Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to stand trial on accusations of influence peddling after a final appeal was rejected by courts on Wednesday.

Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said Washington was “ready to engage” with Beijing ahead of a high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump, the US president, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, at the G20 summit in Osaka, adding that there was a shared goal to “resolve” the trade dispute.

The challenge facing Elliott Management to turn around Barnes & Noble was on display, with the bookstore chain reporting weaker revenue and a steeper net loss in its most recent quarter than the market had forecast.

Stocks cooled on Wednesday as attention turned toward the Federal Reserve’s stance on monetary policy, just a day after one of the strongest rallies of the year following a signal of more potential stimulus from the European Central Bank.

Canadian inflation unexpectedly jumped in May to hit its highest level in seven months, news that is likely to fuel bets that the central bank will not be in a hurry to raise interest rates anytime soon.

Rio Tinto was among the worst performing blue-chip stocks in London on Wednesday after the Anglo-Australian group cut production guidance for iron ore, its key commodity and source of profits.

Axalta Coating Systems is exploring options, including an outright sale of the business, less than 19 months after talks to sell itself to Japanese rival Nippon Paint fell apart.

Dutch prosecutors have charged four military and intelligence officers from Russia and Ukraine with murder and involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, ramping up international pressure on Moscow over the downing of the jet.

Donald Tusk has said that he is “cautiously optimistic” that European leaders will be able to reach a deal on EU top jobs at a summit meeting tomorrow in Brussels, saying there is “common will” to get an agreement before July 2.

Vanguard has escalated the price war raging in Europe’s asset management market after firing a broadside that threatens the profits of rival UK-based fund managers.

Many more airlines are likely to follow Germany’s Lufthansa in issuing profit warnings, a major investment bank said on Wednesday, as it flagged “rapidly weakening demand” in the sector.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated over the grisly killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi because there was “credible evidence” that he and other senior officials were responsible, a UN expert has concluded.

Hargreaves Lansdown last year began holding monthly calls with Neil Woodford to address his mounting liquidity crisis — but Britain’s biggest fund supermarket continued to include his flagship fund on its “best buy” list.

The Guernsey stock exchange harboured concerns about the valuations of the listed assets of Neil Woodford’s flagship even after the fund froze over £3bn of investors’ money.

The head of Duff & Phelps’s European secondary market business has left the US corporate finance advisory firm, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Scottish economy expanded 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, matching the pace set by the UK as a whole.

Lower airfares and car prices drove down UK inflation in May to the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target, reversing three months of increases.

Airbus kept up the sales momentum for its new long-range jet, securing the backing from Indigo Partners of the US for 50 aircraft on Wednesday at the Paris air show.

South Korea has called for victims of wartime forced labour to be compensated by funds from Japanese and South Korean companies, as tensions between the two east Asian neighbours simmer over Japan’s colonial-era treatment of South Koreans.

Lossmaking Blue Prism, whose losses deepened in the first half, has agreed to buy software group Thoughtonomy for up to £80m as it seeks to expand its cloud-based products and drive into artificial intelligence.

Nokia has secured a €1.5bn credit facility that will be priced dependent on the Finnish mobile equipment maker hitting its sustainability targets, as companies and lenders seek to increase their exposure to green financing.

The UK’s financial regulator is to take further steps to clamp down on poor pensions transfer advice, as it warned that too much advice on the market “is still not of an acceptable standard”.

Fines handed out by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission nearly doubled over the past year to HK$940m ($120m) as the securities watchdog cracked down on shoddy work on initial public offerings by global banks such as UBS, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.

Acacia Mining has hit back at its biggest shareholder Barrick Gold, promising a detailed response to claims that its mine plans are not appropriately risked or supportable.