Above Photo: Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for sale in Israel in 2014 (Uziel302/Wikimedia). This year was marked by a number of a political setbacks, but it also produced inspiring victories. As it comes to an end, we thought we’d take a look back on 2021. In addition to looking at Washington’s support for Israel’s violence, we wanted to take stock of what Palestine activists accomplished through their tireless work and unwavering commitment to human rights. 2021 kicked off with Joe Biden assuming the presidency. The former Senator has a long pro-Israel track record and his administration upheld that reputation right […]
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Above Photo: Union nurses picket in Asheville, N.C. June 15, 2021, over staffing and retention concerns. (National Nurses United). During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Demand For Nurses—Already Understaffed—Surged To Even Higher Levels, And Travel Nurses Deployed To Fill The Gaps. As the first wave of Covid-19 hit the United States, Jen, a 53-year-old nurse struggling to pay her bills, received an intriguing message. “THE TIME HAS COME TO DEPLOY AT INCREDIBLY HIGH RATES,” read the mass text from Krucial Staffing, sent to nurses nationwide in March 2020 and forwarded to Jen by a colleague. Jen (a pseudonym used to protect her from retaliation from employers) could barely believe […]
Above Photo: (Greenpeace media library). Calling on Canadian banks to stop funding climate chaos and injustice Toronto – Greenpeace Canada activists blocked entrances to the RBC’s corporate headquarters today by suspending climbers from fifteen foot high tripods as part of a call for Canada’s big five banks to stop funding fossil fuels and to respect Indigenous rights . The protestors said that despite their claims, Canada’s big banks are still amongst the largest funders of fossil fuels in the world and are thus fueling the climate crisis, destroying biodiversity and violating Indigenous rights. “I’m a middle-aged dad with a mild fear […]
$63 Billion Drop In Investments A new report released by ICAN and PAX today, has found that the number of banks, pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies investing in the production of nuclear weapons has gone down in 2021, and shows significant drops in the shareholder values of investments in the 25 companies involved in nuclear weapon production around the world. There is also an early but visible impact of the entry into force of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), with many institutions citing the treaty’s entry into force and the risk of a negative […]
Above Photo: A “Safety Ambassador” with the Downtown Ventura Partners Improvement District hands out a free face mask on August 11, 2020, in Los Angeles, CA. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times Via Getty Images) Woven into the municipal fabric of the U.S. is a little-known mechanism of privatization and corporate control: the Business Improvement District (BID). In hundreds of urban centers, invisible borders designate zones wherein local governments have granted control of the commons to private interests. Within the bounds of a BID, its corporate operators are empowered to contract for-profit companies to clean streets, make aesthetic and tourism upgrades and, more insidiously, enforce […]
China’s industry ministry said on Monday that US companies are welcome to actively participate in its market despite trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. It has promised a fair and just environment. The announcement by Xiao Yaqing, head of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was made during a video meeting of the US-China Business Council. Executives from companies including General Motors and Qualcomm took part in the meeting, alongside the heads of the council. The participants discussed the market prospects in areas like 5G technology and new energy vehicles, among other issues. Also on rt.com US companies plan to […]
As the world undergoes its incredible transition to lower carbon energy alternatives, Big Banks are turning their backs on the oil industry. JP Morgan pledged to help clients align their business with Paris Agreement emission targets. HSBC announced up to a $1 trillion in green energy funding. An investor group worth $20 trillion in assets urged heavy emitters to clean up their act. Another group, worth $5 trillion, said it will set lower-emission targets for its own investment portfolio. These are stories from just the last two weeks and they seem to point in the same direction: banks and other financial […]
The Indian economy may climb from fifth to third spot in the list of the world’s largest economies over the next three decades, according to a recent study published in the medical journal Lancet. The research, conducted earlier this year, is based on changes to the size of the working-age population in the world’s largest countries, which is then translated into scenarios for total gross domestic product (GDP). According to Lancet projections, India will have the largest working-age population prior to 2030, which will continue growing to reach peak levels before 2050. Despite a projected decline later on, India will still have […]
Pakistani Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz says his country would welcome investment by American companies. He also expressed desire for US companies to bring in advanced technology. During a meeting with US charge d’affaires Angela Aggeler, the minister said that Islamabad highly values its relations with Washington and is ready to further strengthen cooperation. Aggeler agreed with the minister’s views on promoting the two countries’ economic cooperation. While discussing new forms of cooperation during the coronavirus pandemic, Faraz said that the digital outreach has greatly helped business activities and transactions to go online. “It has been a great learning experience […]
ABC held a 90-minute town hall with Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden without asking a single question about this week’s New York Post stories on alleged scandals involving his son’s business dealings in Ukraine and China. Host George Stephanopoulos steered clear of the Post’s scoops, including a story Wednesday that suggested Hunter Biden peddled political influence, including providing a Ukrainian business associate access to then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2015. The Post followed up Thursday with an article claiming the younger Biden stood to make tens of millions of dollars working for a Chinese energy firm, including $10 million annually “based […]
The presidents of France’s Medef, Italy’s Cofindustria and Germany’s BDI warned the consequences of a no-deal Brexit would be delays at ports and borders, trade tariffs, border controls and unnecessary red tape. Business federations from France, Italy and Germany have urged the European Union (EU) and the UK to strike a post-Brexit trade deal as the clock ticks down. Medef president Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, Cofindustria’s Carlo Bonomi and Dieter Kempf of BDI – representing the business elite of the EU’s three biggest economies – noted that the EU leaders’ summit on Thursday and Friday would be critical in reaching an agreement before […]
Saudi Arabia and Russia are both suffering from low oil prices and economic crises, and with demand not recovering fast enough we may soon see another oil price war. The ongoing weakness of global oil markets seems to be stoking tensions within OPEC+, and a split within its leadership is now imminent. From the start of this year’s Moscow-Riyadh brokered OPEC+ production cut deal, internal differences have been kept at bay by a global pandemic and high crude oil storage volume. Market optimism now seems to be growing, from bullish reports about next year’s crude oil prices and even today’s IEA […]
Stock markets tanked as US President Donald Trump abandoned stimulus talks until after the election. Trump is now in the process of out-Democrating the Democrats on the stimulus issue, economist Peter Schiff says. The Republicans lost the argument the moment they conceded that stimulus is “good” for the economy, Schiff believes. “The Fed has already said they’re not printing more money until the government sells more bonds. In other words, the Fed is on hold with additional monetary stimulus until Congress comes through with additional fiscal stimulus so that the Fed has more bonds to monetize.” He explained that after the […]
Russian gas producer Novatek has announced plans to ship 80 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Arctic LNG 2 plant to Asian markets via the Northern Sea Route. According to the head of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson, “The plant’s three liquefaction lines with a total capacity of 19.8 million tons of LNG will be launched starting in 2023.” LNG supplies to Asia will become possible due to the year-round navigation of ships along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), he told participants of the LNG Producer – Consumer Conference in a video message. Mikhelson added that after the commissioning of […]
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced it is ending force majeure on the Sharara oilfield, the nation’s largest deposit, marking another milestone for the recovery of the country’s oil production. In a statement released on Sunday, the NOC said it has instructed the operator of the southwestern field, Acacus, to start production arrangements, taking into consideration public safety and process safety standards. The corporation which operates Libya’s energy sector said that the move follows an agreement with the Petroleum Facilities Guard. According to the NOC, the group pledged to ensure that there would be no “security breaches.” Also on rt.com […]
youtube.com Doctors Who Refused to Sign NDAs in 2019 Excluded From Trump’s Care Team Trump asked Walter Reed doctors to sign NDAs in 2019 https://t.co/0wOe12R53Y via @nbcnews — Carol Duff (@CarolDuff18) October 10, 2020 Health Editor’s Note: Reasons for non-disclosure agreements are as follows: Discussing the sale or licensing of a product or technology. … When employees have access to confidential and proprietary information. … Presenting an offer to a potential partner or investor. … Receiving services from a company that has access to sensitive information. … Sharing business information with a prospective buyer. Healthcare workers do not share health information […]
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said that 3.13 million transactions have been processed using the nation’s sovereign digital currency as part of a series of ongoing pilot programs in major cities such as Shenzhen and Xiongan. According to the bank’s deputy governor, Fan Yifei, the currency has been used for more than 1.1 billion yuan ($162 million) worth of transactions. Pilots will also be conducted at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, he said. The pilot programs have made “positive progress,” with more than 6,700 use cases implemented as of late August for transactions ranging from bill payments and transport to government services. “PBOC regards […]
In a LinkedIn post, Vice President of Business and Data Dan Yoo announced he is leaving the company after CEO Brian Armstrong’s blog post saying the company was moving in an ‘apolitical’ direction and later offered a severance package for employees who disagreed. Source link
The inept thieves reversed their pickup truck into the store window, after failing to nab the crypto ATM. Source link
A trade deal between India and the United States has been pending since last November. While the US wants more access to India’s dairy and meat market, India wants restoration of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) which the Trump administration withdrew last June. Inviting American businesses to invest in India, Federal Commerce and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said a target of $500 billion for US-India bilateral trade in five years is “eminently doable”. “The bilateral trade between US & India grew from $126 billion in 2017 to $145 billion in 2019. The target we have set of $500 billion […]
Indian business and industry leaders are seeing signs of recovery after the coronavirus crisis wiped out nearly a quarter of the country’s economy in the last quarter. “The more I converse with CEOs of various organisations, the more I get convinced that there is an improvement in the macro-economic situation, especially over the last month or so,” Axis Bank’s chief executive and managing director, Amitabh Chaudhry, told the Economic Times. Read more While the banker believes the recovery is imminent, he says the process could be slow or “L-shaped,” which is usually accompanied by persistent unemployment and stagnant economic growth. Chaudhry […]
New data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the process of the shift away from the dollar standard resumed in the second quarter of the year, with the share of the US currency in global reserves falling sharply. According to the IMF, while the greenback’s share increased in the first quarter of 2020 due to safe-haven buying during the early stages of coronavirus, it resumed a more than two-year trend downward in Q2. The share of euros making up global reserves rose slightly and the share of the Japanese yen dropped. Data also showed that the second quarter saw the […]
The global business community has warned that G20 countries need urgent reforms to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy, which is suffering from the worst crisis in a century. The Business Twenty (B20), which represents businesses across all G20 countries and various economic sectors, issued its 25-point list of policy recommendations for the coming G20 summit on Monday. The virtual summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia this year, will take place on November 21-22. Also on rt.com Global economy won’t return to pre-pandemic levels ‘for a long time’ – Deutsche Bank “The global economy is in its worst state […]
Earlier, the US restricted foreign companies from selling chips to China’s Huawei if they use American tech due to national security concerns. It is believed that these restrictions can still be avoided if a necessary license is obtained – however, so far Washington has been reluctant to provide international chipmakers with consent. Two Japanese companies, tech conglomerate Sony and memory chipmaker Kioxia, have asked for US approval to supply components to Chinese tech giant Huawei in an attempt to bypass the existing ban, Nikkei Asian Review revealed. Sony and Kioxia are not the only firms that are willing to continue their […]
Leading global cinema operator Cineworld is reportedly planning to close its sites in the US, the UK and Ireland after studios pushed back the release of big budget films casting a shadow on post-pandemic revival of the industry. The possible closures were first reported by the UK’s Sunday Times. The paper said Cineworld addressed UK prime Minister Boris Johnson and culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, warning in a letter that the industry is now “unviable.” Cineworld is Britain’s biggest cinema chain and is one of the world’s largest, second only to Wanda Cinemas. The closures may put as many as 5,500 jobs […]
The US currency was “the mirror image” of precious metals, such as gold and silver, as well as equities in the third quarter of this year, according to veteran stockbroker Peter Schiff. He pointed out in his podcast that the greenback was up on the month in September, but down on the quarter. The dollar index gained nearly two percent in September but ended down just over 3.5 percent on the quarter, Schiff said. The CEO of the Euro Pacific Capital projected that “there could be a lot of fireworks in the fourth quarter,” explaining: “I think it can be a […]
US airlines are preparing to lay off tens of thousands of employees unless they get additional federal aid. The industry has been struggling to stay afloat amid an unprecedented collapse in air travel due to the Covid pandemic. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said late Wednesday that the carrier has no choice but to cut 19,000 jobs after attempts to get more federal money failed. The CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, said the decision to cut 13,000 jobs marked “a very sad day for all of us here at United.” Earlier in the day, Parker told CNN he still hoped that the job cuts might […]
Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has shut down all trading for a full day due to a systemwide technical error. Though the exchange says the glitch is unrelated to hacking, it has yet to say when trading will resume. The TSE said it would halt trading for all of Thursday as it works to resolve the system failure, which was detected some two hours before markets were set to open, adding that it “sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience caused to investors.” A spokesperson for the exchange’s operator, the Japan Exchange Group, says the error was not caused by a hack, but […]
Beijing is preparing to launch an antitrust probe into Alphabet’s Google, looking into allegations it has leveraged the dominance of its Android mobile operating system to stifle competition, Reuters reported, citing sources. Two people familiar with the matter said that the case was proposed by tech giant Huawei last year and has been submitted by the country’s top market regulator to the State Council’s antitrust committee for review. They added that the decision on whether to proceed with a formal investigation may come as soon as October and could be affected by the state of China’s relationship with the US. The […]
A new report by the World Bank reveals that Covid-19 delivered a “triple shock” to the developing East Asia and Pacific region, with as many as 38 million people expected to remain in, or be pushed back into, poverty as a result. It is the first increase in poverty in the region in two decades, according to the findings. The bank defined the poverty line as income of $5.50 a day. The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region includes China, Southeast Asian countries and the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji and Samoa. India and other South Asian countries don’t feature in the […]
Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng revealed it is working on a flying car model and showed off a prototype of the vehicle at the Beijing motor show – the biggest international event held for the industry since the pandemic began. During the show, which kicked off on Saturday, the Chinese rival to American EV maker Tesla said that it wants to invest in flying car technology. According to its CEO, He Xiaopeng, the carmaker is funding air taxi startup Xpeng Heitech, in which he owns a majority stake. Also on rt.com Chinese electric car maker Nio ready to challenge Tesla in major […]
Despite retaining India’s credit rating at the lowest investment grade, ratings agency S&P Global warned that the Asian economy will face mounting deficit and debt levels in fiscal 2021 in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis. In its forecast released earlier this week, S&P said it expects India’s debt-to-GDP ratio (the debt levels compared to gross domestic product) to surge over 17 percent from the previous year before it reaches 90.6 percent in the fiscal year to March 2021. The outlook is similar to the estimates of two other major ratings firms, with Fitch pegging general government debt to jump to […]
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis not only allowed bars and restaurants to open at full capacity on Friday, he said he’d override local efforts to keep them closed despite the raging coronavirus pandemic. On the same day Florida surpassed 14,000 coronavirus deaths, DeSantis announced that the state was immediately moving to the third phase of its three-phase reopening plan. Bars, restaurant, gyms, shops, stadiums, and theme parks can operate at 100 percent capacity, according to the state’s plan. DeSantis, a Trump acolyte whose lax response to the pandemic has enraged many in his state and across the country, said he’d sign an […]
China’s sovereign debt is set to be added in another benchmark bond index, World Government Bond Index (WGBI), possibly bringing from $100 to $150 billion worth of foreign investment to the world’s second largest bond market. In a landmark decision announced on Thursday, British index provider FTSE Russell said Chinese government bonds will be added to the key index that includes mostly developed economies from October next year. The inclusion of around $1.5 trillion out of China’s $16 trillion bond market is set to be additionally confirmed in March 2021. Also on rt.com China’s yuan strengthens against US dollar, could grow […]
The launch of the cross-border trade blockchain comes as Ant stokes up enthusiasm for its public offering – set to be the largest on record. Source link
Despite India being an important partner for the United States geopolitically, a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) is unlikely to be reached soon regardless of who wins the upcoming US presidential election. That’s according to Todd Buchholz, who served as the director of economic policy at the White House under President George H.W. Bush. He said as cited by the Economic Times that both US President Donald Trump and his opponent Joe Biden look at India amenably but have their own compulsions not to proceed with such a far-reaching deal. “I find it difficult to imagine that in four years’ time, […]
With grain production in Russia expected at record highs this year, the country has continued boosting exports and extending the list of its potential buyers. Algeria’s state grains agency said last week it would start accepting wheat imports from all countries, including Russia, in its next tender. Until now, Russia has only been able to export small amounts to the world’s third-biggest buyer of wheat. The move follows Saudi Arabia opening up its market for Russian grain last year. Russian grain accounted for all cargoes bought in Egypt’s latest tender on Tuesday. Russia has also increased wheat exports to Turkey, Brazil, Vietnam […]
Next year will be brutal for the US currency, according to Yale University senior fellow Stephen Roach. He said that his “seemingly crazed idea” that the dollar will crash shouldn’t seem so crazy anymore. “We’ve got data that’s confirmed both the saving and current account dynamic in a much more dramatic fashion than even I was looking for,” Roach told CNBC. According to him, “The current account deficit in the United States, which is the broadest measure of our international imbalance with the rest of the world, suffered a record deterioration in the second quarter.” He added that “The so-called net-national […]
Investments in precious metals by Russian banks increased in August, reaching almost $7.4 billion (568 billion rubles), data released by the country’s central bank (CBR) showed. In terms of gold, reserves have amounted to a record 121 tons, which is 10.9 percent higher than the maximum reached in October 2019. According to Maxim Osadchiy, an analyst at BKF Bank, last month, Russian banks increased their bullion reserves by 23.3 tons. He told RBC Daily that this was the most noticeable increase on the balance sheets of Russian banks for the entire period of statistics disclosure. Also on rt.com Russia continues stockpiling […]
Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, appears to have facilitated more than half of the $2 trillion of suspicious transactions that were flagged by the US government between 1999 and 2017. According to broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), some $1.3 trillion of $2 trillion in leaked transactions that occurred between 1999 and 2017 and were flagged as suspicious passed through Deutsche Bank. DW cited documents obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents revealed that five major banks (Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered) processed trillions of dollars of transactions identified as suspicious. […]
People have argued online that forcing UK drinking establishments to close by 10pm would be ineffective against the coronavirus. The government is expected to propose new restrictions amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will be forced to close their doors by 10pm starting from Thursday, UK media reported. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the new rule in parliament on Tuesday evening, along with other additional measures to fight Covid-19. Britain’s coronavirus alert level was recently upgraded from three to four (out of five), with medical officials warning that the cases are “rising […]
US stocks fell sharply on Monday, extending last week’s declines, as concerns about coronavirus cases in the United States and other countries sparked fears of a second wave of the pandemic and more business re-closures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank around 600 points, or over two percent at the opening bell. S&P 500 dropped 1.8 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3 percent. It’s been a rough month so far for the market and technology shares in particular. The S&P 500 is off five percent so far in September, while the Nasdaq Composite is in correction territory, down more […]
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., is one of 23 freshmen Democrats whom the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is endorsing in this fall’s elections. Erin Scott/AP hide caption toggle caption Erin Scott/AP Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., is one of 23 freshmen Democrats whom the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is endorsing in this fall’s elections. Erin Scott/AP The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is backing more House Democrats for reelection in at least a decade, prompting pushback from some of its strongest GOP allies in Congress. “It is hypocrisy that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce would endorse these Democrats that are part of this socialist […]
YouTube The people behind the Guinness World Records used to make money by, well, selling books. But with the rise of the Internet came a decline in book sales, and so they had to create a new business model — selling publicity. This is the story of how Guinness (yeah, like the brewery) got into the business of record-breaking, and how one Planet Money intern broke a world record involving the president of Georgia, the former Soviet republic. Listen to the original Planet Money podcast episode here! And while you’re at it, follow us on TikTok, and subscribe to our video […]
Kangana sparked a controversy by calling the Hindi film industry ‘bullywood’ and a ‘gutter’, and is now calling it ‘intoxicating’. Earlier, she alleged that 99% of all superstars had taken drugs at some point in their lives, at high profile parties. While some people are trolling her, others support her revelations, including top legislators. In her latest dig at Bollywood, actress Kangana Ranaut has reproachfully called it “absolutely intoxicating”. Mocking the film industry at large once again, Kangana took to Twitter on Wednesday and shared a picture of herself getting ready and wrote: “This make believe world of lights and camera […]
As Oracle wins a bid for TikTok U.S., a look at how tech competition, culture competition and currency competition shape the business of geopolitics. Today on the Brief: Crypto exchange volume sees highest month-over-month increase since February 2018 Uniswap overtakes SushiSwap in total value locked What Coinbase vs. Apple means for the future of decentralized applications Our main discussion: NLW looks at the business of geopolitical competition, including: TikTok, Oracle and the new politics of deal making in the “new Cold War” “Mulan” controversy around Uyghurs and Hong Kong police support The real motivation for China’s digital currency Source link
A supposed FBI raid on the home of an infamous Republican dirty trickster appears to have been a ruse—one that began falling apart even as its perpetrators managed to dupe a major national newspaper. On Monday, a Virginia man who responded to a Craigslist ad seeking actors to play FBI agents for a television pilot came forward to say that he’d been roped into the latest hoax orchestrated by bumbling right-wing smear merchants Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl. Tommy Abraham told The Daily Beast in an interview on Monday that the Craigslist ad offered $400 cash payments to white male actors […]
The Spanish government has come up with a new way of taxing tech giants by seeking to classify the likes of Facebook, Telegram, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, as telecom providers. Telecommunications Secretary Roberto Sanchez introduced a new bill on Friday, requiring all companies providing telecommunications services to register as telecommunications operators – even if they do not provide any phone numbers. The legislation is set to go through public hearing and get parliamentary approval, and is not expected to be finalized until the end of the year. If Madrid proceeds with the initiative, Big Tech companies would have to pay the […]
International benchmark Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) extended losses on Friday after a surprise rise in US crude inventories triggered concerns over a supply glut in the global oil market already rattled by Covid-19. Brent futures were down around 0.3 percent, trading at $39.94 a barrel, while US crude shed nearly 0.2 percent to $37.24 a barrel. Friday’s drop came after both brands declined around two percent in the previous session, and could mark a second week of declines for the commodity. Fresh concerns over weakening demand were sparked by the first build in US commercial crude inventories over several […]
New Delhi has started an investigation to determine if the imports of certain flat rolled aluminum products from China were undercutting domestic prices from fiscal year 2017 to December 2019. The decision is based on a complaint by India’s aluminum and copper manufacturing company Hindalco Industries which alleges damage to the domestic industry due to the dumped goods. “The applicant has also claimed that imports are causing threat of material injury, considering significant increase in imports as compared to base year, significant surplus capacities in subject country, high export orientation of producers in subject country, and ability to scale up production […]
Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom has increased its natural gas supply to China via the new pipeline Power of Siberia in July and August, compared to June, a senior Gazprom official said. Russia’s supply of natural gas to China via the Power of Siberia rose to 12 million cubic meters per day in July and August, from 10 million cubic meters supplied in June, Vladislav Borodin, director general at the gas giant’s unit Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk, said in the company’s corporate magazine. Gazprom, which started up the Power of Siberia in December 2019, looks to increase its deliveries via the pipeline […]
The recent stock rout has wiped out over $1 trillion from the value of America’s biggest tech corporations, including the world’s most valuable company Apple and online giant Amazon – but it failed to erase all their 2020 gains. US benchmark indices finished lower for the third session in a row on Tuesday amid a massive sell-off in high-flying technology stocks, which were the main drivers of the market rally amid coronavirus uncertainty. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 600 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed over 400 points – more than four percent – to close in correction […]
Chinese exports rose for the third consecutive month in August, up by a solid 9.5 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday. That’s the strongest gain since March 2019. The figure is also better than analysts’ expectations of 7.1 percent growth. It eclipsed an extended fall in imports, which were down 2.1 percent in August, compared with a 1.4 percent fall in July. The strong exports come as more of China’s trading partners relax coronavirus lockdowns in a further boost to the recovery of the world’s second-biggest economy. “China’s exports continue to defy expectations and to grow significantly faster than […]
The COVID pandemic has sparked a surge in gold buying, and some analysts suggest that it still has plenty of upside potential. The current year is proving to be an annus mirabilis for gold investors, with the yellow metal running riot. Gold prices are currently trading at $1,933 per ounce, not far from their historical high of $2,075 that they reached a month ago. That is good for a 26.5 percent gain year-to-date and 30.9 percent since their 52-week low in March, compared to a 6.3 percent YTD gain by the S&P 500. The torrid rally represents the sharpest gain the […]
The dollar is on the brink of losing its status as the world’s main reserve currency, prominent US investor Jim Rogers told RT, following reports of China’s plans to drop a huge chunk of its American debt holdings. With a national debt of over $26.5 trillion, “the US is now the largest debtor nation in the history of the world, and it’s getting higher and higher every day,” Rogers said, adding that it’s going to take a toll on the country’s currency. “Traditionally, the US dollar has been the soundest currency in the world. But tradition changes,” he pointed out, referencing […]
Investors dumped technology shares and drove all US stock market indices sharply down after a previous day’s high note. Oil and gold also dropped, as analysts struggled to explain the cause behind the sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by over 1,000 points before bouncing back on Thursday, closing down 808 points at 28,292.73, for a 2.8 percent loss. The S&P 500 dropped 3.5 percent to close at 3,455.06, while the Nasdaq composite was down 5 percent, at 11,458.10. It was the worst single-day loss for Dow and S&P since June, and the biggest drop for Nasdaq since March. The […]
The passport would help businesses cut through redundant red tape and flourish across borders, Saudis said. Source link
Aggressive US policies targeting Huawei have forced the Chinese tech giant to redirect investment to Russia and expand operations in the country, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has revealed. “After the United States included us in the Entity List, we transferred our investment in the United States to Russia, increased Russian investment, expanded the Russian scientist team, and increased the salary of Russian scientists,” Ren said as cited by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of the four top Chinese universities he visited. While the visit came in late July, the university did not publish a transcript of his speech until this weekend. […]
Japan’s Nikkei led the losses among Asia’s major stock markets on Friday after the country’s longest serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, resigned over health issues. The Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent, while Tokyo Stock Price Index (Topix) ended the day almost 0.7 percent down. Other Asian markets, except for Taiwan and Australia, were trading up, with shares in both mainland China and Hong Kong gaining around 1.5 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 percent, and India’s Mumbai Sensex added around one percent. Also on rt.com Global economy faces most severe crisis since WWII – Japanese foreign minister European markets opened moderately […]
Veteran stockbroker Peter Schiff has warned once again that the US currency is doomed and the world will eventually lose confidence in it, which he says should have happened a long time ago. In the latest episode of Boom Bust, Schiff discussed the fate of the US-China trade deal. The investor said he believes that there will be no second-phase agreement, and noted that Beijing still has leverage over Washington, especially ahead of the elections. “The real problem is going to be when the Chinese stop buying our bonds or start selling our bonds,” he said, adding that the process might […]
On Sunday night and then again on Monday night the Black Lives Matter mob and their supporters torched, looted and destroyed businesses in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The mob knocked out police with bricks. And the mob attacked business owners in the street. At one point last night an elderly man and local business owner tried to stop the looters from ransacking his business. TRENDING: “This Dude is Shooting at Us!” – BLM Militants Run For Their Lives After Milwaukee Homeowner Fires Warning Shots at Protesters in His Neighborhood (VIDEO) The looters were leaving the side door of his business with their arms […]
Global markets remained steady on Tuesday after Washington and Beijing reaffirmed their commitment to their historic trade agreement even as the two economic giants have disagreements on multiple fronts. Top US and Chinese officials in charge of the implementation of the trade deal – Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – continued telephone discussions on Tuesday. The trade talks, originally scheduled for August 15, became the first formal conversation on the matter between the two sides since early May. Read more In brief statements after the talks, both delegations described the deal’s […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/world/202008231080255327-apples-move-to-deny-fortnite-creator-access-to-developer-tools-to-hurt-microsofts-gaming-business/ Epic Games, software developer and creator of popular video game ‘Fortnite’, filed a lawsuit against Apple after the tech giant removed the game from App Store. Source link
Kuwait is running out of money for the salaries of public servants and will have no money to cover these after November, the country’s finance minister told parliament. Unless oil prices rise, the money being used now, withdrawals from the General Reserve Fund, will simply be depleted, Middle East Monitor reports, citing the official, Barak Al-Sheeran. Kuwait’s budget deficit hit $18.44 billion in fiscal 2019-2020, which ended in March. The deficit will widen this fiscal year on the back of the oil price collapse and the pandemic, potentially reaching $45.78 billion (14 billion dinars). This is up from a previous deficit […]
Russians bought just 48 new electric vehicles (EVs) in July, which is 17.1 percent more than in the same month last year, according to data from the analytical agency Avtostat. It showed that the Nissan Leaf was the best-selling EV in its segment, with 14 such cars purchased last month. Jaguar’s I-pace crossover was the second most popular electric car in the country, with 10 Russians having invested in one. “The next three positions in our ranking were taken by three Tesla models – the Tesla Model X, sold in the amount of eight units; the Tesla Model 3 (seven units) […]
The scale of money printing in the United States is unprecedented, says veteran stockbroker Peter Schiff. The deficits are “through the roof and the government is spending more money than ever before.” Schiff, who is CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, told the MoneyShow that more than 60 cents out of every dollar the government is spending is being printed. So, the Federal Reserve is printing more money for the government to spend than the US government is collecting in taxes. “The myth is that the US economy was strong before Covid. It wasn’t strong at all; it was the weakest it […]
New research by the US’ Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) showed that, since the beginning of the pandemic, the 12 top US billionaires have seen their combined wealth soar by 40 percent, or $283 billion, to more than $1 trillion. It’s the first time in US history that the collective net worth of the top 12 American billionaires has topped the trillion-dollar mark. What the IPS terms the “Oligarchic Dozen” includes Jeff Bezos ($189.4 billion), Bill Gates ($114 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($95.5 billion), Warren Buffett ($80 billion), Elon Musk ($73 billion), Steve Ballmer ($71 billion), Larry Ellison ($70.9 billion), Larry Page […]
Brazil’s state oil major Petrobras has launched a new phase in the development of the first deepwater oil project since the start of the crisis, at the Mero field in the Santos Basin. According to a report by BNAmericas, the Brazilian major had commissioned a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel for the field from MISC Berhad, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Petronas, with a capacity of 180,000 bpd of crude oil and 12 cubic meters of natural gas daily. The Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSO will be the third platform to be deployed at the Mero field, which is part of […]
Many of New York’s streets have come alive with fenced-in dining areas with tables and umbrellas and decorated with flower boxes and hanging plants. (Image credit: Rob Kim/Getty Images) Source link
President Trump gave a man whose life was turned upside down by rioters earlier this year a wonderful gift today at a rally in Minnesota. Minnesota’s KB who spent his life savings building a sports bar had his life turned upside down on May 27th. On that day rioters viciously destroyed his bar and dreams. The black man and his wife were in Mankato today to see President Trump. KB and his wife have four kids and they immigrated from West Africa 25 years ago. Now he and his wife have to start over. He did say that through donations […]
The Russian market offers a lot of investment opportunities in this time of global economic uncertainty, says legendary investor Jim Rogers. He called for a closer look at Russia’s domestic tourism and the economy of the Far East. The founder of the Quantum Fund, which had a 4,200 percent return in the first 10 years since its establishment, Rogers talked to RBC daily about where to invest. Many areas of the global economy have been seriously affected during the coronavirus pandemic, especially transport companies and the tourism sector, Rogers said. He has invested in airlines’ shares and a number of other […]
Washington has ordered that goods imported from Hong Kong to the US must be labeled ‘Made in China,’ with political and trade tensions rising between the world’s two biggest economies. In a notice published on a government website on Tuesday, US Customs and Border Protection said that products made in Hong Kong and shipped to the United States must be properly marked to “indicate that their origin is ‘China.’” The rule will be applied to goods “entered or withdrawn from warehouse” after September 25. Imports that do not have the required label after that date will be subjected to an additional 10 […]
Russia shipped over 9 million tons of oil products to the US in the first half of 2020, the highest amount since at least 2004, customs data shows. In the first six months of this year, Russia exported over 74.6 million tons of oil products. The US turned out to be its second largest buyer, accounting for more than 12 percent of the shipments. Year on-year shipments to the country more than doubled during this period, according to RBC calculations. The US was only outpaced by the Netherlands, and followed by Malta, both of which are traditional transit hubs where crude […]
The world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Aramco, has reported massive losses for the second quarter, with its net profit nosediving 73.4 percent, as the Covid-19 outbreak crippled global demand for crude. The oil giant’s net profit plunged to 24.6 billion riyals ($6.6 billion) for the three months to June 30, from 92.6 billion riyals ($24.7 billion) in the same period of 2019, according to a regulatory filing published at the Tadawul exchange where its stock trades. For the whole first half of the year, Saudi Aramco said its net income plunged to 87.1 billion riyals ($23.2 billion) down 50 percent from […]
The Trump administration has prohibited American companies from selling technology, including vital semiconductors, to Huawei citing vague national security concerns. The rules were toughened this May to include foreign companies that use US technology. US chipmaker Qualcomm is lobbying the US government for permission to sell chips to Huawei, The Wall Street Journal reports. Qualcomm has been circulating a presentation around Washington, DC, which argues that US restrictions won’t stop Huawei from obtaining vital components, according to the report. The San Diego-based semiconductor manufacturer also warns that the United States is shifting Huawei’s cash flow from US firms to their foreign […]
Twitter has reportedly joined the race for TikTok’s juicy assets, while its Chinese owner seeks to sue the Trump administration, claiming that the move to force it out of the US market is based purely on anti-China scaremongering. Presented as a crucial move to protect Americans and their precious data from pesky Chinese spies, the US President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this week set a 45-day deadline for ByteDance to ‘divest’ its US operations. Beijing argues that all the “national security” concerns are just a pretext for a hostile takeover to solidify Washington’s dominance online. Challenging the move, TikTok is […]
In July, the UK had a change of heart regarding the Huawei issue, following months of talks with Washington, announcing the Chinese telecom company’s equipment would ultimately be a no go in the domestic market. President Donald Trump boasted in an interview with Fox News about having had a “tough talk” with his British colleague, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, over the Huawei matter. He told the head of the British government that he could “forget about Scotland Yard” if his country went ahead with its 5G deal with the Chinese telecom titan, “because we can’t do business with you”, Trump outlined […]
After suffering its worst monthly fall in about a decade, the US currency has started August with a bounce. However, analysts predict further weakness in the greenback. “We expect the currency to be undermined by an ebbing of safe-haven flows, a reduction in the US rate advantage, and political uncertainty ahead of the November presidential election,” UBS analysts wrote last week. The ICE US Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six major rivals, plunged 4.2 percent in July – its biggest one-month decline since September 2010, data showed. The index was trading up on Tuesday at around 93.69, […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep Americans indoors, demand for energy has fallen to its lowest level since the 1990s. All the way back in April (which may as well be years ago at the rate that the news cycle is moving these days) Oilprice reported that in the throes of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which had relatively recently washed over the United States, had caused the nation’s energy consumption to fall to a stunning 16-year low. According to NPR’s Planet Money podcast, which reported on this statistic at the time, this was a figure that was a particularly good […]
Gold continued its rally amid global pandemic uncertainty, with prices hitting new records to start the week. The price of metal for immediate delivery closed in on $2,000 an ounce. Spot gold rose as much as 0.6 percent on Monday to $1,988.40 an ounce, while most-active futures traded as high as $2,009.50 on the Comex. Bullion had its biggest monthly gain since 2012, soaring 11 percent in June as investors weighed a weaker dollar and record-low US real yields. “The fall in US 10-year real yields was the most important driver in our view, given the strong inverse relationship,” said Vivek […]
The 19 euro-area countries experienced the biggest GDP drop on record during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The eurozone economy shrank 12.1 percent, while the EU economy as a whole contracted 11.9 percent. The second-quarter preliminary reading is the lowest since records by the region’s statistics office Eurostat began in 1995. The 19-member bloc that shares the euro currency had experienced a fall of 3.6 percent in GDP during the first quarter of 2020. EU’s largest economy Germany contracted by 10.1 percent in Q2, Italy’s GDP sank by 12.4 percent, France’s economy shrank by 13.8 percent, while Portugal slumped 14.1 […]
The French economy contracted by a record 13.8 percent in the second quarter, data from the national statistics agency INSEE has revealed, highlighting the cost of coronavirus lockdowns. The historic decline marked a third consecutive quarter of negative growth in a worsening recession. France’s economy started shrinking in the last quarter of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe with full force. It continued to retreat in the first three months of this year, when the rapid spread of the virus was starting to trigger lockdowns, contracting by 5.9 percent, according to the updated figures. “GDP’s negative developments in first half […]
Amazon and Apple have reported major quarterly gains, with the Jeff Bezos brainchild posting its biggest-ever profit while Apple saw strong earnings, even as Covid-19 drives the US economy into its worst contraction on record. The two tech giants announced their second quarter results on Thursday, both topping expectations on Wall Street as online sales and virtual products see a surge amid the ongoing health crisis. Amazon revenue jumped to $88.9 billion, up 40 percent from 2019, and the company brought on some 175,000 new employees in recent months. Though it had predicted it would lose money after dropping billions on […]
Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the US Federal Reserve’s endless money printing, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. They look at historical gold, dollar and Fed Funds rate charts to see if they can find answers. “All of the cash that has been printed has been hoarded by the bankers to keep their balance sheets solvent by filling up the tank, even though the tank has a massive leak,” Max says, adding that the “leak goes magically into the pockets of just a few of their friends; it’s what we call financial apartheid.” He explains that the process is continuing unabated […]
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the euro area inched higher in June, reaching 7.8 percent, as Covid-19 containment measures started being phased out in most EU member states. That’s worse than the 7.7 percent rate which had been expected by EU statistical office Eurostat. According to its data, the unemployment rate across the European Union also grew from 7.0 percent in May to 7.1 percent in June. “Eurostat estimates that 15.023 million men and women in the EU, of whom 12.685 million in the euro area, were unemployed in June 2020,” the statistical office said. Compared with May 2020, the […]
The price of gold hit a new all-time high this week on growing investor appetite for safe-haven assets. Experts project the epic run to continue, with gold to pass new milestone highs. The commodity’s price surged to over $1,940 per ounce on Monday (surpassing a peak touched in September 2011) amid worries over the Covid-19 pandemic and tensions between the United States and China. It was trading at $1,954.30 as of 12:50pm GMT on Tuesday. “What is really significant is how quickly it went through that $1,923, which was the previous high. The other thing which was … very, very important […]
Deutsche Bank’s top credit strategist Jim Reid has described himself as “a gold bug,” and reckons “fiat money is a passing fad in the history of money,” RT’s Keiser Report recalls for the show’s viewers. It always has been a passing fad and there’s always a return to gold, ‘Keiser Report’ presenter Max Keiser agrees, explaining that “when you have fiat money printers in charge and you can pull the levers of political power with your fiat money and acquire assets with your fiat money, it gives you that God complex that we have so much of it around the world… […]
Some 396,000 tons of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) were exported to China in June, according to a Bloomberg report citing data from China’s General Administration of Customs. That figure reflects a 20.7 percent rise compared to May. Statistics showed that US LNG exports to China amounted to 340,000 tons during the same period, slightly up by 2.4 percent. Overall, the world’s largest energy consumer, China, imported 5.79 million tons of LNG last month, boosting its imports by 29 percent year-on-year. Gas consumption in China, Asia’s biggest economy, has surged in recent years as the government pressures homes and factories to use […]
In an era when machines may leave millions of people without jobs, Russia is reportedly exploring the possibility of collecting taxes from robots, making the payments equal to income taxes paid by human employees. Russian companies may have to pay 13-percent tax for using robots instead of people, Izvestia newspaper reported citing a proposal laid out by the Progressive Education Institute, an independent non-profit organization. The initiative has already been sent for review to Russia’s Finance Ministry and received support from some lawmakers and government officials. Also on rt.com First self-driving taxis to hit Moscow streets in 2024 Money received from […]
The US government has made further attempts to force European firms to ditch the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing people familiar with talks on the issue. According to the newspaper, officials from US Department of State, the Treasury Department, as well as the Department of Energy approached European contractors to make sure they fully understand the consequences of staying in the project. Up to a dozen officials reportedly held at least two online conferences with representatives of the firms in recent days. Also on rt.com Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline will significantly cut gas prices […]
South Korea’s Transport Ministry has told local carriers to carry out emergency inspections of Boeing 737s shortly after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that the jets could be at risk of dual-engine failure. In an emergency order released on Saturday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said that nearly 150 jets operated by nine companies are subject to the checks. The inspections will target older Boeing 737 models (not Max planes which are still grounded) that are parked for at least seven straight days, or have had less than 11 flights since being returned to service. Also […]
Baseball is back, and I guess that’s nice. But it’s not so nice at all for one group of people—the nearly 40,000 stadium workers who won’t have jobs because there are no fans to be served and catered to. These people—some of whom work part-time, but some full-time throughout the year for different teams playing different sports in the same city—are just out of luck. For a column back in May, I spoke with Aisha Johnson, a stadium worker for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Eagles, and a shop steward for her Unite-Here local. Cleaning up after Phillies games and working […]
In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, Apple has started assembling one of its flagship devices, the iPhone 11, at the country’s Foxconn plant in the northern city of Chennai. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the news on Twitter on Friday, writing, “Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.” According to TechCrunch sources, a small batch of locally manufactured iPhone 11 units has already shipped to retail stores, but the production yield is currently limited. Apple has […]
The US dollar’s status as the dominant global currency is at risk of being eroded because of mounting government debt, according to Zhu Min, former senior executive with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). His warning comes as the United States is expected to double down on its fiscal stimulus measures to soothe the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Congress is considering a new round of relief that is likely to cost at least $1 trillion on top of the more than $2 trillion passed earlier this year. With the US Federal Reserve continuing its aggressive monetary policy of quantitative easing, […]
Rapper Kanye West, as we all know, qualified for the presidential ballot in Oklahoma and submitted his entry just four minutes before the deadline earlier this week. The father of Yeezy shoes has set his sights on the upcoming presidency. Fans are concerned the pressure could flip Kanye out. Kanye recently took to Twitter to say his famous wife Kim Kardashian was “out of the line” for meeting up with rapper and activist Meek Mill at the Waldorf hotel back in 2018. Kanye’s tweet followed a previously unseen picture of Kim and Mill that went viral on social media, adding fuel […]
More than 50% of COVID-19 related business closures in the US are now permanent. Can tech platforms provide a new avenue for small biz entrepreneurship? Today on the Brief: Disappointing jobless claim numbers with first increase in 4 months US banks now allows to custody crypto Senate hears arguments for a digital dollar in the context of US-China economic competition Our main conversation with Sahil Bloom Sahil Bloom is an investor with Altamont Capital Partners and a prolific author of financial literacy Twitter threads. In this conversation, he and NLW discuss: Today’s jobless claims Long term economic impacts from COVID in […]
The Bulgarian section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia, known as Balkan Stream, is set to be completed by the end of the year, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The news that the construction of the gas pipeline is proceeding on schedule comes shortly after Washington updated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The move paved the way to impose secondary sanctions on companies involved in Russian energy projects – Nord Stream 2 and the second line of TurkStream natural gas pipelines – both of which are under construction. Also on rt.com US expands draconian sanctions […]
The Russian government’s revenues and vast reserves have enabled the country to remain stable and deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday. According to the top official, the pandemic has slowed down the rate of economic growth, reduced revenues at all budget levels “and caused significant damage to a large number of people, companies and organizations.” “As for our national reserves, or the so-called safety cushion, I want to assure everyone that our macroeconomic stability and reserves allow us to feel very comfortable and stable,” Mishustin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV. He noted […]
The Trump administration’s decision to close down China’s consulate in Houston is just another example of “political theater” that could bring more pain to the US economy in a time of crisis, according to Professor Richard Wolff. The host of Economic Update sat down with RT’s Boom Bust to discuss the deteriorating relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Wolff believes that profits of American corporations will fall victim to the ongoing rift. He also stressed that, as well as inflicting losses on US businesses, Washington’s aggressive policies against China could hike prices and hurt American consumers. “The United States needs […]