The logo for Google LLC is seen at their office in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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OAKLAND, Calif., May 2 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google will provide any U.S. business over $100,000 worth of online courses in data analytics, design and other tech skills for their workers free of charge, the search company said on Monday.
The offer marks a big expansion of Google’s Career Certificates, a program the company launched in 2018 to help people globally boost their resumes by learning new tools at their own pace.
Over 70,000 people in the United States and 205,000 globally have earned at least one certificate, and 75% receive a benefit such as a new job or higher pay within six months, according to Google.
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The courses, designed by Google and sold through online education service Coursera Inc (COUR.N), each typically cost students about $39 a month and take three to six months to finish. Google will now cover costs for up to 500 workers at any U.S. business, and it valued the grants at $100,000 because people usually take up to six months to finish.
Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Google, the company unit overseeing certificates, said course completion rates are higher when people pay out of pocket but that the new offer was still worthwhile if it could help some businesses gain digital savvy.
Certificates also are available in IT support, project management, e-commerce and digital marketing. They cover popular software in each of the fields, including Google advertising services.
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Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
BRIZE NORTON, England, March 16 (Reuters) – British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anoosheh Ashoori arrived in Britain from Iran on Thursday, ending an ordeal during which they became a bargaining chip in Iran’s talks with the West over its nuclear programme.
They arrived at the British military airbase of Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, shortly after 1 a.m. local time, after flying back via a brief stopover in Oman. They walked off the plane together and smiled and waved as they entered an airport building.
“It has been a really difficult 48 hours,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said shortly after Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori arrived at the base. “The expectation was that they would be released but we weren’t sure right until the last minute so it’s been very emotional but also a really happy moment for the families.”
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson celebrated the pair’s release on Twitter earlier in the day.
“I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK,” Johnson said in a tweet.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard said the long ordeal appeared to finally be over. “It’s just a relief, the idea that we can go back to being a normal family, that we don’t have to keep fighting, that this long journey is almost over,” he told Reuters outside his London home before his wife landed.
A statement from Ashoori’s family thanked everyone who had worked towards his release. “1,672 days ago our family’s foundations were rocked when our father and husband was unjustly detained and taken away from us.
“Now, we can look forward to rebuilding those same foundations with our cornerstone back in place.”
Antonio Zappulla, CEO of Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said her release was “a ray of light and hope” at a time when the world was in turmoil. The foundation is a charity that operates independently of Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters.
In February, as months of talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal inched closer to an agreement, Iran, which holds a dozen Western dual nationals, said it was ready for a prisoner swap in return for the unblocking of frozen assets and release of Iranians held in Western jails.
The nuclear talks were close to an agreement 11 days ago until last-minute Russian demands for sweeping guarantees that would have hollowed out sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine threw the negotiations off track.
Russia now appears to have narrowed its demands to cover only work linked to the nuclear deal, leaving a small number of issues to be resolved between Washington and Tehran, diplomats say.
British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anoosheh Ashoori, who were freed from Iran, gesture after landing at RAF Brize Norton military airbase, in Brize Norton, Britain, March 17, 2022. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
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Separately, Britain said detained Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship, had been released on furlough on Wednesday.
TANK DEBT
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori were freed after Britain repaid a historic debt.
Iran’s clerical rulers say Britain owed Iran 400 million pounds ($520 mln) that Iran’s former monarch, the Shah, paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which were delivered after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed leader.
Truss said Britain had been looking at ways to pay the debt.
“We have the deepest admiration for the resolve, courage and determination Nazanin, Anoosheh and Morad, and their families, have shown. They have faced hardship that no family should ever experience and this is a moment of great relief,” she said in a statement.
“In parallel, we have also settled the IMS debt, as we said we would,” she added, referring to the debt for military equipment. She said the debt had been settled in full in compliance with international sanctions on Iran and the funds would be ring-fenced for buying “humanitarian goods.”
Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amirabdollahian on Wednesday said Britain had paid its debt a few days ago, denying any links between the payment and the release of the prisoners.
ILL-FATED VISIT
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s protracted difficulties began with her arrest by Revolutionary Guards at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016, while trying to return to Britain with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella from an Iranian new year’s visit with her parents.
She was later convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. Her family and the foundation denied the charge.
Ashoori was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2019 for spying for Israel’s Mossad and two years for “acquiring illegitimate wealth”, according to Iran’s judiciary.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation said that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had travelled to Iran in a personal capacity and had not been doing work in Iran.
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Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Eric Beech and UK bureau; Writing by Michael Georgy and Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Jon Boyle and Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
March 3 (Reuters) – Ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s downgraded Russia by six notches to “junk” status, saying Western sanctions threw into doubt its ability to service debt and would weaken the economy.
Russia’s financial markets have been thrown into turmoil by sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two. read more
The invasion has triggered a flurry of credit rating moves and dire warnings about the impact on Russia’s economy. S&P lowered Russia’s rating to junk status last week.
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It also prompted index providers FTSE Russell and MSCI to announce on Wednesday that they will remove Russian equities from all their indexes, after a top MSCI executive earlier this week called Russia’s stock market “uninvestable”. read more
FTSE Russell said the decision will be effective from March 7, while MSCI said its decision will be implemented in one step across all MSCI indexes as of the close on March 9. MSCI said it is also reclassifying MSCI Russia Indexes from emerging markets to standalone markets status.
Russia (.MIRU00000PUS) has a weighting of 3.24% in MSCI’s emerging market benchmark (.MSCIEF) and a weighting of around 30 basis points in the index provider’s global benchmark (.MIWD00000PUS).
The Institute of International Finance predicts a double-digit contraction in economic growth this year. read more
Fitch downgraded Russia to “B” from “BBB” and placed the country’s ratings on “rating watch negative”. Moody’s, which last week had flagged the possibility of a downgrade, also cut the country’s rating by six notches, to B3 from Baa3.
Fitch said the only other precedent to such a large six-notch downgrade on a single sovereign entity was South Korea in 1997.
“The severity of international sanctions in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has heightened macro-financial stability risks, represents a huge shock to Russia’s credit fundamentals and could undermine its willingness to service government debt,” Fitch said in a report.
Fitch said that U.S. and EU sanctions prohibiting any transactions with the Central Bank of Russia would have a “much larger impact on Russia’s credit fundamentals than any previous sanctions,” rendering much of Russia’s international reserves unusable for FX intervention.
“The sanctions could also weigh on Russia’s willingness to repay debt,” Fitch warned. “President Putin’s response to put nuclear forces on high alert appears to diminish the prospect of him changing course on Ukraine to the degree required to reverse rapidly tightening sanctions.”
Fitch said it expects further ratcheting up of sanctions on Russian banks.
Moody’s said on Thursday the scope and severity of the sanctions “have gone beyond Moody’s initial expectations and will have material credit implications.”
The sanctions imposed by Western countries will also markedly weaken Russia’s GDP growth potential relative to the ratings agency’s previous assessment of 1.6%, Fitch said.
“In this case, the sanctions-driven frozen/falling assets tail-wagged the ratings dog,” analysts at Mizuho wrote. They added that “ratings and benchmark risks revealed may compound further capital exodus as benchmark funds are forced to liquidate rather than hold.”
Sanctions imposed on Russia have significantly increased the chance of the country’s defaulting on its dollar and other international market government debt, analysts at JPMorgan and elsewhere said on Wednesday. read more
Russia has responded to the sanctions with a range of measures to shore up its economic defenses and retaliate against Western restrictions. It hiked its main lending rate to 20%, banned Russian brokers from selling securities held by foreigners, ordered exporting companies to buttress the rouble, and said it would stop foreign investors selling assets. read more
The government also plans to tap its National Wealth Fund (NWF), a rainy day cushion, to help counter sanctions. read more
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Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru and Megan Davies in New York; Additional reporting by Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai and Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
OTTAWA, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday activated rarely used emergency powers in an effort to end protests that have shut some U.S. border crossings and paralyzed parts of the capital.
Under the Emergencies Act, the government introduced measures intended to cut off protesters’ funding and took steps to reinforce provincial and local law enforcement with federal police.
“The blockades are harming our economy and endangering public safety,” Trudeau told a news conference. “We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue.”
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But the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said the government had not met the standard for invoking the Emergencies Act, which is intended to deal with threats to “sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” the group said.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have drawn people opposed to Trudeau’s policies on everything from pandemic restrictions to a carbon tax. Copycat trucker protests have also sprung up in Israel, France, Australia and New Zealand.
Protesters blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, a vital trade route between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, for six days before police cleared the protest on Sunday while others have shut down smaller border crossings in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia. Protests in Ottawa, the nation’s capital, entered a third week.
Protesters camped in front of the Canadian Parliament, some of whom want the prime minister to meet with them, said the latest steps were excessive. “It’s an extreme measure that isn’t necessary,” said protester Candice Chapel.
CUTTING OFF FUNDS
The financial measures bring crowdfunding platforms under terror-finance oversight, authorize Canadian banks to freeze accounts suspected of funding the blockades and suspend insurance on vehicles in the protests, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
A person waves a Canadian flag in front of banners in support of truckers, as truckers and supporters continue to protest the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 14, 2022. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg
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“We are making these changes because we know that these (crowdfunding) platforms are being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity which is damaging the Canadian economy,” Freeland said.
Canadian authorities have said about half of the funding for the protests has come from U.S. supporters. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) last week froze two personal bank accounts that received C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) for the protests. read more
A U.S.-based website, GiveSendGo, became a prime conduit for money to the protesters after mainstream crowdfunding platform GoFundMe blocked donations to the group. An Ontario court last week ordered GiveSendGo to freeze all funds supporting the blockade, but it said it would not comply.
Amid criticism that the police approach to demonstrations has been too permissive, Trudeau will use federal officers to back up provincial and local forces. “Despite their best efforts, it is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law,” he said.
In the western Canadian province of Alberta, police said they broke up a group that was armed and prepared to use violence to back a blockade at a border crossing with the United States. read more
The Canadian Parliament must approve the use of the emergency measures within seven days, and the left-leaning New Democrat party said it would support Trudeau’s Liberal minority government to pass the measures.
Ontario, which declared a state of emergency on Friday, backed the move. But premiers in Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan opposed the plan. Quebec’s Premier Francois Legault said using emergency powers risked putting “oil on the fire.” read more
Trudeau said the measures would be geographically targeted and time limited.
Ontario said it will speed up its plan to remove proof-of-vaccination requirements and lift pandemic-related capacity limits for many businesses while Alberta ended its mask requirements for school children on Monday. read more
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Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Nia Williams in Calgary and Lars Hagberg in Ottawa; Writing by Amran Abocar; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Paul Simao and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WINDSOR, Ontario/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, Feb 13 (Reuters) – North America’s busiest trade link reopened for traffic late Sunday evening, ending a six-day blockade, Canada Border Services Agency said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions.
Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, after a court order on Friday.
The blockade had choked the supply chain for Detroit’s carmakers, forcing Ford Motor Co (F.N), the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co (GM.N) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) to cut production.
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The bridge carries about $360 million a day in two-way cargoes – 25% of the value of all U.S.-Canada goods trade.
A Windsor Police official told reporters that 20 to 30 arrests had been made. Police also seized vehicles within the demonstration area, according to an earlier statement.
Police stepped up their presence on Sunday with more than 50 vehicles, including cruisers, buses and an armoured car, as the number of protesters dropped to around 45 from roughly 100 on Saturday. Windsor Police tweeted “there will be zero tolerance for illegal activity”.
In Ottawa, counter protests started blocking vehicles trying to join the protests on Sunday, with residents losing patience over the three-week-old demonstrations.
In the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the Pacific highway border crossing in Surrey was temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon, for a second day, by a group of about 200 protesters, according to a Reuters photographer on the scene. A small group of protesters gathered on U.S. side of the border, blocking incoming vehicles.
Police officers hold a line, on the road leading to the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, after clearing demonstrators, during a protest against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada February 13, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started in the national capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 17th day on Sunday. But it has now morphed into a rallying point against broader COVID-19 curbs, carbon tax and other issues, with people joining in cars, pick-up trucks and farm vehicles.
“We’re fed up, we’re tired. We want Ottawa to be boring again,” said an Ottawa resident at a counter protest in front of the city’s police headquarters.
The Canadian government had discussed whether to invoke special emergency powers to deal with the protests in the capital, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told CBC News on Sunday. Blair said the lack of police enforcement in Ottawa was “inexplicable.”
The rarely used Emergencies Act would allow the federal government to override the provinces and authorize special temporary measures to ensure security during national emergencies anywhere in the country. It has only been used once in peacetime – by Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau – in 1970.
Strangling bilateral trade, protests have spread to three border points, including in Alberta and Manitoba. Canadian police have said the protests have been partly funded by U.S. supporters, and Ontario froze funds donated via one U.S. platform GiveSendGo on Thursday.
The estimated loss so far from the blockades to the auto industry alone could be as high as $850 million, based on IHS Markit’s data, which puts the 2021 daily flow in vehicles and parts at $141.1 million a day.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” Windsor City Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a tweet.
In Europe, a convoy of 150 cars protesting COVID-19 restrictions left Paris on Sunday morning and headed towards Brussels, protesters told Reuters.
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Reporting by Shivani Tanna In Bengaluru, Kayla Tarnowski in Windsor, Ontario, and Chris Helgrin in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Julio Cesar Chavez and Carlos Osorio in Windsor; Jen Gauthier in Surrey
Writing by Denny Thomas; Editing by Amran Abocar, Lisa Shumaker, Daniel Wallis and Gerry Doyle
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WINDSOR, Ontario/WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – A Canadian judge on Friday ordered an end to the four-day-long blockade of a key Canada-U.S. trade corridor by protesters opposing pandemic restrictions, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised President Joe Biden quick action to end a crisis that has disrupted North America’s auto industry.
The order could lead to police in Windsor, Ontario, clearing truckers who have crowded dozens of vehicles near the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing and a choke point for Detroit’s carmakers.
Superior Court Justice Geoffrey Morawetz said his order would come into effect at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (0000 GMT) on Friday to give people some time to clear the area. Trudeau earlier told reporters that no action was off the table.
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An hour after the deadline, about 200 protesters, including children, milled around the entrance to the bridge, waving Canadian flags, while others set off fireworks.
Police, who started to gather in a parking lot a few blocks away from the protesters, began handing out pamphlets that outlined penalties under Ontario’s emergency order, which takes effect at midnight.
Companies have diverted cargo to stem losses amid production cuts by companies including Ford (F.N).
The judge on Friday approved the request by auto industry associations and Windsor city authorities hoping to end the protests.
Occupying access roads leading to the bridge on Friday, protesters voiced defiance and there was little sign of them backing down.
“Canada is supposed to be a free country,” said Liz Vallee, a protester from Chatham, Ontario. “When that freedom is threatened, we must stand up.”
Vallee said she and others would stay until all pandemic mandates are lifted.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, are also occupying areas outside government buildings in the capital city of Ottawa and have blocked two smaller U.S. crossings.
The protests have inspired similar convoys and plans in France, New Zealand, Australia and the United States, whose Department of Homeland Security is working to ensure that a “Freedom Convoy” event due in early March in Washington, D.C., “does not disrupt lawful trade.” read more
U.S. PRESSURE
Adding to earlier calls for action by U.S. officials and business leaders, Biden expressed concerns over auto plant closures and production slowdowns during a phone call with Trudeau, the White House said in a statement.
People erect a tent as truck drivers and supporters continue to block access to the Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit and Windsor, in protest against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada February 10, 2022. REUTERS/ Carlos Osorio
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“The two leaders agreed that the actions of the individuals who are obstructing travel and commerce between our two countries are having significant direct impacts on citizens’ lives and livelihoods,” the statement said.
“The Prime Minister promised quick action in enforcing the law, and the President thanked him for the steps he and other Canadian authorities are taking to restore the open passage of bridges to the United States,” it added.
Trudeau told reporters that he agreed with Biden that the blockades cannot continue. “Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end and it will end,” Trudeau said.
U.S.-Canada cross-border trade in vehicles and core parts totaled $51.5 billion in 2021, IHS Markit estimates.
Biden’s administration had urged Canada to use federal powers to ease the Ambassador Bridge blockade, a step Trudeau’s government has not taken. Trudeau said on Friday his government was not seriously contemplating calling in the military over the protests. read more
The leader of Ontario, where police have avoided using force to disperse protesters, sought to build pressure on Friday by threatening C$100,000 fines and up to a year in prison for non-compliance.
Announcing the penalties as part of emergency measures, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said they were needed to “make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure.”
Windsor police issued a statement warning of arrests, but it was not clear if or when authorities would begin issuing fines or seeking jail sentences.
ECONOMIC LOSSES
With car production cuts mounting, Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, said on Friday it had temporarily halted work at its assembly plant in Ohio. General Motors and Toyota also announced new production cuts.
The stock of Canadian autoparts maker Magna International (MG.TO) fell 6.4% on Friday after it said it had seen an initial hit from the bridge’s closure. read more
Beyond auto sector losses, the three U.S.-Canada crossings obstructed account for 33% of Canada’s trade with the United States, valued at $616 million per day, Export Development Canada said.
The bridge’s shutdown could worsen the tight supply of new vehicles in the United States and contribute to the already fast-rising price of new vehicles, IHS Markit said in a Friday report. Even if the blockade ends, a return to normal will take several weeks as shortages cascade through the supply chain, IHS Markit said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, home to nearly a fifth of U.S. car production, told CNN: “The Canadian government has to do whatever it takes to safely and swiftly resolve this.”
($1 = 1.2737 Canadian dollars)
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Reporting by Kayla Tarnowski and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Steven Scherer and Julie Gordon in Ottawa, Anna Mehler-Paperny in Toronto, Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson in Washington and Ismail Shakil, Kanishka Singh, and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Karishma Singh, Mark Porter, Grant McCool and William Mallard
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PITTSBURGH, Jan 28 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden stopped to look at a Pittsburgh bridge that collapsed just hours before he arrived for a scheduled visit to the city on Friday, dramatically underscoring the urgency of his drive to rebuild the United States’ creaky infrastructure.
Visibly moved, Biden gazed across a ravine over the buckled sections of the half-century-old Fern Hollow Bridge, flanked by Pennsylvania and local officials and emergency workers as he surveyed the damage.
(Don’t Miss: Collapsed bridge is one of 44,000 in poor condition in U.S.)
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“The idea that we have been so far behind on infrastructure, for so many years — it’s just mind-boggling,” the president told them.
One emergency worker described the scene after the collapse as loud as a jet engine. Biden praised the work of rescuers, noting a natural gas leak that was not stopped until some 30 minutes after first responders arrived at the scene.
Rescuers rappelled at least 150 feet (46 meters) into Fern Hollow, and used ropes to pull people to safety after the snow-covered span over the ravine collapsed around 6 a.m. (1100 GMT), Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said.
“They helped the firefighters that were here initially on scene, also did like a daisy chain, with hands just grabbing people and pulling them up,” Jones said.
Ten people suffered minor injuries, including four who were taken to the hospital, city officials said. Jones added that crews would search under the bridge for any victims.
The incident was a high-profile example of the need to rebuild the nation’s aging bridges, highways and other infrastructure with money from $1 trillion spending bill that was a signature achievement of Biden’s first year in office.
Images of the collapse showed the four-lane span buckled into three large sections, with several vehicles piled in the rubble of the collapsed roadway at the bottom of the ravine. The tail end of a long, red city bus appeared trapped by the rubble.
The massive gas leak caused by the collapse forced the evacuation of several families from their homes before being brought under control, Jones said.
Damaged vehicles are seen at the site of a collapsed bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., January 28, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Drone Base
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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to the site.
Pennsylvania has 3,198 bridges rated as being in poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The collapse came just two weeks after Pennsylvania got $327 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for bridge repair as part of the Biden administration’s new infrastructure law. Pennsylvania’s share of the bridge-repair money is the third-largest state allocation, behind only California and New York.
Biden said he was astonished to learn Pittsburgh had more bridges than any city in the world. “And we’re going to fix them all,” he said before leaving the site.
ECONOMIC GROWTH JUMPS
Biden, whose approval ratings have fallen in recent months amid a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, got a boost on Thursday when the Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy grew the fastest in nearly four decades in 2021.
Economists say Biden-backed fiscal stimulus, including the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that pumped money into states for COVID relief and into households in the form of stimulus payments, played a big role.
In Pittsburgh, the president toured Mill 19, a former steel mill building now serving as a research and development hub, and said he was taking stock of what he had accomplished so far.
“Making it in America is what built this city, the steel city,” he said. Pittsburgh understands the consequences of what happens “when we ignore the backbone and fail to invest in ourselves.”
The Democratic president was returning to the site of his first major campaign event in 2019 and his first stop after he was inaugurated. The state is a crucial battleground for Democrats to retain control of the Senate in the 2022 midterms.
He touted the creation of 6.4 million jobs and 367,000 manufacturing jobs since he took office a year ago, and the passage of the infrastructure bill — a rare bipartisan victory in a deeply divided Congress.
“It takes a federal government that doesn’t just give lip service” to buying American, he said. “Now we’re beginning to see the results.”
In recent days, General Motors Co (GM.N) has said it would invest $7 billion in Michigan to expand electric vehicle production and Intel Corp has said it would invest $100 billion to build a chip-making complex in Ohio.
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Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Katharine Jackson, Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu, Andy Sullivan, Heather Timmons; Editing by Howard Goller, Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman
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Government concedes to farmers ahead of key state elections
Modi says failed to win the argument with small farmers
Laws to be repealed in upcoming parliament session
Farmers to continue protest in Delhi until laws repealed
GHAZIABAD, India, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday he would repeal three agriculture laws that farmers have been protesting against for more than a year, a significant climb-down for the combative leader as important elections loom.
The legislation, introduced in September last year, was aimed at deregulating the sector, allowing farmers to sell produce to buyers beyond government-regulated wholesale markets, where growers are assured of a minimum price.
Farmers, fearing the reform would cut the prices they get for their crops, staged nationwide protests that drew in activists and celebrities from India and beyond, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and pop singer Rihanna.
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“Today I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to withdraw all three agricultural laws,” Modi said in an address to the nation.
“I urge farmers to return to their homes, their farms and their families, and I also request them to start afresh.”
The government would repeal the laws in the new session of parliament, starting this month, he said.
The surprise concession on laws the government had said were essential to tackle chronic wastage and inefficiencies, comes ahead of elections early next year in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India’s most populous state, and two other northern states with large rural populations.
Nevertheless, Modi’s capitulation leaves unresolved a complex system of farm subsidies and price supports that critics say the government cannot afford.
It could also raise questions for investors about how economic reforms risk being undermined by political pressures.
Protesting farmers, who have been camped out in their thousands by main roads around the capital, New Delhi, celebrated Modi’s back-track.
“Despite a lot of difficulties, we have been here for nearly a year and today our sacrifice finally paid off,” said Ranjit Kumar, a 36-year-old farmer at Ghazipur, a major protest site in Uttar Pradesh.
Jubilant farmers handed out sweets in celebration and chanted “hail the farmer” and “long live farmers’ movement”.
Rakesh Tikait, a farmers’ group leader, said the protests were not being called off.
“We will wait for parliament to repeal the laws,” he said on Twitter.
VULNERABLE TO BIG BUSINESS
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government said last year that there was no question of repealing the laws. It attempted to break the impasse by offering to dilute the legislation but protracted negotiations failed.
The protests took a violent turn on Jan. 26, India’s Republic Day, when thousands of farmers overwhelmed police and stormed the historic Red Fort in New Delhi after tearing down barricades and driving tractors through roadblocks.
One protester was killed and scores of farmers and policemen were injured.
Small farmers say the changes make them vulnerable to competition from big business and they could eventually lose price support for staples such as wheat and rice.
The government says reform of the sector, which accounts for about 15% of the $2.7 trillion economy, means new opportunities and better prices for farmers.
Modi announced the scrapping of the laws in a speech marking the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Many of the protesting farmers are Sikh.
Modi acknowledged that the government had failed to win the argument with small farmers.
The farmers are also demanding minimum support prices for all of their crops, not just for rice and wheat.
“We need to know the government’s stand on our other key demand,” Darshan Pal, another farmers’ leader, said of the new demand, which has gained traction among farmers across the country, not just in the northern grain belt.
Rahul Gandhi of the main opposition Congress party, said the “arrogant” government had been forced to concede.
“Whether it was fear of losing UP or finally facing up to conscience BJP govt rolls back farm laws. Just the beginning of many more victories for people’s voices,” Mahua Moitra, a lawmaker from the Trinamool Congress Party and one of Modi’s staunchest critics, said on Twitter.
But some food experts said Modi’s back-track was unfortunate because the reforms would have brought new technology and investment.
“It’s a blow to India’s agriculture,” said Sandip Das, a New Delhi-based researcher and agricultural policy analyst.
“The laws would have helped attract a lot of investment in agricultural and food processing – two sectors that need a lot of money for modernisation.”
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Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj, Rajendra Jadhav and Krishna N. Das; Additional reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Business information provider S&P Global Inc (SPGI.N) and IHS Markit Ltd (INFO.N) have won U.S. antitrust approval for their planned merger, on condition it sell some businesses and scrap a non-compete agreement with GasBuddy, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The $44 billion deal was initially announced in November 2020.
To win approval for the deal, the companies agreed to sell three of IHS Markit’s price reporting agency (PRA) businesses. The department said the businesses are: Oil Price Information Services (OPIS); Coals, Metals, and Mining (CMM); and PetrochemWire (PCW).
The businesses will be bought by News Corp (NWSA.O) under a $1.15 billion deal reached in August. read more
In a court filing, the Justice Department said that S&P Global and IHS are a small number of companies that provide PRA services and “compete vigorously in each of the relevant markets, resulting in lower prices and increased quality and innovation for PRA customers.”
One of them, OPIS, collects and sells information related to U.S. retail gasoline prices. GasBuddy has been one of OPIS’ main sources of data since 2009. Since 2016, OPIS has had exclusive rights to GasBuddy’s data for 20 years.
Because of the agreement, GasBuddy, which uses crowdsourced information to help people find deals on retail gasoline, has been stopped from creating a service to compete with OPIS, the department said.
“The divestitures will preserve competition for PRA (price reporting agency) services, which are vital to the proper functioning of commodity markets and promote transparency in the financial markets,” Richard Powers, acting head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement.
GasBuddy parent company PDI praised the Justice Department settlement and said “once the waiver clears, we look forward to providing petroleum marketers and wholesalers with a compelling pricing solution, through the 1 million retail fuel price submissions provided by GasBuddies on a daily basis.”
The deal won EU antitrust approval in October, with some of the same conditions. read more
Reporting by Diane Bartz; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Diane Craft, Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
FILE PHOTO: Sugar apples are displayed in a market in Recife, June 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
BEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) – China will suspend sugar apple and wax apple imports from Taiwan to prevent disease carried by a pest found on the fruits from entering the country, its customs office said on Sunday.
The General Administration of Customs in China had repeatedly detected pests called “Planococcus minor” in sugar apples, also known as sweetsops, and wax apples from Taiwan, it said in a statement on its website.
The authority had asked its Guangdong branch and all directly affiliated offices to stop customs clearance of those products from Sept. 20, it said.
China had banned imports of pineapples from Taiwan in February citing “harmful creatures” that could come with the fruit, although Taiwan had said there was nothing wrong with the pineapples and accused Beijing of playing politics. read more
Reporting by Min Zhang and Tony Munroe; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.