By Laura Sanicola (Reuters) -Oil prices settled up about $2 on Wednesday as optimism over oil demand and U.S. debt ceiling negotiations outweighed worries about abundant supply. Brent crude futures settled up $2.05, or 2.7%, to $76.96 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude settled up $1.97 or 2.8% to $72.83. “Today’s strong oil trade…
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, asked on Wednesday about a recent break-in at his home, said he had “total faith” in the Secret Service. The Secret Service on Tuesday said it was investigating a security incident at the site of “protectee” but did not name Sullivan. The…
By Nathan Gomes (Reuters) -Pilots of FedEx Corp’s air delivery unit on Wednesday voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of a strike if needed, the Air Line Pilots Association said as it enters the final stages of a contract negotiation with the company. With aviators in short supply and air travel demand booming, pilots are enjoying enhanced…
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is hoping a recent Supreme Court decision limiting the scope of fraud prosecutions will bolster his defense as he fights charges stemming from the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. But legal experts said Bankman-Fried’s odds of getting the charges dismissed remain slim. On May…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fraudulent filings for state unemployment insurance aid in Massachusetts could be distorting U.S. weekly unemployment claims data, economists warned on Wednesday, making it harder to get a clear picture of the labor market in the short-term. A surge in applications in Massachusetts accounted for the increase in initial claims for unemployment benefits…
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and the United States have launched a new joint health task force to cooperate on cancer, global health threats and related supply chains and infrastructure, officials told a press conference on Wednesday. The task force was set up on the heels of a cooperation agreement signed in June last…
By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday voted to propose a plan to bolster the resiliency of clearing houses during times of significant market stress, such as the 2021 “meme stock” trading frenzy. Clearing agencies and their infrastructure are often referred to as the plumbing of the…
By Anna Tong (Reuters) – The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday. More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization. Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT…
By Indradip Ghosh BENGALURU (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve will hold its key interest rate steady this year despite an expected recession, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who also said the risk of a U.S. default over the debt ceiling was higher compared to prior stand-offs. Those concerns, along with failures of…
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Rachael Rollins, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, improperly used her U.S. Justice Department position to meddle in a local district attorney election by leaking to newspapers dirt about a political rival – one of many ethics violations cited in two reports by government investigators on Wednesday. The reports…
