LONDON (Reuters) -The United States was put on review for a downgrade by credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar on Thursday over Washington’s debt ceiling haggling, shortly after a similar warning from Fitch. “The Under Review with Negative Implications reflects the risk of Congress failing to increase or suspend the debt ceiling in a timely manner,”…
By Brad Brooks and Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – Organizers of some LGBT Pride events in Florida are limiting access by minors and increasing security in the face of a slate of new state laws they say unfairly target their community. But the organizers say the laws are rekindling a defiant energy they hope will help…
By James Oliphant (Reuters) -Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who announced on Wednesday he is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is likely to be former President Donald Trump’s top rival due to his budding national profile and fundraising acumen. Here are some facts about DeSantis’ life and political career. A LIFE IN PUBLIC SECTOR DeSantis,…
ATHENS (Reuters) – Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judge, was sworn in as Greece’s caretaker prime minister on Thursday to lead the country to a repeat election on June 25 following Sunday’s inconclusive vote. Sarmas, the president of the Hellenic Court of Audit, one of Greece’s three top courts, is expected to form an interim cabinet…
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey’s central bank kept its policy rate at 8.5% on Thursday as expected, holding steady for a third straight month, despite a market rout after the first round of elections which indicated President Tayyip Erdogan was poised to win in the runoff. After Erdogan’s solid lead in…
By Joan Faus BARCELONA (Reuters) – Scrawled across Barcelona’s opera house, along the city’s renowned La Rambla boulevard, is expletive-laden graffiti urging tourists to “go home”. In another district, the messaging is more emphatic still: “Tourism kills neighbourhoods”. The signs, which appeared in recent days, underline how anti-tourism sentiment is bubbling up in the Spanish…
By Giuseppe Fonte and Giulio Piovaccari MILAN (Reuters) – The Italian government, which is assessing tyre maker Pirelli’s new shareholder agreement, is concerned about plans to allow top shareholder China’s Sinochem to appoint more board members and potentially choose future CEOs, two sources said. Italy’s right-wing government has to approve the scheme under “Golden Power”…
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A ban on smoking marijuana on the streets of Amsterdam’s red light district went into effect on Thursday, part of a push by the city’s first female mayor to clean up the area. Signs were posted in the canal-lined neighbourhood known for its brothels, sex clubs and marijuana cafes, which attract millions…
By Olivier Sorgho (Reuters) – First-time asylum applications from people seeking international protection in European Union countries soared in February, driven largely by Syrians and Afghans, a report from the bloc’s statistics agency Eurostat showed on Thursday. The bloc received 76,505 first-time asylum requests from non-EU citizens applying for international protection, an increase of 41%…
By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) -Debt-laden Sri Lanka should be able to conclude a new round of restructuring talks by September or November at the latest, its president said on Thursday, adding that the negotiations had made “remarkable” progress. The island nation defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in its history in…
