British PM to scope Myanmar reform credentials during visit

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will push for more reforms during a landmark visit to Myanmar on Friday, the first by a major Western leader in 50 years as countries jockey for business and influence in the long-isolated state. Cameron will meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in 2010 emerged from 15 years of house arrest to go on to score a stunning April 1 by-election victory, and President Thein Sein, whose reforms in military-dominated Myanmar have startled those who for decades viewed the country as a pariah state. ...

Italy employers' head now supports labor reform

MILAN (Reuters) - The head of Italian employers' lobby Confindustria said on Thursday that she supported Prime Minister Mario Monti's labor reform proposal only a week after she defined it as "very bad". "We wanted something different on the firing rules, but because of our great sense of responsibility, we will limit ourselves to making some requests for minor changes to the reform proposal," Emma Marcegaglia said at a conference. ...

U.S.'s World Bank nominee heads to Russia, Peru

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. nominee to take over leadership of the World bank, Jim Yong Kim, is heading to Moscow and to Lima, Peru, on April 12-17 to seek support for his candidacy, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. Kim, a public-health expert and former president of Dartmouth College, has already been in Asia and parts of Latin and Central America to meet finance chiefs. On Wednesday, he was interviewed by World Bank directors. Two other candidates also are vying to succeed the current World Bank president, Robert Zoellick, when he steps down. ...