US extends Russian oil waiver for vulnerable nations

PARIS (Reuters) -- ‌US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced another 30-day extension of a sanctions waiver allowing purchases of Russian seaborne oil to aid "energy-vulnerable" countries hit by the Iran war, reversing plans not to grant an extension. Bessent said in a posting on X that the Treasury was issuing the 30-day general license after a previous waiver lapsed Saturday. This will allow temporary access to ‌Russian oil and petroleum products stranded on tankers without viol

2026-05-19 10:55:26:00

US Treasury's Bessent expects large Boeing order during China visit

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday ‌said he expected an announcement about large Chinese orders for Boeing aircraft during President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, adding that Washington wanted to expand exports to China. "I think we're going to see the large Boeing orders," Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box" ‌program taped earlier on Thursday. The two sides would also discuss other purchases, including of energy and agricultural goods, as well as non-strategic areas in which China

2026-05-14 21:38:57:00

Warsh clinches Senate approval to be Fed's next chair

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The US Senate on Wednesday approved Kevin Warsh as chair of ‌the Federal Reserve, putting the 56-year-old lawyer and financier at the helm as the US central bank grapples with intensifying inflation that may make it hard to push through the interest-rate cuts that President Donald Trump has demanded. The vote was 54-45 in the most-partisan-ever US Senate confirmation of a Fed chair. A single Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted with the Republican majority. His

2026-05-14 10:46:52:00

Trump, Xi set for Beijing talks with trade truce, Iran war at stake

US President Donald Trump heads into a series of ‌meetings with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, aiming to secure economic wins, maintain a fragile trade truce and navigate thorny issues such as the Iran war and arms sales to Taiwan. With his approval ratings badly dented by his war in Iran, Trump's hotly anticipated trip to China - the first by a US president to America's main ‌strategic rival since his last visit there in 2017 - has taken on added significance. Joining him on the tri

2026-05-14 08:52:49:00

Geopolitical risks, oil shock top Fed worries

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The ongoing war ‌with Iran and its shock to oil prices and supplies have rocketed to the top of the list of concerns for financial stability, according to a semi-annual Federal Reserve report released Friday. The US central bank's Financial Stability Report found geopolitical risks and the oil shock ‌were the top worries of survey respondents, while artificial intelligence and private credit have risen to also become prominent concerns. Three-quarters of respondents cited

2026-05-10 10:45:34:00

Global debt hits record of near $353tr

LONDON (Reuters) -- Investors are showing signs of diversifying away from US Treasuries as global debt levels hit a record of nearly $353 trillion by end-March, a report by the Institute of International Finance published Wednesday ‌found. IIF's quarterly Global Debt Monitor said that strengthening international demand for Japanese and European government bonds contrasted with broadly stable demand for US Treasuries since the start of the year. "This highlights that there are some efforts by int

2026-05-07 11:23:57:00

Pentagon chief: ceasefire with Iran is not over

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that a ‌US operation to protect commercial ships from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is temporary, Washington is ‌not looking for a fight and the ceasefire with Iran is still in effect. "The ceasefire is not over," Hegseth ⁠told reporters. "We said we would defend and defend aggressively, and we absolutely have. Iran knows that, and ultimately, ⁠the president can make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a viola

2026-05-05 21:36:42:00

IMF chief warns of 'much worse outcome' if war drags into 2027

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The head of the International Monetary Fund on ‌Monday warned that inflation was already picking up and the global economy could face a "much worse outcome" if the war in the Middle East drags into 2027 and oil prices hit around $125 per barrel. IMF Managing Director ‌Kristalina Georgieva said the continuation of the war meant that the global lender's "reference scenario" assuming a short-lived conflict -- which forecast a minor growth slowdown to 3.1 percent and a minor

2026-05-05 10:40:49:00

US, Iran launch new attacks as they wrestle for control of Gulf waters

The US and Iran launched ‌new attacks in the Gulf on Monday as they wrestled for control over the Strait of Hormuz with duelling maritime blockades, shaking a fragile truce. The fresh volleys of missiles and drones came after US President Donald Trump launched a new effort to get stranded tankers and other ships through the strait, the vital energy-trade chokepoint that has been virtually closed since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran in February, a war that has killed thousands of people

2026-05-05 08:37:07:00

Spirit says most customers refunded after abrupt shutdown

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Spirit Airlines said Sunday it had almost completed refunding passengers and returning its crew to their home bases following its decision to cease operations over the ‌weekend. Spirit abruptly canceled flights early Saturday morning, stranding passengers and staff around the US, the Caribbean and Latin America, after collapsing under financial pressures that included a sharp rise in fuel costs due to the Iran war. The carrier had more than ⁠4,000 domestic flights scheduled

2026-05-04 10:58:29:00