* Education Department will cut nearly half its staff * Department offices ordered shut down until Thursday * Agencies cut workers using lump-sum payments, early retirement * Thursday is deadline to submit plans for large-scale layoffs * Workers would receive buyout payment of up to $25,000 (Adds number of Education Department workers, closure of Washington-area offices on Tuesday, paragraphs 3-5)...

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia will not impose reciprocal tariffs on the United States, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ruled out exemptions or exceptions for all countries on steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump said in February he would give great consideration to exempting Australia from the tariffs in view of the U.S. annual trade surplus with...

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The United States must expedite its development of fusion energy or risk falling behind China on energy dominance, said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on Tuesday. Virginia is home to the world's biggest hub of energy-hungry data centers, with about 70% of the world's internet traffic routing through the state. We've...

(Reuters) - Bessemer Venture Partners, an early backer of Swiggy, has raised $350 million for an India-focused fund to invest in AI-enabled businesses, fintechs and direct-to-consumer brands among others, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The United States-based venture capital firm said it will allocate this fund from mid-2025 to continue making fresh bets in young Indian businesses....