North America
U.S. mortgage applications rise in latest week: MBA
Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as interest rates declined, an industry group said on Wednesday.
Ukraine ceasefire hopes push stocks, rouble higher
World markets jumped on Wednesday as Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said a ceasefire had been reached with Russia, raising hopes that a recent escalation in the conflict could be reversed.
Home Depot says probing 'unusual activity' after data breach report
Home Depot Inc said on Tuesday it was working with law enforcement to investigate "some unusual activity" related to customer data but that it could not confirm if it had become the latest retailer to be hit by a large-scale security breach.
Google starts quantum computing research project
Google Inc said a research team led by physicist John Martinis from the University of California Santa Barbara will join the company to start a project to build new quantum information processors based on superconducting electronics.