London — As world leaders gather for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, the charity Oxfam says they are being undermined by what it calls a “global oligarchy” of the super-rich who exert considerable control over the global economy – and who it blames for exacerbating …
your ad hereHong Kong welcomes new giant pandas gifted by Beijing
HONG KONG — Hong Kong welcomed a new pair of giant pandas gifted by Beijing on Thursday with a lavish ceremony, raising hopes for a boost to the city’s tourism. An An and Ke Ke are the third pair of giant pandas to be sent to the city from mainland China …
your ad hereHarris promises tax breaks, investments for US manufacturers
PITTSBURGH — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday she would offer tax credits to domestic manufacturers and invest in sectors that will “define the next century,” as she detailed her economic plan to boost the U.S. middle class. Speaking at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh in the battleground state …
your ad hereOECD sees global economy ‘turning corner’ toward growth
Statue of American music legend Johnny Cash unveiled at US Capitol
Washington — Johnny Cash now stands among the most famous politicians, trailblazers and activists of American history as he became the first professional musician to be honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol. Congressional leaders from both parties and members of the Cash family were among the several hundred guests …
your ad hereCrowdStrike executive apologizes to Congress for July global tech outage
WASHINGTON — An executive at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike apologized in testimony to Congress for sparking a global technology outage over the summer. “We let our customers down,” said Adam Meyers, who leads CrowdStrike’s threat intelligence division, in a hearing before a U.S. House cybersecurity subcommittee Tuesday. Austin, Texas-based CrowdStrike has blamed …
your ad hereFormer executive gets 2 years in prison for role in FTX fraud
new york — Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday after she apologized repeatedly to everyone hurt by a fraud that stole billions of dollars from investors, lenders and customers. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan …
your ad hereUS Justice Department sues Visa, saying it monopolizes debit card markets
NEW YORK — The U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa on Tuesday, alleging that the financial services behemoth uses its size and dominance to stifle competition in the debit card market, costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars. The complaint says Visa penalizes merchants and banks who don’t …
your ad hereSwiss police detain several people in connection with ‘suicide capsule’
GENEVA — Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people have been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a “suicide capsule.” The “Sarco” capsule is presumably designed to allow a person sitting in a reclining seat inside to push a …
your ad hereAncient coastal city in Egypt feels impact of changing climate
Egypt’s second-largest city, Alexandria, lies in the Eastern Mediterranean, a top climate change hotspot that has dealt with record global air and ocean temperatures this year. Egypt-based photojournalist Hamada Elrasam presents scenes of everyday life that have been impacted by the changing climate phenomenon in the low-lying metropolis that has …
your ad hereSri Lanka’s new leader appoints cabinet ahead of expected snap polls
Colombo, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s new leftist president appointed his Cabinet Tuesday ahead of an expected snap parliamentary election as he prepares to renegotiate the bankrupt island nation’s unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout program. Self-avowed Marxist Dissanayake of the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) was sworn into office on Monday after …
your ad hereGerman economy expected to contract again in 2024, say sources
Berlin — Germany’s leading economic institutes have downgraded their forecast for 2024 and now see Europe’s largest economy shrinking by 0.1%, people familiar with the figures from the autumn joint economic forecast told Reuters on Tuesday. Germany’s economy was the weakest among its large euro zone peers last year with a …
your ad here‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate
wyoming, iowa — Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower. The skyscraper-like corn is a part of rural America as much as …
your ad hereJill Biden reveals $500 million plan that focuses on women’s health at Clinton Global Initiative
NEW YORK — First lady Jill Biden is unveiling a new set of actions to address health inequities faced by women in the United States, plans that include spending at least $500 million annually on women’s health research. Biden was making the announcement Monday while closing out the first day of …
your ad hereBiden administration seeks to ban Chinese, Russian tech in most US vehicles
New York — The U.S. Commerce Department said Monday it’s seeking a ban on the sale of connected and autonomous vehicles in the U.S. that are equipped with Chinese and Russian software and hardware with the stated goal of protecting national security and U.S. drivers. While there is minimal Chinese and …
your ad hereEurozone business activity slumps after Olympics boost
Brussels, Belgium — Eurozone business activity declined for the first time in seven months in September, as France lost steam after the end of the Paris Olympic Games, a key survey said Monday. S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a key gauge of the overall health of the economy — dropped …
your ad hereCalifornia sues Exxon over global plastic pollution
NEW YORK — California and several environmental groups sued ExxonMobil on Monday and accused the oil giant of engaging in a decades-long campaign that helped fuel global plastic waste pollution. Speaking at an event during Climate Week in New York City, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state sued Exxon …
your ad hereBiden proposes banning Chinese vehicles from US roads with software crackdown
Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday proposed prohibiting key Chinese software and hardware in connected vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns — a move that would effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars from entering the U.S. market. The planned regulation, first reported by Reuters, would also force …
your ad hereSoyuz capsule with 2 Russians, 1 American from ISS returns to Earth
Moscow — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Monday in Kazakhstan, ending a record-breaking stay for the Russian pair. The capsule landed on the Kazakh steppe about 3 1/2 hours after undocking from the ISS in an apparently trouble-free descent. In the …
your ad hereCholera spreading in Sudan as fighting between rival generals shows no sign of abating
Cairo — Cholera is spreading in war-torn Sudan, killing at least 388 people and sickening about 13,000 others over the past two months, health authorities said, as more than 17 months of fighting between the military and a notorious paramilitary group shows no sign of abating. The disease is spreading in …
your ad hereEU challenges China’s dairy product probe at WTO
Brussels — The European Commission launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday against China’s investigation into EU dairy products, initiated after the European Union placed import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. This is the first time the European Union has taken such action at the start of …
your ad hereHigh inflation memories cloud US consumers’ outlooks
Washington — Even before the Federal Reserve approved its outsized half-percentage-point interest rate cut last week, financial markets had begun making credit cheaper for households and businesses as they bid down mortgage rates, cut corporate bond yields, and chipped away at what consumers pay for personal, auto and other loans. How …
your ad hereMicro dramas shake up China’s film industry, aim for Hollywood
ZHENGZHOU, China — On a film set that resembles the medieval castle of a Chinese lord, Zhu Jian is busy disrupting the world’s second-largest movie industry. The 69-year-old actor is playing the patriarch of a wealthy family celebrating his birthday with a lavish banquet. But unbeknownst to either of them, the …
your ad hereUS to propose ban on Chinese software, hardware in connected vehicles, sources say
Washington — The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Monday to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on American roads due to national security concerns, two sources told Reuters. The Biden administration has raised serious concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on U.S. …
your ad here‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ scares off ‘Transformers’ for third week as box office No. 1
Los Angeles — It’s a three-peat for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” The Tim Burton legacy sequel to his 1988 horror comedy topped the North American box office charts for the third straight weekend with $26 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. It edged out the animated new release “Transformers: One,” …
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