US Congress averts historic default, approves debt-limit suspension

By Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation backed by President Joe Biden that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default. The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill that had been passed on Wednesday by the House…

Read More

Global airline summit to tackle travel boom, climate goals

By Tim Hepher, Joanna Plucinska and Aditi Shah ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Airlines will ride the crest of a faster-than-expected recovery and discuss ways of translating climate pledges into action at a summit buoyed by a return to business as usual next week. The influential International Air Transport Association (IATA) holds its annual meeting on June…

Read More

Russia says it repels border incursion, strikes on Kyiv kill three

By Valentyn Ogirenko and Guy Faulconbridge KYIV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday it had repelled more cross-border attacks from Ukraine while its aerial assaults on Kyiv killed another three people including a nine-year-old girl and her mother locked out of an air raid shelter. Both sides are trying to sap morale and weaken military…

Read More

Exclusive-U.S. seeking explosives in Japan for Ukraine artillery shells – sources

By Tim Kelly, Nobuhiro Kubo, Yukiko Toyoda and Kaori Kaneko TOKYO (Reuters) – The United States is seeking to secure supplies of TNT in Japan for 155mm artillery shells, as Washington rushes weapons and ammunition to Ukraine for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. For war-renouncing Japan, any…

Read More

U.S. regulation fears drive insurers’ climate alliance break-up

By Tommy Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) -The success of Republicans in triggering the break-up of a coalition of insurance firms aimed at tackling climate change is down to U.S. states being the industry’s primary regulator, interviews with industry executives and former officials show. The U.N.-backed Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA), formed in 2019 to get insurers to…

Read More

Electric truck maker Nikola may do reverse stock split to comply with Nasdaq rules

By Abhirup Roy SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Electric truck maker Nikola Corp may execute a reverse stock split if its stock does not comply with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirements within a certain period, its chief executive Michael Lohscheller said on Thursday. Nikola, which closed at about 57 cents on Thursday as it battles mounting losses,…

Read More

US to stop giving Russia some New START nuclear arms data

By Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States said it will stop providing Russia some notifications required under the New START arms control treaty from Thursday, including updates on its missile and launcher locations, to retaliate for Moscow’s “ongoing violations” of the accord. In a fact sheet on its website, the State…

Read More

Newly approved US flights by Chinese airlines avoid Russian airspace

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese airlines are avoiding flying over Russian airspace in newly approved flights to and from the United States, according to flight tracking website FlightAware and industry officials. Russia has barred U.S. airlines and other foreign carriers from flying over its airspace, in retaliation for Washington banning Russian flights over…

Read More

Dev Shah, 14, crowned US National Spelling Bee champion

By Brendan O’Brien and Steve Gorman (Reuters) -Dev Shah, a 14-year-old boy from Largo, Florida, won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, nailing the word “psammophile,” meaning an organism that thrives in sandy soils, in the 15th round of the contest’s finals. He edged out fellow eighth-grader Charlotte Walsh, 14, from Arlington, Virginia,…

Read More