Town Hall News

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Almost all of the remaining shortfall in U.S. labor force participation is the result of demographic and other trends that predate the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research that suggests little chance that growth in the number of workers will help ease a tight American job market. After accounting for factors such as population aging and changes in education that influence people’s willingness to […]

By Rowena Edwards LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Thursday as a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and a halt in exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region offset a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies. Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.63%, to $78.77 a barrel at 1145 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 58 cents, or 0.79%, to $73.55 a barrel. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in […]

By Noele Illien ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s authorities revealed the interest rates Credit Suisse and UBS will pay for the 250 billion Swiss franc ($273.31 billion) emergency lifeline the Swiss banks have been offered. Credit Suisse will pay an interest rate equal to the current Swiss National Bank’s policy rate of 1.5% plus 0.5% for access to the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) scheme, the central bank said on Thursday. Credit […]

By Joe Cash and Shuyan Wang BOAO, China (Reuters) -Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday that he was committed to opening up and reforming the world’s second-largest economy, seeking to win over foreign investors even as trade and geopolitical tensions with the West loom large. His keynote speech, delivered at a business and political summit in the island province of Hainan, came in a week Beijing has mounted a […]

By Crispian Balmer and Alvise Armellini VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis’s health is improving after he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection and he has resumed working while treatment continues, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Thursday. “His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night. His clinical picture is gradually improving and he is continuing his planned treatment,” the statement said. “This morning after breakfast, he […]

By Mubasher Bukhari and Jibran Ahmad LAHORE/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – At least five people have been killed in recent weeks and more injured in Pakistan in stampedes at sites distributing free flour under a government-backed scheme to help families struggling with soaring costs of basic staples. Thousands of people gathered at the centers set up across the country as part of the government’s efforts to ease the impact of inflation, […]

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on its first major legislation of the year on Thursday, a partisan energy bill that poses an early test of unity for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s majority. The 175-page measure, dubbed the Lower Energy Costs Act, represents a top 2022 Republican campaign pledge to lower Americans’ energy costs by scaling back Democratic President Joe […]

By Miguel Lo Bianco and Lucila Sigal BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – As Argentina’s over 100% inflation rate saps earning power and outstrips wages, Jorge Pedro Armoa, 67, has found a painful solution: juggling three jobs as a metal worker, soccer coach and part-time salesman of medical creams, flip flops and honey. Armoa, who lives in a small home in the outskirts of capital city Buenos Aires, gets up early every […]

By Pavel Polityuk KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Thursday Russian forces had made some gains inside the eastern battlefield city of Bakhmut, but at a heavy price in lives lost that has blunted Moscow’s offensive as Ukraine prepares a counterstrike of its own. In a potential escalation of Moscow’s diplomatic feud with Washington, Russia’s FSB security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, on suspicion […]