By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire, lawmakers said on Wednesday, giving President Joe Biden the opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise to appoint the first Blac…
COVID-19 cases at highest ever in Americas -regional health agency
BRASILIA (Reuters) -New cases of COVID-19 in the Americas in the past week have been the highest since the pandemic began in 2020 and the very contagious Omicron variant has clearly become the predominant strain, the Pan American Health Organization sa…
U.S. goods trade deficit hits record high; retail inventories surge
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened to a record high in December as imports increased for a fifth straight month amid strong domestic demand, suggesting that trade likely remained a drag on economic growth i…
Boeing posts loss as 787 jet deliveries stall with ‘no firm end in sight’
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Eric M. Johnson (Reuters) -Boeing Co said on Wednesday it incurred $4.5 billion charges in the fourth quarter on its sidelined 787 program, obscuring the U.S. planemaker’s long-awaited return to positive cash flow fueled by re…
WTO lets China impose tariffs on U.S. in Obama-era case
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The World Trade Organization (WTO) authorised China on Wednesday to impose $645 million of compensatory tariffs against the United States in a ruling immediately blasted by Washington. China went to the WTO in 2012 to challenge anti…
Putin talks up energy ties in address to Italy’s business elite
By Stephen Jewkes, Crispian Balmer and Vladimir Soldatkin MILAN/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of ties between Russia’s energy industry and Italy as he addressed Italian business leaders in a video-conferenc…
Blinken says U.S. responds to Russia’s demands, seeks dialogue
By Dmitry Antonov and Humeyra Pamuk MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States delivered written replies on Wednesday to sweeping Russian security demands, a key step in a fragile diplomatic process as Russia staged new military drills on land and …
Fed likely to hike rates in March as Powell vows sustained inflation fight
By Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it is likely to hike interest rates in March and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month in what U.S. central bank chief Jerome Powell pledged…
Analysis-Fed tightening a sign to get the ‘heck out’ of U.S. stocks
By Sujata Rao and Lewis Krauskopf LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock markets, after enjoying their best three-year run in more than two decades, may soon have to cede the top spot. With the Fed preparing to raise interest rates https://www.reuters….
OPEC+ expected to stick to planned March output target increase, sources say
LONDON/DUBAI/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC+ will probably stick with a planned increase in its oil output target for March when it meets on Wednesday next week, several sources from the producer group said, as it sees demand recovering despite downside risks…