By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – A 45-foot tall Disneyland dragon burst into flames after catching fire late on Saturday during a show in Anaheim, California, causing those in attendance to flee, local media and officials said, adding no injuries or deaths were reported. “The dragon’s head started to glow, and I see fire and kind…
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Guatemala is not asking for “free money” from Taiwan and does not owe debt in the same way Honduras does, but is looking for long-term investment and trade, senior Guatemalan financial officials said on Monday. Guatemala is one of only 13 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned…
By Noah Browning LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were steady on Monday as concern over rising interest rates, the global economy and the outlook for fuel demand were balanced by the prospect of tightening supplies. Brent crude slipped 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $81.44 a barrel by 0905 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down…
(Reuters) – China nudged banks this month to cut deposit interest rates further, seven people with knowledge of the matter said, in the latest effort to channel the country’s vast savings pool into spending and more productive investments. Members of China’s “interest rate self-regulatory mechanism,” mostly banks, met this month and were urged to reduce…
By Laura Sanicola (Reuters) – U.S. fuelmakers are expected to post higher first-quarter earnings in coming days on strong fuel exports and margins even as domestic diesel demand slumped during the period. Refiners have been riding a wave of favorable pricing and demand as pandemic-era closings boosted margins. Alternating periods of higher demand for products…
(Reuters) – Russian lender Sberbank said on Monday it had released technology called GigaChat as a rival to ChatGPT, initially in an invite-only testing mode, joining the artificial intelligence chatbot race. The release last year of ChatGPT, a chatbot from the Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, has caused a sprint in the technology sector to put AI…
By Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) – Italy plans contested legislation that will make it easier for firms to hire workers on short-term contracts, as part of a set of measures aimed at boosting jobs and families’ purchasing power, including tax cuts for middle- and low- income workers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has convened a cabinet…
By Hyunsu Yim SEOUL (Reuters) – Throngs of people have been milling seemingly aimlessly around the forecourt of a museum in central Seoul, brushing silently past each other with heads bent toward smartphones while fingers frantically tap screens – in the latest money-making trend. Walking 10,000 steps, completing tasks such as subscribing to social media,…
(Reuters) – A former prosecutor who led the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal probe into former U.S. President Donald Trump will go ahead with testimony in May before a congressional committee after an effort to block his appearance was dropped, the panel said on Friday. Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz will testify May 12, a spokesperson…
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased to 3.1% in the January to March period, improving for the eleventh consecutive quarter as economic activity continued to pick up, the government said on Monday. In the December to February period, the unemployment rate stood at 3.3%. “The labour market should improve further…
