(Reuters) – Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded utility Hawaiian Electric Industries’s credit rating to junk status on Friday, the second such cut this week as investors worried about the company’s potential role in the wake of the Maui wildfires. Moody’s cut its rating for Hawaiian Electric’s senior unsecured notes to Ba3 from Baa1, its…
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – The United States opened international aid offices in the Pacific Islands this week, bolstering support for the strategic region and pitting it more forcefully against China, which has been providing infrastructure loans to the area for years. The vast ocean region, pivotal in World War Two, is in the…
(Reuters) – Embattled property developer China Evergrande Group said on Friday its application to the U.S. Court for bankruptcy protection is a normal procedure for offshore debt restructuring and does not involve a bankruptcy petition. The company clarified that its U.S. dollar-denominated notes are governed by New York law and it has applied to the…
By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) -Top cryptocurrency bitcoin hit a fresh two-month low on Friday, breaking out of its recent tight range as a wave of risk averse sentiment swept through world markets. On Thursday, bitcoin fell 7.2% in its biggest one-day drop since November 2022 when top exchange FTX collapsed. It then slipped to…
By Kanishka Singh and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Law enforcement officials are investigating threats related to former President Donald Trump’s election interference investigation in Georgia, after names and addresses of grand jury members were posted online, a sheriff’s office said. “Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track…
By Jacqueline Thomsen (Reuters) -Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday asked a federal judge in Washington to schedule an April 2026 trial for the former president, on federal charges that he allegedly sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. That requested date would place the trial after the November 2024 U.S….
By Jonathan Allen KIHEI, Hawaii (Reuters) -Maui County Emergency Management administrator Herman Andaya, criticized by local residents and media over the island’s response to the deadly wildfires that killed at least 111 people, resigned on Thursday, officials said. A statement from Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen cited health reasons. “Given the gravity of the crisis…
By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) – A frantic recalibration of long-term borrowing rates has unnerved financial markets trying to parse both many of the positive reasons behind the move and worrying implications of a fresh hit to bond markets. Almost independently of any new take on the trajectory of Federal Reserve policy – as the…
By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) -When the United States launched its massive green subsidies push a year ago, many in Europe feared it would be a fresh blow to their regional economy grappling with the knock-on effects of war in Ukraine and lingering aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet while critics argue the European Union…
(Reuters) – The chief of the United Nations humanitarian relief agency has urged Myanmar’s ruling military to allow greater access to 18 million people in need of aid, describing the situation as critical as a post-coup conflict intensifies. Returning from a three-day trip that included a meeting with top general Min Aung Hlaing, Martin Griffiths…
