By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week as demand for labor remained strong, positioning the economy for another month of solid job gains. Unemployment rolls were the sm…
White House COVID chief Zients to exit, be replaced by Jha
By Jeff Mason and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients will leave his post next month and will be replaced by public health expert Dr. Ashish Jha, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as the administrat…
Wall Street rises as investors eye Fed moves, Ukraine peace talks
By Devik Jain, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Sinéad Carew (Reuters) – U.S. stocks added slightly to the previous session’s rally on Thursday as investors considered the path laid out by the Federal Reserve for interest rate hikes, while closely tracking Rus…
Hong Kong leader to review COVID restrictions in coming days
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday she would review COVID restrictions in coming days, as she understands people in the global financial centre are growing increasingly impatient with rules that have isolated the city an…
Thousands of Japan homes without power after quake kills four
By Sakura Murakami and Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of Japanese households remained without power on Thursday morning after a magnitude 7.4 quake struck shortly before midnight, throwing a swathe of northeastern Japan into darkness, s…
Scant progress in peace talks as Ukrainian cities pounded in more Russian attacks
By James Mackenzie, Natalia Zinets and Oleksandr Kozhukhar KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Rescue workers on Thursday dug survivors out of the rubble of a theatre in the besieged city of Mariupol which Ukraine said had been hit by a Russian air strike a…
Poland wants to urgently buy U.S. Reaper drones, as Russia fears mount
WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland wants to buy MQ-9 Reaper drones from the United States in the near future and is eyeing further procurements at a later date amid rising security concerns three weeks into a Russian invasion of its neighbour Ukraine. “We are pl…
Biden: It’s time to change U.S. culture on violence against women
By Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Wednesday said it is time to change the culture and not just U.S. law to stop violence against women as he celebrated expanded protections for survivors of sexual assault and d…
European leaders’ risky Kyiv mission took even close family by surprise
By Robert Muller, Jan Lopatka and James Mackenzie PRAGUE/KYIV (Reuters) – When headlines flashed on Tuesday morning that the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were on a train to Kyiv for talks with the Ukrainian president, it was news …
Justice Department accuses China of spying on, intimidating dissidents living in U.S
By Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused Chinese government agents of trying to spy on and intimidate dissidents living in the United States including a congressional candidate. Justice Department officials said …