By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Afghan people are in for a “very difficult year ahead,” warned the top U.S. aid official, as donors grapple with challenging a Taliban administration crackdown on women and girls, more crises around the world and overall less funding. The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led…
(Reuters) -U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has accused First Republic Bank executives of “mismanagement” in a letter to its former CEO Micahel Roffler and raised questions on the failed lender’s risk management as well as pay and bonuses. “You owe your customers and the public an explanation for the decisions that resulted in the costly failure…
By Martin Petty (Reuters) – The United States and the Philippines have agreed on new guidelines for their 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, following multiple requests by Manila to make clear the conditions under which Washington would come to its defence. WHY DID THE PHILIPPINES WANT CLARIFICATION? Though the United States has reassured the Philippines their…
By Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) – The United States has laid out in clear terms the extent of its defence treaty commitments to the Philippines, issuing new guidelines that refer specifically to attacks in the South China Sea, including on its coast guard. The six-page “bilateral defence guidelines” agreed in Washington on Wednesday follow a…
By Alexander Marrow (Reuters) -The Russian rouble climbed sharply to a more-than-one-month high on Thursday, gaining for a fifth straight session, as oil prices steadied after a recent slide, somewhat countering the impact of reduced foreign currency supply. By 1326 GMT, the rouble had firmed 1.6% against the dollar to 77.94, its strongest mark since…
By Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia has lowered its forecast for the cost of servicing government debt over the next three years, though the government still sees annual repayments rising to a peak in fiscal 2025/26 before declining slightly. Interest payments on Australian government securities are forecast to total A$85.8 billion ($57.18 billion) between…
By Donny Kwok and Georgina Lee HONG KONG (Reuters) – The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) raised its main policy rate on Thursday, following a hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, even as weakness in its pegged currency forced the de facto central bank to drain cash in the banking system to 15-year lows. Hong…
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan If the Federal Reserve needs more information on what to do for its next move on interest rates, relentless stress in regional bank shares again this week may yet figure highly. As the Fed delivered what markets assume will be the…
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong’s March retail sales rose 40.9% from a year earlier, the second biggest percentage rise on record, as consumer and visitor spending continued to improve, though the low base of comparison also contributed, government data showed on Thursday. Sales increased to HK$33.6 billion ($4.28 billion) in a fourth consecutive month of…
By Ariba Shahid KARACHI (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing to discuss Pakistan’s budget plans for the coming financial year as part of a process to unlock a crucial financing injection for the cash-strapped nation, the IMF’s country mission chief said. An IMF review of the budget presents a fresh hurdle before the…
