By Nevzat Devranoglu and Ebru Tuncay ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish banks have restricted access to some individual loans and postponed decisions on extending corporate loans following new regulations introduced since Sunday’s inconclusive presidential vote and ahead of a May 28 runoff, bankers said. Some banks have raised monthly mortgage loan rates above 3% and car…
ANKARA (Reuters) – The Turkish central bank’s net international reserves dropped some $4.45 billion to a 21-year low of $2.33 billion in the week to May 12, as forex demand surged ahead of elections, official data showed on Thursday. The bank’s total gross reserves plunged $9 billion in the same week to $105.13 billion, the…
By Khalid Abdelaziz DUBAI (Reuters) – Mass looting by armed men and civilians is making life an even greater misery for Khartoum residents trapped by fierce fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses said. While the RSF dominates the capital on the ground and the army conducts frequent airstrikes, the witnesses…
By Joe Cash and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) – Global drugmaker AstraZeneca will seek to be a patriotic company in China that “loves the Communist Party”, its China president said at an event on Friday. Wang Lei, who is also the company’s global executive vice president, made the comments at an event in the eastern…
GENEVA (Reuters) – More than a million people have been displaced by fighting in Sudan so far, including a quarter of a million refugees, a U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson said on Friday. The army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in weeks of conflict that has killed hundreds of people and turned…
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Friday said they had ensured that Ukraine had the budget support it needs for this year and early 2024 as they renewed their commitment to provide financial and military support in its fight against Russia. “Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s…
By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) – Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on Ukraine early on Friday, setting ablaze several buildings in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown and seriously wounding a 64-year-old woman, Kyiv said. Moscow has stepped up its campaign of long-range attacks in the last month, shifting from a winter tactic…
By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s progressive Move Forward party on Friday said potential coalition partners need not support its controversial stance on amending the royal insult law, as it seeks to win the backing of other parties to form a government. Move Forward, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, won the most…
By Matthias Williams, Olena Harmash and John O’Donnell LONDON/KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine wants its allies to be bolder in imposing sanctions on Russia, including by targeting banks that provide financial services to serving soldiers, a senior adviser told Reuters. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, also urged allies not to fear…
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday that the city of Bakhmut was unlikely to fall to his mercenary forces in the next two days as fighting raged around Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a makeshift “fortress” in the south of the city. The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, known in Russia by…
