty over governance at Ferretti as KKCG, the Czech investor that led the challenge to Weichai, appeals over the validity ​of the decision. Ferretti's shareholder meeting behind closed doors had been called to decide ​whether control of the yacht builder’s board would remain with its ⁠largest shareholder Weichai or shift to a slate of appointees backed by Czech investor ​KKCG Maritime.

Le gouvernement du Québec compte bien obtenir sa juste part des centaines de milliards de dollars que va investir Ottawa en contrats de défense. Pour y arriver, le gouvernement Fréchette doit annoncer mercredi la nomination de l’ancien PDG de CAE Marc Parent à titre d’émissaire spécial pour attirer une partie de ces investissements dans la province. Gestionnaire établi en aéronautique qui a été à la tête du fabricant montréalais de simulateurs de vol pendant 15 ans, Marc Parent est la personne toute désignée pour y arriver, croit le ministre de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l'Énergie, Bernard Drainville. En entrevue à Radio-Canada, le ministre a insisté sur l'importance pour le Québec d'avoir un émissaire en la matière, tout comme d'avoir la diplomate de carrière Louise Blais pour le représenter dans le cadre de la renégociation de l’ACEUM.

Equinox Gold said on Wednesday it would acquire Orla Mining OLA-T in an all-stock deal to create a North American gold producer worth about US$18.5-billion. U.S.-listed shares of Orla Mining rose 3.4 per cent in premarket trading. A record rally in gold prices has bolstered miners’ cash flows and improved their access to capital, encouraging producers to expand reserves of the precious metal and grow their presence in safer mining regions such as Canada and the United States. Under the deal, Orla shareholders will receive one Equinox common share and a nominal cash payment for each share held, valuing the transaction at about $7.02-billion (US$5.13 billion), according to Reuters calculations.

President Donald Trump and an entourage that included Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Elon Musk were greeted with a lavish welcome in Beijing ​on Wednesday as he prepared to ask China's Xi Jinping to "open up" to U.S. business at the start of their two-day summit. Trump is seeking to snag some economic wins on the ‌first visit by a U.S. president to China in nearly a decade and maintain a fragile trade truce to prop up public approval ratings bruised by his war with Iran. He was welcomed by Chinese dignitaries, a tightly choreographed formation of military honor guard and dozens of Chinese students waving U.S. and Chinese flags as he disembarked Air Force One in the waning hours of twilight on Wednesday.

Britain's Intertek ‌is ready to recommend a 9.4-billion-pound ($12.7-billion) takeover proposal by Swedish private equity group EQT, the product testing company said on Wednesday, bowing to investor pressure after rejecting three previous bids. Shares in the company rose as much as 8% to their highest in over ​four years at 57.2 pounds apiece. If agreed, the deal would be Britain's third-largest private equity takeover ever ​behind the acquisitions of British airports operator BAA Plc in 2006 and pharmacy chain owner ⁠Alliance Boots in 2007, according to LSEG data.

Alors que se déroulent les assises de l’UMQ cette semaine à Québec, la candidature de son ancien président est présentée comme celle d’une pointure « vedette » par Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. Aux libéraux qui fondent beaucoup d’espoirs sur l’Estrie, le chef péquiste répond que la région sera « le théâtre d’une bataille avec beaucoup d’intensité ». C’est l’engagement ferme à tenir un référendum sur l’indépendance du Québec dans un premier mandat qui a convaincu M. Sévigny de faire le saut. À ses yeux, « les données démographiques » – notamment l’enjeu des immigrants qui ne parlent pas en français, « particulièrement dans la région de Montréal » – démontrent qu’il y a « des tendances qui sont préoccupantes » et qui placent le Québec « sur une pente glissante ».

British health minister ​Wes Streeting resigned from ‌government on Thursday, saying he had lost confidence in Prime ​Minister Keir Starmer's ​leadership. "It is now clear that ⁠you will not lead ​the Labour Party into the ​next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour Unions want ​the debate about what ​comes next to be a battle ‌of ⁠ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism," Streeting said in a letter published ​on X. "It ​needs ⁠to be broad, and it needs the ​best possible field ​of ⁠candidates. I support that approach and I hope that ⁠you ​will facilitate this."

Chevron has agreed to sell several Asia-Pacific refining and retail assets to Japan’s Eneos 5020 -2.66%decrease; red down pointing triangle for $2.17 billion, as it continues to streamline its international portfolio. Eneos, one of Japan’s largest energy companies, will buy Chevron’s downstream fuels and lubricants marketing businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia, it said Thursday. This includes Chevron Singapore’s 50% interest in the Singapore Refining Co., which operates a refinery on Jurong Island in the city-state. The remaining 50% stake is indirectly held by Chinese oil major PetroChina.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit Calgary on Friday to announce details of a new deal with Alberta on industrial carbon pricing, a provincial government source and an industry source with knowledge of the plan told Reuters on Wednesday. Canada and its main oil-producing province of Alberta ​are on the cusp of a deal to increase the effective credit cost in the province's industrial carbon market ​to C$130 a metric ton by 2040, a third source familiar with the agreement said. The ⁠Globe and Mail was first to report on Wednesday the agreed-upon credit cost and target date. Alberta froze its headline industrial carbon price ​in May 2025. Credits in its market currently trade between C$20 and C$40 a metric ton, which experts say is too low to give polluters an ​incentive to invest in emissions reduction technology.

Leaders of three of the biggest U.S. public pension systems said they have major concerns over SpaceX's "extreme" ownership and control set-up in its upcoming public stock listing, ​urging founder and CEO Elon Musk to remove provisions that would curb shareholder protections. "We are writing to express our serious concerns with the reported novel and extreme governance structure ‌and provisions SpaceX is planning to disclose in its registration statement," New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine and California Public Employees' Retirement System CEO Marcie Frost said in a letter sent Wednesday to Musk that was reviewed by Reuters. The officials - representing three of the top four largest public pension plans in the U.S. - objected to the amount of power the board has given Musk over the company, including voting control over the stock, veto power over his ​own removal as CEO, and protections from litigation, including mandatory arbitration for SpaceX shareholder claims.

Shareholder proxy adviser ​Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended ‌investors vote against a proposal by Exxon Mobil's board to move ​its location of incorporation to ​Texas, saying this would impose ⁠greater hurdles for shareholders seeking ​accountability for directors and officers.nExxon ​is seeking to abandon its corporate registration in New Jersey and redomicile in Texas ​where its headquarters is ​located, in a move that could help ‌bolster ⁠its defences against activist shareholders and climate advocates. ISS also recommended shareholders support a resolution tabled ​by the ​New ⁠York City Police Pension Fund at the May ​27 annual general meeting aimed ​at ⁠making it easier for retail investors to vote against the ⁠board's ​wishes. The board ​has said it opposes the resolution.

Le gouvernement Fréchette a défendu, mardi, l'investissement de 1,1 milliard de dollars dans le projet de Nemaska Lithium, un projet critiqué par la commissaire au développement durable et qui est actuellement suspendu par Rio Tinto. Dans son rapport déposé la semaine dernière, la commissaire Janique Lambert note que le gouvernement est allé de l'avant dans cet investissement malgré un avis défavorable du ministère des Ressources naturelles. De son côté, la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (La Caisse) a justifié mardi son refus d'investir dans le projet. C'était une technologie qui commençait, on a un mandat de nos déposants qui faisait en sorte que le risque était trop binaire. Cela n'enlève pas la validité du projet pour des raisons de développement économique, mais en matière de rendement, ça ne cadrait pas dans nos paramètres, a déclaré le président de La Caisse, Charles Emond, en commission parlementaire.

Ottawa and Alberta are close to finalizing a new accord on industrial carbon pricing that would result in the fee going up to $130 a tonne by 2040, two government sources, one federal and one provincial, said Tuesday. If approved, the agreement would dramatically roll back former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s marquee climate policy and set the stage for the construction of another oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast, as well as the expansion of crude production. A deal on carbon pricing would also bring the governments closer to finalizing the fine print of a memorandum of understanding signed last year that conditioned Ottawa’s support for a potential pipeline on Alberta increasing the carbon price and meeting other environmental goals. The governments said at the time that the MOU marked the start of a new era of co-operation.

OPEC on Wednesday lowered its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2026, joining other forecasters such as the International Energy Agency in cutting expectations due to the Iran war. The producer group sees a smaller hit to demand than the IEA, which earlier on Wednesday increased its estimate of the decline in oil use this year. OPEC said consumption would rebound later and raised its demand growth forecast for 2027. The war has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil route, curbing millions of barrels of Middle East output and sending fuel prices soaring. The surge is hitting consumers and businesses, and prompting government steps to conserve supplies.

Activist investor Ananym ‌Capital Management sees room for BWX Technologies' stock to double in coming years if the defense and energy company commercializes its mothballed nuclear reactor design to help meet ballooning energy demand. The two-year-old investment firm has owned BWX Technologies for months ​and co-founder Alex Silver spoke about it publicly at the Sohn Investment Conference in New ​York on Tuesday. Nearly a decade ago, BWX Technologies archived a pressurized water reactor small ⁠modular reactor design that Ananym believes could be competitive now as demand for clean energy from data ​center operators is booming.