(Reuters) – Russia will allow the U.S. ambassador to Moscow to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “on a reciprocal basis”, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. Ambassador Lynne Tracy was able to visit Gershkovich this week for only the second time since he was detained in March on espionage charges,…
By Shaloo Shrivastava and Anant Chandak BENGALURU (Reuters) – The rupee will hold on to its recent gains against the dollar in coming months and strengthen marginally in a year, on strong macroeconomic trends and expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its hiking cycle, a Reuters poll showed. Despite the Reserve…
By Brendan Pierson and Andrew Goudsward (Reuters) – A federal judge’s order restricting Biden administration officials from contacting social media companies about moderating their content will face tough legal challenges on appeal, experts said. Several legal scholars and attorneys said while the lawsuit challenging the administration’s communications with social media companies raised real free speech…
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian lawyer with a bounty on his head from the Hong Kong authorities, said on Thursday he was being pursued for “exercising my democratic rights” in a crackdown on free speech. Kevin Yam, 47, is one of eight overseas-based activists accused by Hong Kong police of “serious” national…
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese weather forecasters on Thursday issued a string of heat advisories across northern parts of the country as temperatures were expected to breach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas, stressing taxed power grids. The torrid heat has gripped China for several weeks, pushing local governments to ask residents and businesses…
LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin hit its highest level in 13 months on Thursday rising as much as 3.28% to $31,500. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has recently found support due to plans by fund managers, including BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – to launch a U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund(ETF). Nasdaq refiled its application…
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran said on Thursday it had a court order to seize a tanker in Gulf waters a day earlier after it collided with an Iranian vessel, one of two tankers the U.S. Navy said it prevented Iran from commandeering. The Richmond Voyager, a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, had collided with an Iranian vessel and…
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -TikTok Inc on Wednesday asked a U.S. judge to block enforcement of a Montana state ban on use of the Chinese-owned app before it takes effect on Jan. 1. TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance and filed suit in May, asked U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy to issue…
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines on Wednesday accused China’s coast guard of harassment, obstruction and “dangerous manoeuvres” against its vessels, after another incident near a strategic feature of the South China Sea that has become a flashpoint between them. Philippine coast guard boats were assisting a naval operation on June 30 when they were “constantly…
By Lisa Barrington and Jonathan Saul DUBAI (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy said it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, in the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019. In a statement, the U.S. Navy said that at…