SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand said on Tuesday it would examine the profitability of the country’s banks and investigate whether competition in the sector was working well for consumers. The banking sector is dominated by four banks making up around 85% of mortgage and other lending, and 90% of deposits, government data showed. Loans by…
By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Emma Farge and Khalid Abdelaziz GENEVA (Reuters) -International donors made pledges on Monday of close to $1.5 billion in aid for Sudan and the surrounding region, about half of estimated needs for a deepening humanitarian crisis that has driven some 2.2 million people from their homes. The conflict between Sudan’s army and…
By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) – NATO forces in Kosovo are ready to face any situation if acts of violence similar to recent encounters threaten the peace, the NATO commander in Pristina said late on Monday. Some 30 NATO peacekeeping soldiers defending three town halls in northern Kosovo were injured in clashes with Serb protesters…
By Max Hunder NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine (Reuters) – The artillerymen of Ukraine’s 67th infantry brigade are delighted with the U.S.-supplied M119 howitzer amid an increase in military exchanges south of the Russian-held town of Kreminna. The men now stationed in Ukraine’s northeast have been redeployed from positions around the devastated town of Bakhmut – encircled…
By Humeyra Pamuk BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday he had asked China’s government to be vigilant about private companies that may be providing Russia with technology that could be used against Ukraine, although he said he had seen no evidence Beijing is providing lethal assistance to Moscow. “What we…
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday criticized Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville for holding up some 200 Pentagon nominees over a Defense Department abortion policy. “It’s just bizarre. I don’t remember it happening before, and I’ve been around,” Biden said of the actions of Tuberville at a fundraiser…
By Takaya Yamaguchi, Makiko Yamazaki and Paritosh Bansal TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s financial regulator has sounded out top domestic banks about China risks and whether they have plans in place if Sino-Western tensions escalate, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The Financial Services Agency’s (FSA) request, which has not been previously reported, is to ensure Japan’s megabanks are…
PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he thinks relations between the United States and China are on the “right trail” and suggested progress was made during a rare trip to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We’re on the right trail here,” Biden said of U.S.-China relations. Asked…
By Humeyra Pamuk BEIJING (Reuters) -China and the United States agreed on Monday to stabilize their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough during a rare visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed “progress” after shaking hands with…
(Reuters) – The United States regrets a decision by Mali’s interim military authorities to ask a United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country, the State Department said on Monday, calling for an “orderly and responsible” drawdown of the mission. Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made the request during a U.N. Security Council meeting on…
