World
Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s pension arm hit with another class-action lawsuit
(Reuters) – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) said on Thursday a class-action lawsuit was filed against its pension arm, Colonial First State, for allegedly not acting in customers interest for insurance policies. The pension arm...
ECB to launch review that will redefine its mission and tools
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to launch a broad review of its policy on Thursday that is likely to see her redefine the ECB’s main goal and how to achieve it. The euro zone’s central bank has fallen short of its inflation target of just under 2% for years...
Ford expects $2.2 billion pre-tax hit related to pension plans in fourth quarter
(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Wednesday its fourth quarter results will be hit by a pre-tax loss of about $2.2 billion due to higher contributions to its employees pension plans. The charge is largely related to a drop in discount rates, the company said, as that leads to an increase in the...
Boeing CEO expects to resume 737 MAX production before mid-year
WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told reporters on Wednesday the U.S. planemaker expects to resume 737 MAX production months before its forecasted mid-year return to service and said it did not plan to suspend or cut its dividend. The company announced a production halt in December, when the global grounding of the...
Google finds security flaws in Apple’s web browser: FT
(Reuters) – Google researchers have found multiple security flaws in Apple Inc’s Safari web browser that allowed the tracking of users’ browsing behavior, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing a soon-to-be published paper. The vulnerabilities were found in a tool specifically designed to protect privacy and could have allowed third parties to obtain sensitive...
China’s ‘mermaid descendants’ weave final garments from skin of fish
TONGJIANG, China (Reuters) – You Wenfeng, who belongs to China’s tiny Hezhen ethnic group, is one of the few people in her community who can still make clothing from the skin of fish. She was not yet born when her kinsmen were thrown into labor camps during Japan’s occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s and...
Weinstein must tread carefully in rape trial defense, experts say
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will face the challenge of defending himself in his rape trial as he tries to undermine his accusers’ credibility without appearing callous to jurors, according to several legal experts. Still, if Weinstein’s defense team can persuade the jury that the accusers engaged in consensual sexual activity...
Doc Martens and youthful energy shake up Davos agenda
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Often seen as the preserve of old, rich men, this year’s World Economic Forum has thrust around a dozen teenage “change-makers” to the top of its agenda, adding fresh voices, energy and fashion to proceedings. The first panel of the four-day Alpine gathering made clear the shift from 81-year-old founder Klaus...
Thunberg v Trump: A trillion trees is ‘not enough’
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Activist Greta Thunberg said on Tuesday planting trees was not enough to address climate change, in an apparent rebuke to a pledge in Davos by U.S. President Donald Trump an hour earlier. Trump dismissed “perennial prophets of doom” on climate change in his keynote address. While he did not directly name...
Senate approves Trump impeachment trial plan, rejects Democrats on documents, witnesses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted early on Wednesday on party lines to approve the rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, rejecting Democratic efforts to obtain evidence and ensure witnesses are heard. As the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history began in earnest, Trump’s chief legal defender argued the Democratic case...
Democrats launch first salvo at Trump trial, warn that world is watching
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats accused President Donald Trump at the start of his impeachment trial on Wednesday of a corrupt scheme to pressure Ukraine to help him get re-elected and warned that America’s global prestige will suffer if the U.S. Senate acquits him. The Republican Trump sounded a defiant note, telling reporters in Switzerland the...
Facebook targets UK growth with 1,000 hires this year
LONDON (Reuters) – Facebook will hire 1,000 people in London this year in roles such as product development and safety as it continues to grow its biggest engineering center outside the United States after Britain leaves the European Union. Over half of the new jobs will be in technology, including software engineering and data science,...
NYC Transit expects return of Bombardier subway cars to service this week
MONTREAL (Reuters) – New York City Transit expects subway cars recently built by Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) to return to service this week, after an estimated 300 cars were yanked earlier in the month due to safety concerns, agency President Andy Byford said on Tuesday. “The good news is, subject to confirmation, we are expecting a...
United beats Wall Street expectations despite ongoing 737 MAX delays
CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL.O) on Tuesday beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and held to its 2020 profit target, with a turnaround strategy overseen by its outgoing CEO underpinning growth even as the Boeing 737 MAX remains grounded. Chicago-based United is one of three U.S. airlines cancelling more than 1,000...
Exclusive: Philadelphia refinery expected to be sold to real estate developer – sources
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions is expected to sell its fire-damaged refinery site to real estate developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners, three sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The agreement between PES and Hilco, a Chicago-based developer that specializes in redeveloping industrial properties, is expected to be announced as soon...
Michigan, Tesla reach agreement for direct car delivery: source
(Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has reached a settlement with Michigan to allow the electric-car maker to directly deliver its vehicles to customers in the state, a person familiar with the agreement said on Tuesday. The company will be able to deliver vehicles within Michigan, but will have to issue titles for the vehicles in...
Trump to break bread with Apple’s Cook and other CEOs: sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a breakfast meeting on Wednesday with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Tim Cook and other business leaders on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to sources familiar with the situation. On Tuesday, Trump had dinner with executives...
Huawei CFO’s lawyers argue U.S. extradition case does not pass Canadian law
VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou returned to a Vancouver court on Tuesday, where her lawyers argued for a second straight day that the U.S. extradition request against Meng is founded in sanctions violation. Meng, 47, arrived in a Vancouver courtroom on Monday for the first phase of a hearing that will...
Wall Street falls as China virus reaches the U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street lost ground on Tuesday, backing away from record highs as a viral outbreak from China found its way to U.S. shores and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global economic growth forecast. All three major U.S. stock averages fell following several days of record closing highs and their...
22nd January
IBM forecasts full-year profit above estimates on cloud growth
(Reuters) – International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) forecast full-year profit above market expectations on Tuesday after reporting surprise growth in quarterly revenue, boosted by its high-margin cloud computing business, sending its shares up more than 4%. Over the past few years, Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty has been trying to shift the company’s focus to...
Toyota to recall 3.4 million vehicles worldwide, air bags may not deploy in crashes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Tuesday it will recall 3.4 million vehicles worldwide because of an electronic defect that can result in air bags not deploying in crashes. The recall, which includes 2.9 million U.S. vehicles, covers 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles and is tied...
Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained – sources
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) dropped plans to let iPhone users fully encrypt backups of their devices in the company’s iCloud service after the FBI complained that the move would harm investigations, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The tech giant’s reversal, about two years ago, has not previously been reported....
Netflix subscriber forecast misses Wall Street estimate as market leader faces Disney
(Reuters) – Netflix Inc missed Wall Street subscriber forecasts for the first quarter Tuesday, amid pressure from lower-cost services from Walt Disney Co and Apple Inc in the streaming video wars. The streaming giant added more paying subscribers than Wall Street expected in the fourth quarter, beating international subscriber estimates but missing estimates for U.S....
Weinstein must tread carefully in rape trial defense, experts say
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will face the challenge of defending himself in his rape trial as he tries to undermine his accusers’ credibility without appearing callous to jurors, according to several legal experts. Still, if Weinstein’s defense team can persuade the jury that the accusers engaged in consensual sexual activity...
Thunberg v Trump: A trillion trees is ‘not enough’
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Activist Greta Thunberg said on Tuesday planting trees was not enough to address climate change, in an apparent rebuke to a pledge in Davos by U.S. President Donald Trump an hour earlier. Trump dismissed “perennial prophets of doom” on climate change in his keynote address. While he did not directly name...
Doc Martens and youthful energy shake up Davos agenda
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Often seen as the preserve of old, rich men, this year’s World Economic Forum has thrust around a dozen teenage “change-makers” to the top of its agenda, adding fresh voices, energy and fashion to proceedings. The first panel of the four-day Alpine gathering made clear the shift from 81-year-old founder Klaus...
North Korea abandons nuclear freeze pledge, blames ‘brutal’ U.S. sanctions
GENEVA (Reuters) – North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set an end-December deadline for denuclearization talks with the...
Defying Congress, U.S. Commerce Department will not turn over auto import probe report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is snubbing Congress by refusing to turn over a report detailing an investigation into national security risks potentially posed by imported vehicles and auto parts, citing pending international negotiations and executive branch deliberations. Congress inserted a provision in a spending bill last month demanding the White House turn over...
U.S. Supreme Court lets Flint, Michigan residents sue over water contamination
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let residents of Flint, Michigan pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city and government officials that accused them of knowingly allowing the city’s water supply to become contaminated with lead. The justices turned away two appeals by the city and the state and local officials...
China virus spreads to U.S., curbing travel plans and spooking markets
BEIJING (Reuters) – The toll from the Wuhan coronavirus in China rose to six deaths on Tuesday and the first case was reported in the United States, sending markets tumbling on fears of economic damage as tourists canceled travel plans and airports stepped up screening. The virus struck as millions of Chinese prepared to travel...
