Global drugmakers condemned on Wednesday an initiative by four World Trade Organization members to introduce an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, saying it could undermine the industry's ability to respond to health crises in future.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and the United Kingdom will kick off trade talks next week, the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) and the British government said on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures surged on Wednesday, spurred by signs of progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks, while investors braced for a widely expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike later in the day.

China's securities regulator on Wednesday said it will continue to communicate with U.S. regulators and strive to reach an agreement on China-U.S. audit supervision cooperation as soon as possible.

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan will revoke Russia's most-favoured nation trade status as part of further sanctions against Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday.

In the days after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, dozens of companies said they would suspend political donations to Republican lawmakers who had backed then-President Donald Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election.