By Tom Balmforth and Sarah McFarlane LONDON (Reuters) -Russian military forces have been enhancing defensive positions in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine in recent weeks, four witnesses said, ahead of an expected counteroffensive in the region. New trenches have been dug around the city and more mines have been laid….
By Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) -The Ukrainian military and Russia’s Wagner private army both reported further Russian retreats around the city of Bakhmut on Thursday, as Kyiv pressed on with its biggest advance for six months ahead of a planned counteroffensive. Ukrainian troops near the front line said Russia was bombarding access roads…
MILAN (Reuters) -The European Central Bank is considering whether requirements tailored for individual lenders could help address the risks arising for those holding large amounts of uninsured deposits, a document showed. A paper ECB supervisors prepared for this week’s meeting of euro zone finance ministers said recent banking turmoil showed “increased attention needs to be…
(Reuters) – Global equity funds suffered outflows for a fifth straight week in the week to May 17, undermined by uncertainties over U.S. debt ceiling and concerns about global economy, with soft economic data coming out of the U.S. and China. According to Refinitiv Lipper data, global equity funds faced $8.72 billion worth of outflows…
By Darya Korsunskaya and Alexander Marrow (Reuters) – As Russia’s military spending soars and sanctions squeeze its energy revenues, Moscow faces a battle to keep its budget deficit in check, with few economists now expecting the finance ministry to stick to its promise of a deficit no higher than 2% of GDP. Defence spending jumped…
By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) faces an uphill battle in its fight against Amgen Inc’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics with an untested argument before a Trump-appointed judge, three antitrust experts said. Furthermore, the FTC’s complaint, unsealed late Tuesday, expresses concern about deals struck between drug companies that…
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were pursued by photographers in New York on Tuesday in what the prince’s spokesperson described as a “near catastrophic car chase,” highlighting the often tense relationship between celebrities and photographers. Police in New York, however, described the encounter as relatively brief and said there…
By Andy Home LONDON (Reuters) – High-flying lithium has come crashing back to earth. A super-charged two-year rally, which saw Chinese spot lithium carbonate prices rise by tenfold, went into brutal reverse over the first part of this year. The spot price slumped by 70% between November and its low point in April. The battery…
By Jesús Aguado MADRID (Reuters) – The European Central Bank needs to keep interest rates high to curb inflation in the medium term, its president Christine Lagarde said on Friday, signalling more monetary tightening. The ECB slowed the pace of rate hikes this month with a 25-basis-point rise, but Lagarde indicated the cycle was not…
By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece heads for what is likely to be an inconclusive parliamentary election on Sunday, paving the way for wrangling between parties to forge a ruling coalition in a deeply divided political landscape. Opinion polls show Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative New Democracy ahead of Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party,…
