Economy

Trump Says Some Auto Imports Threaten National Security
2019-05-17 20:40:13 UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump declared that some imported vehicles and parts pose a national security threat but delayed a decision for as long as six months on whether to impose tariffs to allow for more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. The unprecedented designation of foreign vehicles imported to the United States from some of its closest allies sparked anger from automakers, dealers and foreign governments after a White House document hinted it would seek voluntary export quotas on autos from U.S. trading partners. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said on Twitter that “we com...
Dutchman Travels Across 33 Countries on Electric Car
2019-04-18 22:49:36 UTC
Dutchman Wiebe Wakker on Sunday ended a 95,000 kilometer (59,000 mile) electric car journey that he hoped would show the world the viability of such vehicles. Wakker arrived in the eastern Australian city of Sydney after driving his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed "The Blue Bandit" across 33 countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers he received on his website. The trip started in the Netherlands and took just over three years. It was funded by public donations from around the globe, including electricity to charge the "Bandit," food and accommodation. "I wante...
Restaurant Dishes Labeled Gluten-Free Often Are Not
2019-04-02 22:07:57 UTC
For people with celiac disease, even tiny amounts of gluten in foods can cause trouble, and restaurants may be the hardest places to avoid the hidden protein, a U.S. study suggests. More than half of gluten-free pizza and pasta dishes tested in restaurants were positive for the presence of gluten, and overall, about one third of supposedly gluten-free foods had some gluten, researchers report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. “The long-suspected problem of gluten contamination in restaurant foods that has been reported by patients likely has some truth behind it,” said senior study author Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl, director of ...
Oil Prices Continue to Rise Amid OPEC-Led Supply Cuts
2019-04-02 21:38:57 UTC
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices on Tuesday hit their highest level so far in 2019, with Brent crude approaching $70 a barrel, on the prospect that more sanctions against Iran and further Venezuelan disruptions could deepen an OPEC-led supply cut. Brent futures reached a session peak at $69.52 a barrel, the highest since Nov. 13. The global benchmark rose 36 cents, or 0.52 percent, to settle at $69.37 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 99 cents, or 1.61 percent, to settle at $62.58 a barrel, after touching $62.75, its highest level since Nov. 7. The United States is considering more sanctions against Iran, the ...
Still Unclear How, When or If UK Will Ever Indeed Quit EU
2019-04-02 20:57:13 UTC
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she would seek another Brexit delay to agree an EU divorce deal with the opposition Labour leader, a last-ditch gambit to break an impasse over Britain’s departure that enraged many in her party. Nearly three years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a shock referendum result, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever indeed quit the European club it first joined in 1973. In a hastily arranged statement from her Downing Street office after spending seven hours chairing cabinet meetings on how to plot a way out of the Brexit maze, May said s...
Brexit: EU Prepares For a 'No-Deal' Scenario
2019-03-29 20:39:59 UTC
Theresa May's exit deal failed by 58 votes, and April 12 beckons as a new exit date for the UK out of the EU. More indicative votes are on the table, as the EU prepares for a 'no-deal' scenario. LONDON (Reuters) - Lawmakers rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal for a third time on Friday, sounding its probable death knell and leaving Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union in turmoil on the very day it was supposed to quit the bloc. The decision to reject a stripped-down version of May’s divorce deal has left it totally unclear how, when or even whether Britain will leave the EU, and plunges the three-year Brexit cri...
U.S. Judge Approves Bankruptcy Loan for PG&E
2019-03-27 18:31:51 UTC
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Bankrupt California power provider PG&E Corp won court approval on Wednesday for a $5.5 billion loan to help maintain electricity and natural gas delivery and for investments to reduce the risk of wildfires as it reorganizes. San Francisco-based PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January in the aftermath of devastating wildfires that struck California in recent years, some linked or suspected to be linked to the company’s equipment. Judge Dennis Montali of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco approved the debtor-in-possession loan over objections of a committee representing victims of w...
Facebook Bans White Nationalism and Separatism on Its Platforms
2019-03-27 18:01:14 UTC
(Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Wednesday announced a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on its social media platforms, furthering its efforts to tackle hate speech. These bans will be enforced next week, the social media giant said in a blog <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/03/standing-against-hate">here</a> post. Facebook said it would also start connecting people who search for terms associated with white supremacy to organizations focused on helping people leave behind hate groups. Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva
Mozambique's Cyclone Survivors Face Cholera
2019-03-27 17:36:23 UTC
BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) - Dozens of fragile patients poured into a clinic in the wrecked Mozambican port city of Beira on Wednesday, as the government said it had confirmed the first five cases of cholera in the wake of deadly Cyclone Idai. Thousands of people were trapped for more than a week in submerged villages without access to clean water after the cyclone smashed into Mozambique on March 14, causing catastrophic flooding. Relief efforts have increasingly focused on containing outbreaks of waterborne and infectious diseases. In Munhava in central Beira, doctors and nurses at a newly set up treatment center said they are tre...
Chinese Company to Sell Popular Dating App Grindr
2019-03-27 17:54:06 UTC
(Reuters) - Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd is seeking to sell Grindr LLC, the popular gay dating app it has owned since 2016, after a U.S. government national security panel raised concerns about its ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has informed Kunlun that its ownership of West Hollywood, California-based Grindr constitutes a national security risk, the two sources said. CFIUS’ specific concerns and whether any attempt was made to mitigate them could not be learned. The United States has been increasingly scrutinizing app deve...
Wall Street Bogged Down by Global Growth Worries
2019-03-27 17:53:13 UTC
(Reuters) - Fears of a global economic slowdown weighed on Wall Street’s main indexes on Wednesday, and along with a prolonged inversion in the U.S. yield curve kept investors at bay. Apple Inc was a bright spot, rising 1.23 percent after three straight days of losses. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yields slid on Wednesday, but came off 15-month lows reached overnight as investors remained focused on central bank dovishness globally. The inversion, if it persists, could indicate that a recession is likely in one to two years. [US/] U.S. stocks have been hit by worries of slowing global economic growth since last week following do...
EU: Italy Poses A Threat to Other Euro Zone Countries
2019-02-27 20:27:14 UTC
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy is facing excessive economic imbalances and the policies of its government are making matters worse, posing a threat to other euro zone countries, the European Commission said on Wednesday. However, the EU executive arm, whose job is to analyze the economic performance of each of the EU’s 28 countries and warn of trouble ahead, said it would wait until it receives Italy’s reform program in April before taking action. “Italy is experiencing excessive imbalances. High government debt and protracted weak productivity dynamics imply risks with cross-border relevance, in a context of still high level of non-perf...
UK's Theresa May delays vote on Brexit until March 12
2019-02-25 18:01:20 UTC
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Sunday to offer lawmakers a vote on her Brexit deal by March 12, the latest delay in her attempt to win approval for a plan to ensure Britain’s orderly departure from the European Union. As the United Kingdom’s labyrinthine Brexit crisis goes down to the wire, May is making a last-ditch effort to get changes to the divorce package but lawmakers may try on Wednesday to grab control of Brexit in a series of parliamentary votes. After the British parliament voted 432-202 against her deal in January, the worst defeat in modern British history, May promised to seek ...
Irish PM, Leo Varadkar rejects a post-Brexit border backstop that includes a time limit
2019-02-24 16:43:17 UTC
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Ireland cannot accept a post-Brexit border backstop that has a time limit or a unilateral exit clause, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Sunday. “We are happy to discuss with the United Kingdom assurances that they may need to give them further confidence that the backstop were it ever applied will not be permanent,” Varadkar told reporters. “We are not playing chicken, we are not playing poker, we are just standing by our position which has been solid since day one,” he said. “A backstop that includes a time limit isn’t a backstop at all, nor would a unilateral exit clause work for us.” <st...
Buffett rebukes Trump for taking credit for US economic growth
2019-02-23 19:58:52 UTC
(Reuters) - Warren Buffett on Saturday appeared to fault U.S. President Donald Trump for taking too much credit for the nation’s economic growth, while acknowledging that market conditions are making it tough for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc to find more big companies to buy. Buffett lamented these states of affairs in his widely read annual letter to Berkshire shareholders. Accompanying the letter was more bad news, that sinking stock prices and a big writedown for the company’s Kraft Heinz Co investment fueled a $25.39 billion fourth-quarter net loss, and caused Berkshire to post its lowest annual profit since 2001. But many of ...
North Carolina: New election in undecided US House race
2019-02-21 22:04:16 UTC
(Reuters) - North Carolina’s elections board on Thursday unanimously ordered a new election for a U.S. House seat after officials said corruption surrounding absentee ballots tainted the results of last November’s vote. The bipartisan board’s 5-0 decision came after Republican candidate Mark Harris requested a new vote, telling the panel that evidence of possible ballot fraud had undermined confidence in the election. In the televised hearing, board members said “corruption” and the “absolute mess with the absentee ballots” had cast doubt on the fairness of the contest and voters deserved a fresh election. Harris’ request for a ne...
Putin says Russia ready to place new nuclear missile near US territory
2019-02-21 21:52:11 UTC
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is militarily ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis if the United States wanted one and threatened to place hypersonic nuclear missiles on ships or submarines near U.S. territorial waters. The Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in 1962 when Moscow responded to a U.S. missile deployment in Turkey by sending ballistic missiles to Cuba, sparking a standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. More than five decades on, tensions are rising again over Russian fears that the United States might deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, as a landmark Cold ...
Tesla to buy battery tech maker Maxwell Technologies for $218 million
2019-02-04 17:12:26 UTC
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc has agreed to buy energy storage company Maxwell Technologies Inc for $218 million in an all-stock deal that could help the electric car maker produce batteries that hold more energy and last longer at a time when it needs to cut costs and faces growing competition. Tesla is rapidly increasing production of its Model 3 sedan and needs to lower the price to reach a broader customer base than its pure luxury vehicles. Maxwell executives told investors in January that it had developed and patented a “dry electrode” technology that could significantly increase the driving range and reduce the cost of electric vehicl...
UK Government Considers Another Brexit Vote
2019-03-27 17:58:22 UTC
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Britain’s government will file a motion to allow parliament to sit on Friday as the government considers bringing another vote in parliament on its Brexit divorce deal, Brexit minister Stephen Barclay said on Wednesday. “The government will later today table a motion for the house to sit this Friday,” Barclay told parliament. “Whist I appreciate it may cause some inconvenience, it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” <hr>(Reporting By Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill)</srtrong><hr>
Germany to Accelerate Development of Autonomous Driving
2019-01-23 18:33:15 UTC
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany’s top carmakers including BMW and Volkswagen are looking at ways to speed up development of the next generation of self-driving cars, possibly by even working together, as tech giant Google forges ahead with plans to mass produce such vehicles. Carmakers and tech companies have been in a race to develop self-driving robotaxis since 2012 when Google unveiled a self-driving car. BMW announced a development pact with tech firm Mobileye in 2016 and Daimler struck an alliance with autos supplier Bosch in 2017. BMW and Daimler’s first-generation autonomous cars will start to emerge after 2020/2021 using comput...
Brexit: EU To Prepare For Worst Variant
2019-01-16 04:37:26 UTC
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders expressed dismay and regret on Tuesday after the British parliament rejected a Brexit divorce deal, saying they were stepping up emergency planning and warned London was running out of time. The EU’s chief executive, the European Parliament Brexit negotiator and a host of prime ministers took to Twitter to call on London for ideas on what to do now to stop Britain crashing out of the bloc with no deal on March 29. European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs EU summits, suggested the only real solution was for Britain to stay in the EU after British lawmakers defeated Prime Minister T...
Jimmy Carter: The US Is An “Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery”
2019-01-08 00:53:49 UTC
Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday on the nationally syndicated radio show the <a href="http://www.thomhartmann.com/">Thom Hartmann Program</a> that the United States is now an “oligarchy” in which “unlimited political bribery” has created “a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors.” Both Democrats and Republicans, Carter said, “look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves.”Carter was responding to a question from Hartmann about recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign financing like Citizens United.T...
China's Chang'e-4 Probe Touched Down on Far Side of Moon
2019-01-06 05:35:05 UTC
China's Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday morning. The successful "soft landing" marks a groundbreaking development in space exploration, being the first time that a spacecraft has landed on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth. Chang'e-4, which is named after the Chinese goddess of the moon, entered its planned orbit to allow the landing on Sunday. It landed in the Von Karman crater, which is in the lunar South Pole's Aitken Basin, at about 0226 UTC. Lunar surface explorer Chang'e-4 is set to release a rover to map contours and surface...
China’s Population to Reach 1.442 Billion in 2029
2019-01-06 05:03:07 UTC
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s population is set to reach a peak of 1.442 billion in 2029 and start a long period of “unstoppable” decline in 2030, government scholars said in a research report published on Friday. The world’s most populous country must now draw up policies to try to cope with a declining labor force and a rapidly ageing population, according to the summary of the latest edition of the “Green Book of Population and Labor” published by the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Growth in the working population had now stagnated, the report said, and the rising number of elderly people will have a far-reaching impact o...
US Utility Company PG&E Explores Filing for Bankruptcy
2019-01-06 03:42:30 UTC
(Reuters) - California utility company PG&E Corp (PCG.N) is exploring filing some or all of its business for bankruptcy protection as it faces billions of dollars in liabilities related to fatal wildfires in 2018 and 2017, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The company is considering the move as a contingency, in part because it could soon take a significant financial charge for the fourth quarter of 2018 related to liabilities from the blazes, the sources said. A bankruptcy filing is not certain, the sources said. The company could receive financial help through legislation that would let it pass on to customers costs a...