By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. citizen Jose Pereira, who was “wrongfully detained” in Venezuela exactly one year ago, stood meters away from the White House on Wednesday and pleaded with U.S. President Joe Biden to step up efforts to bring home Americans detained abroad. Pereira was among the executives who worked for U.S….
By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Oklahoma is seeing a sharp increase in foreign investment interest, especially in its renewable energy sector, and is on the cusp of signing large new deals with firms in Switzerland and Asia, Governor Kevin Stitt told Reuters on Wednesday. Stitt said Oklahoma, which just signed a trade agreement with…
By Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is extensively engaged on the case of a U.S. journalist who disappeared a decade ago, including with Syria and other countries, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Austin Tice, a former U.S. Marine and a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in…
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, and the U.S. State Department called for its release, in the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. The Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged…
By Rachna Uppal DUBAI (Reuters) – Government-led reforms and the growth of private investment in new sectors will help support non-oil economic growth in Saudi Arabia amid an expected sharp slowdown in overall growth this year, a senior IMF official said. The Saudi economy grew 8.7% last year, as high oil prices boosted revenue and…
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Nevzat Devranoglu ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish annual inflation slowed to 43.68% in April, official data showed on Wednesday, easing ahead of elections that polls show President Tayyip Erdogan risks losing largely due to a cost-of-living crisis. Unorthodox rate cuts sought by Erdogan sparked a currency crisis in late 2021, sending inflation to…
By Richa Naidu and Helen Reid LONDON/BARCELONA (Reuters) – A “salad crisis” affecting British supermarkets hit headlines earlier this year but shoppers across Europe and the Middle East seeking some basic groceries – from pasta to beer to toothpaste – are also finding gaps on the shelves. Top industry executives, consultants and analysts told Reuters…
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s current account turned a surplus for the first time in years in the October-to-December quarter as imports dropped and exports rose, the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Egypt imposed import restrictions during most of 2022 and continues to suffer an acute shortage of foreign currency. The current account…
By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) -Wary of re-igniting Iran’s worst political turmoil in years, the country’s rulers are resorting to new, less obtrusive tactics to punish women who refuse to wear the obligatory Islamic hijab. The methods, introduced following nationwide anti-government protests last year, combine use of security cameras with denial of state services to…
DUBAI (Reuters) – Economic growth in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia regions will slow in 2023, underlining the need to accelerate structural reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday. Real GDP growth in the Middle East and Central Asia is forecast to fall to 2.9% in 2023, from 5.3% last…
