By Josephine Walker and Joseph Ax (Reuters) -Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature on Friday passed a new congressional map that increased the number of Black voters in one of the state’s districts, but Democrats said the plan defied a U.S. Supreme Court ruling intended to protect minority voters’ rights. Civil rights groups have already vowed to challenge…
By Shariq Khan BENGALURU (Reuters) -Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Friday to record a fourth consecutive weekly gain, buoyed by growing evidence of supply shortages in the coming months and rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine that could further hit supplies. Brent crude futures rose $1.43, or 1.8%, to settle at $81.07 a barrel,…
By Diane Bartz and Krystal Hu WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -AI companies including OpenAI, Alphabet and Meta Platforms have made voluntary commitments to the White House to implement measures such as watermarking AI-generated content to help make the technology safer, President Joe Biden announced on Friday. “These commitments are a promising step but we have a…
By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global share markets edged lower on Friday as most U.S. megacap stocks slipped, while the dollar soared against the yen after Reuters reported the Bank of Japan is leaning toward keeping its dovish monetary policy next week. Gold prices fell as the dollar rebounded to its highest in more…
By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) -Leaders of a dock workers union in Canada’s Pacific region on Friday backed a tentative contract deal with employers and will soon recommend ratification to members, likely ending a standoff that led to a crippling 13-day strike. On Tuesday, “there will be a stop work meeting … to recommend the…
(Reuters) -The U.S. health regulator on Friday denied a petition urging the agency to reconsider its initial denial on a petition seeking a ban of some chemicals used in plastic for food packaging in May last year. The citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sought a ban on the use of eight…
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s election on Sunday will likely produce a win for the centre-right People’s Party, opinion polls show, but to form a government it will need a coalition ally in the far-right Vox party – anathema to many Spaniards. PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who will potentially let a far-right party into government for…
By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon is building a $120 million processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its thousands of planned Kuiper internet satellites, the company and state officials said Friday. The 100,000 square-foot building is part of the roughly $10 billion that Amazon has vowed to invest in its…
LONDON (Reuters) – A self-portrait by Johnny Depp went on sale on Thursday, depicting the Hollywood star when he was in between court cases relating to his marriage to ex-wife Amber Heard. Conceived in 2021 in the studio of British illustrator Ralph Steadman, the artwork called “Five” was completed this year. “This self-portrait, it was…
By Nick Carey, Paul Lienert and Victoria Waldersee POOLE, England (Reuters) – A little-publicized clause in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act has companies scrambling to recycle electric vehicle batteries in North America, putting the region at the forefront of a global race to undermine China’s dominance of the field. The IRA includes a clause that…
