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Aug 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said he may increase again the volume of Treasury bonds the government will repurchase, a day after surprising the market with plans to double them. “We’re going to increase the size of the buyback,” Bessent said in a CNBC interview. “I would note that it could be more than the $4 billion per issue.” (Reporting By Dan Burns) Brought […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Meta insists it has a long history of protecting its youngest customers as it defends itself against a swath of lawsuits alleging its social media empire harms children. In the latest such instance, the social media giant is fighting allegations in a California federal court that it contributes to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately and stealthily designing features to get children hooked on its platforms […]

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Six million people in Somalia are facing acute food insecurity while the World Food Program has only a tenth of the resources it had in 2022 when it helped avert famine in the drought- and conflict-stricken East African nation, the head of the U.N. agency told The Associated Press. “We can only do the bare minimum,” WFP executive director Carl Skau said Wednesday during a visit […]

TOKYO (AP) — Christopher Bodeen, a tenacious, old-school wire service reporter who brought a keen analytical eye and a wry sense of humor to decades of work in China, Taiwan and in war zones and natural disasters across the globe for The Associated Press, has died. He was 55. Bodeen died Monday after a struggle with cancer and complications from a stroke, his daughter, Ingrid, said Thursday by telephone from […]

The United States’ debt surpassed a record $40 trillion Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October. The Latest: Braid was in charge of helping to […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection faced scrutiny Thursday after a watchdog group warned that forced labor persists on sugarcane fields in the Dominican Republic, which exports large amounts of sugar and other products to the U.S. In 2022, the federal agency had imposed a ban on imports of sugar and other products made by Central Romana Corporation, Ltd., accusing the company of isolating workers, […]

By Solomon Cefai SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Chinese exports of rare earth yttrium to the U.S. rose in July, Chinese customs data showed on Thursday, possibly giving some reprieve to U.S. aerospace buyers who depend on the material for critical aviation applications. China, the main source of the element used in specialty alloys found in engines as well as coatings to shield against high temperatures, restricted exports along with […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, another sign that layoffs remain low and that most Americans enjoy job security. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims dropped to 206,000 last week from a revised 212,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, ticked up to 204,000 last week from 199,750. Claims for jobless benefits are […]

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A summer of extreme heat has left many Tunisians short of water and electricity — and full of anger at the country’s leadership. A protest is expected in the capital Tunis on Thursday by a new opposition collective tapping into the growing frustration. The protest has been called by the Nafas movement, which seeks to bring together political parties and independent figures beyond the North African […]