NEW YORK (Reuters) – On the streets of America, the debate over inflation is over. Prices are too high and rising too fast, many people say.

“The government says inflation is low, but that’s not what I’m seeing at the grocery story,” Jorge Alberto, an 88-year-old retiree in Miami, said walking out of a supermarket. “My pension is being put to the test.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) – With sagging opinion polls leaving little doubt Michael Bloomberg’s third and final term as New York mayor is going badly, the billionaire is splashing cash on a media campaign aimed at bolstering his popularity and his legacy.

Thursday’s resignation of former publishing executive Cathie Black as school chancellor confirmed the mayor has work to do.

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) – Ultra Petroleum (UPL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and
GMX Resources (GMXR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) join the Thomson Reuters shale gas index
TRSHALEGAS in the second quarter, putting the spotlight on
two companies undergoing strategic changes.

Houston-based Ultra, an established player in the
unconventional Pinedale natural gas field in Wyoming, has
expanded into the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania in recent
years to join the boom in shale gas production.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Libya released four New York Times journalists on Monday, nearly a week after they had been captured by Libyan forces while covering the conflict there, although three journalists for other outlets remained missing.

The release had been in the works since Thursday, with Turkey serving as intermediary between the U.S. and Libyan governments.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – Libya released
four New York Times (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) journalists on Monday, nearly a
week after they had been captured by Libyan forces while
covering the conflict there, although three journalists for
other outlets remained missing.

The release had been in the works since Thursday, with
Turkey serving as intermediary between the U.S. and Libyan
governments.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – From its spartan New York City studios, a non-profit organization called New Tang Dynasty Television is trying to change China with a tiny budget, a volunteer staff and a mission to inform a censored nation.

The channel funded largely by donations was founded by practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement but says it has no agenda other than to “bring truthful and uncensored information into and out of China,” said Samuel Zhou, the channel’s executive vice president.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s political fortunes have declined during his third term, although speculation about his future has not.

City voters have turned on the independent, with a Quinnipiac University poll on Wednesday showing a 51 percent majority disapprove of his performance and 39 percent approve — his lowest rating since November 2003.

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – When a New Jersey family with an autistic child walks into the state office seeking help, Norlande Perpignan is often the first person they see.

A clerk making $41,082 a year at the Division of Developmental Disabilities, Perpignan, 40, is also on the front lines of a national debate about public spending, taxes and a fiscal crisis facing local governments.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed laying off nearly 10,000 state workers and cutting billions from education and Medicaid as he laid out his first budget on Tuesday, designed to close a $10 billion deficit.

The Democratic governor proposed no new or increased taxes in the $132.9 billion budget plan, which would shrink the current budget ending March 31 by 2.7 percent. If the budget plan holds, it would mark the first spending decrease since 1997.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Security officials warned major Wall Street institutions of a potential threat after an al Qaeda-linked magazine suggested financial markets could be a target of attack, the FBI said on Tuesday.

The meetings with financial institutions took place over a couple of days in January after authorities circulated a bulletin to law enforcement agencies warning about “Inspire” magazine, which bills itself as the periodical of Yemeni-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).