Economic News

By Mike Scarcella (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $75 million settlement between Smithfield Foods Inc and a class of consumers who accused the pork producer of conspiring to restrict supply in order to keep prices artificially high.

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that France and Europe want to pursue an independent policy path from the United States and China, but intend to be “strong and reliable allies of the United States of America.”

By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Three times as many people sought to reach the European Union across the Mediterranean in the first three months of 2023 compared to a year before, the bloc’s border agency said, as the U.N. migration arm decried the deadliest first

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria late on Saturday and captured an Islamic State operative and two of his associates, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.

By Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram BRASILIA (Reuters) – Foreign investors are returning in numbers to Brazil’s public debt market, Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told Reuters, just after local financial assets rallied since the government proposed new fiscal rules two weeks ago.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency on Wednesday called on the West Bank local staff union to end a strike, saying the stoppage was hindering access for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to basic services.

By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada on Wednesday is expected to keep rates on hold as inflation cools and because of stress in the global banking system, despite the fact that growth accelerated in the first quarter, analysts said.

By Jonathan Landay and Aleksandar Vasovic

By Emma Pinedo MADRID (Reuters) – A plan to legalise irrigation around the Donana wildlife reserve in southern Spain, one of Europe’s largest wetlands and a wintering location for migratory birds, has sparked an outcry in during a prolonged drought.

CAIRO (Reuters) – United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Wednesday, the UAE state news agency (WAM) reported.

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott plans to launch a presidential exploratory committee on Wednesday, a key step toward running for president in 2024, The Post and Courier newspaper in South Carolina reported late on Tuesday, citing sources.

LONDON (Reuters) – British police have charged a man with four counts of manslaughter relating to an incident in December when a small boat carrying migrants from France to Britain capsized in freezing conditions.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico on Wednesday created a presidential commission to fight the trafficking of synthetic drugs, firearms and ammunition, a move that comes as officials travel to Washington to meet with their U.S. and Canadian counterparts to tackle the issue.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The head of Mexico’s immigration agency, Francisco Garduno, is under investigation over a deadly fire last month at a migrant detention center in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.

(Reuters) – Annual inflation in Russia dropped below the central bank’s 4% target in March for the first time in a year, as the base effect of last year’s double-digit price rises takes hold, data from the state statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States has said it will return money and assets confiscated from a convicted former senior Mexican state official that were worth over $246 million, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.

(Reuters) -National Public Radio (NPR) said on Wednesday it will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds after the U.S. organization was labeled as “state-affiliated media” by the social media platform

By Hannah Lang WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Stricter banking regulations would not have prevented Silicon Valley Bank’s sudden collapse last month, a top official at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Wednesday, highlighting instead management failures behind its demise.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Below are some key quotes from a news conference by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers on Wednesday after the central bank left its key interest rate on hold at a 15-year high of 4.50%.

LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Harry will attend the Coronation next month of Britain’s King Charles but his wife, Meghan, will remain in California with their children, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.