Pearson launched a share buyback and set medium-term growth goals on Friday, sending its shares up 11% on hopes that the global education group had finally turned a corner on years of turbulence.

Insurers have raised the cost of providing cover for merchant ships through the Black Sea, adding to soaring rates to transport goods through the region for vessels still willing to sail after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A Milan appeals court has acquitted Stefania Truzzoli, former chief operating officer at BT Italy, of alleged false accounting at the Italian unit of British Telecom in 2015 and 2016, legal and judicial sources said on Friday.

The Russian central bank on Friday told lenders to consider postponing dividends and bonus payments to managers, as it announced measures to ease regulatory requirements for the sector.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) on Friday ordered any of its members who have positions with individuals or entities subject to Russian sanctions not to make payments to them.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union is planning a third round of sanctions against Moscow, an EU official said on Friday, minutes after Ukraine's president pleaded with the bloc for faster and more forceful steps to punish Russia for its invasion of his country.