By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales rose less than expected in June as receipts at service stations and building material stores declined, but consumers boosted or maintained spending elsewhere, which likely kept the economy on a solid growth path in the second quarter. Overall, the mixed report from the Commerce Department on…
By Andrew Gray and Marine Strauss BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders proclaimed a new era of increased political and economic cooperation on Tuesday but their summit meeting was clouded by wrangling over how to address Russia’s war in Ukraine. The gathering of some 50 leaders from the three regions in Brussels…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Twenty-two Republican lawmakers urged the Federal Trade Commission to drop its fight against Microsoft’s deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard, calling it “an example of the FTC’s rejection of sound antitrust policy.” The lawmakers, all members of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in a letter sent on Monday to FTC…
By Denis Balibouse BITSCH, Switzerland (Reuters) -Swiss firefighters on Tuesday were battling a forest fire that has forced more than 200 people to evacuate, and authorities warned winds were making the blaze difficult to contain. The fire broke out on Monday on the forested flank of a mountain in Bitsch in the Valais canton near…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. soldier facing disciplinary action crossed into North Korea on Tuesday and was believed to be in North Korean custody, U.S. officials said, creating a fresh headache for Washington in its dealings with the nuclear-armed state. Here are some other Americans held in the past by North Korea. Most were sentenced…
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden has invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet at the White House in September, Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Tuesday, though the White House has yet to confirm the details. Hanegbi told N12 News that in their phone call on Monday, “The president of the…
By Rachel Nostrant (Reuters) – The U.S. Powerball jackpot has reached a whopping $1 billion for only the third time in the game’s history after another Monday night drawing produced no winning ticket. The Monday drawing was the 38th in a row without someone winning the top prize, which increases every time the jackpot goes…
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government, under pressure over images showing asylum seekers sleeping on the streets of Toronto, on Tuesday said it would give the city an extra C$97 million ($73.6 million) to help meet the demand for housing. The money is part of a C$212 million ($160.9 million) one-time injection to help major…
By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Major film and television studios offered Hollywood actors more than $1 billion in higher compensation and enhanced benefits before the SAG-AFTRA union called a strike last week, a group that represents media companies said on Monday. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on…
ODESA, Ukraine (Reuters) – U.S. aid chief Samantha Power on Tuesday pledged $250 million in new funding to help Ukrainian farmers reeling from blocked Black Sea grain shipments since Russia’s invasion last year. Moscow on Monday pulled out of a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea in a…
