UPINGTON, South Africa (Reuters) – When she was a girl in South Africa’s Northern Cape, Katrina Esau stopped speaking her mother tongue, N|uu, after being mocked by other people and told it was an “ugly language”. Now at age 90, she is the last known speaker of N|uu, one of a group of indigenous languages…
By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that a U.S. debt default prompted by failure to raise the country’s debt ceiling would have “very serious repercussions” for the U.S. economy as well as the global economy, including likely higher borrowing costs. IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack also told a news…
(Reuters) – Shares of pot companies were trading higher on Thursday as the U.S. Senate Banking Committee prepares to discuss the SAFE Banking Act, a crucial legislation that would make it easier for the cannabis industry to access banking services. If the bill advances through the committee stage, it would be voted by the Senate…
By David Milliken and Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) -The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% on Thursday and Governor Andrew Bailey said the British central bank would “stay the course” as it seeks to curb the highest inflation of any major economy. The BoE…
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a 1-1/2-year high last week, pointing to cracks in the labor market as demand slows, potentially giving the Federal Reserve room to halt further interest rate increases next month. With demand cooling, inflation pressures are subsiding. Producer…
By Rodrigo Campos, David Lawder and Libby George (Reuters) -Pakistan needs significant additional financing for a successful completion of the long-stalled ninth review of the International Monetary Fund’s bailout package, the IMF said in a scheduled press conference on Thursday. Obtaining commitments of “significant additional financing” is essential before the IMF approves the release of…
By Marianna Parraga HOUSTON (Reuters) -Refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp has reported first-quarter net profit of $937 million on firm motor fuel demand, refining output and margins, a strong result that could help the Venezuela-owned company negotiate with creditors. The profit, compared with $245 million in the same period last year, continued a string of solid…
By Ankika Biswas and Sruthi Shankar (Reuters) -Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 was unchanged on Thursday as a drag by Germany’s Bayer and energy stocks offset an earlier rise on hopes of a pause in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike campaign amid supportive U.S. economic data. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed flat, after rising…
By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Shares in Australian-listed lithium miners jumped on Thursday after a $10.6 billion merger in the sector raised expectations for more consolidation among producers of the key metal in electric vehicle batteries. The tie up between Allkem Ltd and Livent announced on Wednesday will create the world’s third-biggest producer of…
By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) -Tunisia and Egypt are edging closer to major debt crises that could suck in a volatile North Africa region and pose tough choices to wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours, investors and analysts warn. The countries are already being challenged by shortages of essential goods and financial market dysfunction and in Tunisia’s…
