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MoneyWatch June 14, 2022 / 2:27 PM / MoneyWatch Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve turned to its most potent weapon — raising interest rates — to combat soaring inflation. But with consumer prices having only accelerated since then, Wall Street analysts say consumers and investors should gird for an even bigger hike this week as central bankers try to tame the nation's fiercest bout with inflation in 40 years. The Fed, which will announce its decision on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time, could lift rates by 0.75%, according to analysts at TD Macro. That would come after announcements of a 0.25% hike in March and a 0.5% move in May — with the latter marking the sharpest increase since 2000.If the Fed decides on a three-quarter point boost, it would be the first rate hike of that size since 1994. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a report on Tuesday that they expect 0.75% hikes at the central bank's meetings both this week and in July, underscoring what they called a "need for speed" in clamping down on inflation.   Indeed, speed is of the essence in confronting inflation, economists say. The Consumer Price Index, a broad basket of goods and services used to track inflation, surged 8.6% in May, from an 8.3% annual rate in April. Gasoline prices have continued to hit new highs almost daily amid depleted domestic production and Russia's war in Ukraine, while food and housing costs are also surging. With more inflation data under its belt, the Fed is likely to ratchet its rate hikes higher, some analysts say.   "We believe this shows the Fed is more determined to do what it takes to end the inflation overshoot as rapidly as possible even if that raises the chance of a hard landing in 2023," TD Macro said in the report.  El-Erian says inflation could hit 9% 08:59 To be sure, some Wall Street analysts continue to expect a more modest interest-rate hike increase on Wednesday, but others are tweaking their economic forecasts to factor in sharper monetary tightening. By year-end, the federal funds rate — the rate that determines borrowing between banks — could be almost twice as high as its pre-pandemic level of about 2%, according to forecasts."It was just a few weeks ago that investors were forecasting the funds rate to be ~2.58% at the end of this year, but that number is now more than 100 [basis points] higher at 3.7%," analyst Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge told clients in a research note. "And the 'terminal' funds rate (the level at which the Fed will stop hiking this cycle) is now seen north of 4%."Here's what the Fed jacking up interest rates could mean for your wallet. What will the rate hike cost you?Every 0.25% increase in the Fed's benchmark interest rate translates to an extra $25 a year in interest on $10,000 in debt. So a 0.75% increase would mean an extra $75 of interest for every $10,000 in debt.  Economists expect the Fed will continue to raise rates throughout the year as it battles inflation. Some analysts now forecast the central bank will announce another 0.75% increase in July, followed by two 0.5% hikes in September and November. By early 2023, the federal funds rate could be 3.75% to 4%, according to TD Macro. That implies a rate increase of at least 2.75% higher than the current federal funds rate of 1%. For consumers, that means they could pay an additional $275 in interest for every $10,000 in debt. How could it impact the stock market?The stock market has slumped this year amid various headwinds, including the impact of high inflation and the Fed's monetary tightening. But a bigger-than-expected interest rate increase on Wednesday "could be welcomed by stocks," Crisafulli said. "It would represent a powerful signal by [Fed Chair Jerome Powell], help the Fed recapture control of the policy narrative and clamp down on the massive change in tightening forecasts," he noted. Credit cards, home equity lines of creditCredit card debt will become more expensive, with higher APRs hitting borrowers within one or two billing cycles after the Fed's announcement, according to LendingTree credit expert Matt Schulz. For instance, after the Fed's March hike, interest rates for credit cards increased for three-quarters of the 200 cards that Schulz reviews every month.Consumers with balances may want to consider a 0% balance transfer credit card or a low-interest personal loan, Schulz said. Consumers can also ask their credit card companies for a lower rate, which research has shown is frequently successful. Credit with adjustable rates may also see an impact, including home equity lines of credit and adjustable-rate mortgages, which are based on the prime rate. What's the impact on mortgage rates?Mortgage rates have already surged in response to the Fed's rate increases this year. The average 30-year mortgage stood at 5.23% on June 9, according to Freddie Mac. That's up from 2.96% a year earlier. That is adding thousands to the annual cost of buying a property. For instance, a purchaser buying a $250,000 home with a 30-year fixed loan would pay about $3,600 more per year compared with what they would have paid a year earlier. But the Fed's next rate hike might already be baked into current mortgage rates, said Jacob Channel, senior economic analyst for LendingTree, in an email."The Fed's rate hike may not mean that mortgage rates are going to significantly increase," he noted. The housing market reflects one part of the economy where the Fed's rate increases are slowing demand. Channel added: "These high rates have significantly dampened borrower desire to refinance current loans, and they're also showing signs of reducing demand for purchase mortgages as well."Savings accounts, CDsWhen it comes to higher interest rates, the bright side for consumers is better yields from savings accounts and certificates of deposit.  "Online deposit rate gains have accelerated after the last two Fed rate hikes. Further acceleration is expected" with additional hikes, said Ken Tumin of DepositAccounts.com in an email. In May, the typical online savings account yield increased from 0.54% to 0.73%, while average yields on one-year online CDs rose from 1.70% to 2.53%, he noted.That's better than savers used to earn, but it's still far below the rate of inflation. That means that savers are essentially eroding the value of their money by socking it into a savings account while inflation is running above 8%.  In: Federal Reserve

Fed rate hike 2022: Prepare for a bigger rate hike, Wall Street says.

The way you operate at work plays a crucial role in your career success.Much of that depends on how you interact (e.g., cooperate, collaborate and manage conflicts) with your colleagues, clients, bosses and people in your professional network. Social psychologists call this your reciprocation style.In his bestselling book, "Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success," organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant lays out three key reciprocation styles found in the workplace:Takers see the world as a hypercompetitive rat race. Since they assume that no one else will look out for them, they place their own interests first and last. They may choose to help others strategically, but only when the benefit seems to exceed the cost.Matchers operate tit for tat. When people do them a favor, they repay in a capacity that is no more, no less. And when they help someone, they expect the same in return.Givers focus on others more than on themselves. They pay close attention to what people need from them, whether it's time or ideas or mentorship. A rarity in the workplace, according to Grant, their style is more typical of the way we treat family and friends.Givers pay it forwardIn any given field, you'll find givers near the top of their career ladder. As they pay it forward, according to a number of studies, givers make for more efficient engineers or higher-grossing salespeople than takers or matchers.Grant proposes that these high performers are strategic in the choices they make and the limits they set. This, of course, is what also makes them more appealing and desirable to employers.Most of all, they've learned how to get help when they need it, and they're skilled at receiving as well as giving. "Successful givers are every bit as ambitious as takers and matchers," Grant writes in his book. "They simply have a different way of pursuing their goals."He goes even further to say that being a giver may actually be a sign of intelligence.Successful givers are every bit as ambitious as takers and matchers. They simply have a different way of pursuing their goals.Adam GrantOrganizational psychologist, author of "Give and Take"Grant cites a study published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in which researchers tested people's intelligence with a series of quantitative, verbal and analytical reasoning problems. They then sent them off to negotiate."Intelligence paid off — but not in the way you might expect," Grant says. "The smarter people were, the better their counterparts did in the negotiation. They used their brainpower to expand the pie, finding ways to help the other side that cost them nothing."Not all givers are greatYet another study found a significant set of givers clumped at the opposite end. They were the least productive workers — the failures, at least in the eyes of their peers.What were they doing wrong? According to Grant, these hapless pure givers found it awkward to solicit favors or assistance. They gave and gave until the well ran dry.Here's an example: My former research partner, negotiation expert Frank Mobus, and I knew a young travel agent who was bright and hard working, but consistently fell short on his sales numbers.After a 10-minute talk, we figured out his problem. He was compulsively generous with prospective clients, gifting them shrewd free advice (which they took to book online, to save themselves a commission). As a result, both the agent and his agency suffered.All of this tells us that to be a successful giver, you must be a good negotiator. The most one-dimensional price haggle requires the gift of your time and energy to make it through the process. Conversely, indiscriminate handouts can be detrimental, even between strategic partners.In short, it's important to distinguish between passive giving and negotiated giving:Passive givers are giving in to avoid conflict, en route to stunted deals and lowered expectations.Negotiated givers are more intentional in their generosity and stay focused on long-term goals.Master the art of negotiationIn today's workplace, with cross-functional teams and nondirect reporting structures, people interface and work closely with lots of colleagues. That's why it's helpful to be aware that many contacts, even random encounters, can draw you into a negotiation (e.g., a request for you to provide a resource or work product, which usually includes a deadline).Negotiated givers are more intentional in their generosity, and stay focused on long-term goals.Bill SandersWorkplace negotiations researcherToo often, in the interest of being a good team player — and possibly, a passive giver — we quickly agree to say yes. We don't even give it much thought. It's only later that we realize the burden on our time and schedule.The smart thing to do is to slow down the process and treat it like a negotiation. Ask some clarifying questions, consider some alternatives, explain the effort or problems this might create for you. Even ask for something in return — a quid pro quo — or get a verbal "IOU a favor" from your colleague. Being mindful of good negotiation or agreement-making techniques can help you become a successful negotiated giver, rather than an unproductive passive giver.Bill Sanders is a work and negotiation expert, and the CEO of Mobus Creative Negotiating, a corporate training and consulting company with large clients including AT&T, Skansa and BorgWarner. He also co-authored the book "Creative Conflict" with Frank Mobus, founder of Mobus Creative Negotiating. Over the last 30 years, Bill has helped 10 head coaches become Super Bowl champions. Follow him on LinkedIn.Don't miss:Jeff Bezos: People who are 'right a lot' make decisions differently than everyone else—here's howBillionaires like Warren Buffet and Elon Musk prove if you don't do these 6 little things every day, you'll never be successfulThese are the top 5 skills to learn right now, says futurist—and where to find free online courses

There are 3 types of employees. Here’s the rarest one—and why psychologists say they outperform everyone else.

World June 14, 2022 / 3:09 PM / CBS News Russia extended WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention until at least July 2, state news agency Tass reported Tuesday. Griner has been in Russian custody since February, when she was arrested at a Moscow airport and accused of smuggling cannabis oil in her luggage. Griner's detention has repeatedly been extended. A Russian court ruled in March that her pre-trial detention would be extended until May 19. It was then extended again until mid-June. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. learned of the extension through Russian state media.  "Our position for some time on this has been very clear — Brittney Griner should not be detained. She should not be detained for a single day longer," Price said. In May, the State Department said it determined the Phoenix Mercury center, who played in Russia during the WNBA off-season, was wrongfully detained.  "With this determination, the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs will lead the interagency team for securing Brittney Griner's release," the State Department said in a statement last month. State Department officials met with Griner's teammates and coaches on Monday to discuss the status of her detention, the Phoenix Mercury said. Also at the meeting were representatives from the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and a senior representative from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Price said. "We are on day 116 since BG has been wrongfully detained," Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said in a statement shared on the team's Twitter. "It was great to hear from the State Department that we should continue to amplify that message and that and that we should continue to press all those who have any influence or power to help bring BG home." Forward Brianna Turner said State Department officials "encouraged us to keep speaking her name, to keep holding them accountable to bring BG back home as soon as possible."  Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, on Saturday, reiterating that securing Griner's release is a priority, that her case has his full attention, and that his team is working on it day and night, according to a senior State Department official.Cherelle has called on President Joe Biden to do whatever is necessary to secure her wife's release. "I just keep hearing that he has the power. She's a political pawn," Cherelle said in an interview with "Good Morning America" last month. "So if they're holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it."Camilla Schick contributed reporting. In: Brittney Griner Russia Caitlin Yilek Caitlin Yilek is a digital producer for CBS News. Reach her at caitlin.yilek@cbsinteractive.com. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait Twitter Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Russia extends Brittney Griner's detention again as teammates push for release.

Jb Reed | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMortgage rates jumped sharply this week, as fears of a potentially more aggressive rate hike from the Federal Reserve upset financial markets.The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage rose 10 basis points to 6.28% Tuesday, according to Mortgage News Daily. That followed a 33 basis point jump Monday. The rate was 5.55% one week ago.Rising rates have caused a sharp turnaround in the housing market. Mortgage demand has plummeted. Home sales have fallen for six straight months, according to the National Association of Realtors. Rising rates have so far done little to chill the red-hot home prices fueled by historically strong, pandemic-driven demand and record low supply. Read more: Compass and Redfin announce layoffs as housing market slowsThe drastic rate jump this week is the worst since the so-called taper tantrum in July 2013, when investors sent Treasury yields soaring after the Fed said it would slow down its purchases of the bonds."The difference back then was that the Fed had simply decided it was time to finally begin unwinding some of the easy policies put into place after the financial crisis," wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer of MND. "This time around, the Fed is in panic mode about runaway inflation."Mortgage rates had set more than a dozen record lows in the first year of the pandemic, as the Federal Reserve poured money into mortgage-backed bonds. It recently ended that support and is expected to start offloading its holdings soon.That caused the rise in rates that began in January, with the average rate starting the year at around 3.25% and pushing higher each month. There was a brief reprieve in May, but it was short-lived.Higher home prices and rates have crushed home affordability. For instance, on a $400,000 home, with a 20% down payment, the monthly mortgage payment went from $1,399 at the start of January to $1,976 today, a difference of $577. That does not include homeowners insurance nor property taxes. It also does not include the fact that the home is about 20% more expensive than it was a year ago.

30-year mortgage rate surges to 6.28%, up from 5.5% just a week ago.

An activist blocking a road leading away from the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre holds a banner during a protest against the British Governments plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, near Heathrow airport in London, June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Henry NichollsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights has issued an order to prevent the deportation of one of the individuals scheduled to be on the first flight of migrants from Britain to Rwanda, the charity Care4Calais said on Tuesday."This means it is now possible for the other six to make similar claims. We are so relieved," Clare Moseley from the charity told Reuters.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Andrew MacAskill; writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

ECHR issues order to stop UK deportation of one migrant to Rwanda- UK charity.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) speaks during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Chris Magnus to be the next U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., October 19, 2021. Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is planning to introduce legislation setting a 21% surtax on oil company profits considered excessive, an aide for the senator told Reuters.The bill applies a 21% additional tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, the aide said. The 21% tax would be in addition to any regular income tax due. Profits over 10% would be considered excessive under the bill, according to the aide.Unlike other proposed windfall profit taxes, the aide said, Wyden's would apply the tax based on profit margins, not oil prices. Companies making normal profits based on their expenses would not pay any additional tax.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"While Americans pay more to fill up their gas tanks, Big Oil companies are raking in record profits, rewarding their CEOs and wealthy shareholders with massive stock buybacks, and using special loopholes in the tax code to pay next to nothing in taxes," Wyden, a Democrat, said in a statement.President Joe Biden on Friday accused the U.S. oil industry, and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) in particular, of capitalizing on a supply shortage to fatten profits after a report showed inflation surging to a new 40-year record. read more Bloomberg first reported the planned legislation.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Shepardson; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Senate finance chair to propose tax on excess oil profits.

World June 14, 2022 / 12:45 PM / CBS News Pope condemns Ukraine war in Easter speech Pope Francis condemns cruel and senseless war in Easter Sunday speech 01:32 Rome — Pope Francis has told a group of European Jesuit news editors that the war in Ukraine was "perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented," and he cautioned against oversimplifying the conflict.In an interview published Tuesday in the Jesuit publication "La Civilta' Cattolica," the pope said that in Russia's war on Ukraine, "there are no metaphysical good guys and bad guys, in an abstract sense."  He said that months before the war, a head of state warned him that NATO was "barking at the gates of Russia," and that Russia would not tolerate it, which could lead to war.  The leader, who Francis did not identify, "was able to read the signs of what was taking place," the pontiff said.Ukraine sentences Russian soldier to life for war crimes In his conversation with the Jesuits, Francis condemned the "brutality and ferocity of the Russian troops" invading Ukraine and pummelling it with artillery. He called the use of mercenaries, in particular, "monstrous."  Pope Francis holds up and kisses Ukrainian flag from Bucha 00:58 But the pope cautioned that focusing solely on Russia's violence could prevent people from understanding "the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented. And note the interest in testing and selling weapons." Francis made similar remarks in May, when he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he had "no way of telling whether [Russian President Vladimir Putin's] rage has been provoked,  but I suspect it was maybe facilitated by the West's attitude."In a separate address Tuesday marking the World Day of the Poor, Francis struck a different tone, saying the war in Ukraine was the "direct intervention of a 'superpower' aimed at imposing its own will in violation of the principle of the self determination of peoples."  He also implicitly blamed Putin during an April speech in the Maltese capital of Valletta, when he decried "the icy winds of war" in Europe and said, "some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts.Francis has repeatedly condemned the war in Ukraine, calling it "abominable," "macabre," a "massacre" and "unacceptable armed aggression."  Donbas battles “most brutal” Europe has seen, Zelenskyy says 01:47 But he has also been criticized for not explicitly naming Russia and Putin as the instigators of the conflict.  His motivation to try to walk such a fine line is likely rooted in the Vatican's historical stance of maintaining an open dialogue with all sides in global conflicts, so it can help mediate for peace. In the interview with the Jesuit journalists, Francis did underscore that he was not pro-Putin."I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex," he said. "While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved."   He also praised the bravery and humanity of the Ukrainian people.  Residents of villages once liberated by Ukraine live in fear of the return of Russian troops 02:33 "I would really like to emphasize this point: The heroism of the Ukrainian people. What is before our eyes is a situation of world war, global interests, arms sales and geopolitical appropriation, which is martyring a heroic people," he said.Francis said he would like to set up a direct meeting with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, in Kazakhstan in September.  Kirill has provided religious justification for the war in Ukraine, prompting Francis to warn him that he "cannot become Putin's altar boy".   The two were scheduled to meet in June, but that meeting has been postponed. In: War Pope Francis Ukraine Russia Vladimir Putin Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Pope Francis says Ukraine war "perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented".

Yvette Johnson, 54, sits next to a fan outside of her families home on June 10, 2022 in Houston, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesPower demand recently hit a record high in Texas amid a severe heat wave and will likely break more records this week as homes and businesses blast air conditioners across the country's second-most populous state.Demand on the power grid reached more than 75,000 megawatts on Sunday, surpassing a previous record of 74,820 megawatts set in August 2019, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which runs the grid for more than 26 million customers who comprise about 90% of the state's electric load. One megawatt can power roughly 200 homes in Texas during high demand and about 1,000 homes in normal weather conditions.Soaring power usage prompted by extreme weather has triggered concerns over the vulnerability of the state's grid system, following a deadly winter storm in Feb. 2021 that left millions of residents without power for days.On Monday, temperatures above 100 degrees were forecast for most of Texas. Such extreme temperatures are not typical so early in the summer season, and high power demand in the state usually occurs later in the summer in August and September.ERCOT, however, has said it has enough supplies available to meet demand during the heat wave even as it forecasts rising power demand throughout the week.Last month, ERCOT asked residents to conserve power amid high temperatures by setting their thermostats to 78 degrees or above and avoiding the usage of large appliances like dishwashers, washers and dryers during peak hours between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.The request came after six power generation facilities tripped offline amid the heat, resulting in the loss of approximately 2,900 of megawatts of electricity.Climate change has prompted more frequent and destructive weather events like heat waves, drought and wildfires, which have increasingly forced blackouts and overwhelmed some of the country's infrastructure.Extreme weather events have caused 67% more major power outages in the U.S. since 2000, according to an analysis of national power outage data by research group Climate Central.

Texas power demand breaks record as severe heat wave hits the state.

The logos of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google in a combination photo/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - A top Democratic lawmaker on antitrust issues said Tuesday a bill aimed at reining in the market power of Big Tech platforms like Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google had the votes to pass the both chambers of Congress in the next few weeks.On the sidelines of an event to rally support for measures before the Senate and House of Representatives that would prevent tech platforms, including Apple (AAPL.O) and Facebook , from favoring their own businesses in search and other ways, Representative David Cicilline, chair of the House antitrust subcommittee, said: "I'm very confident when these bills come to the floor, they will pass. Convincingly."Asked when, he said: "Before we leave for the summer, my hope is that it will happen. Obviously, best case scenario would be in the next week. Worst case scenario in my view, the month of July."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of a Senate antitrust panel, also said last week that she enough support in the Senate to win passage.Representative Ken Buck, a Republican sponsor, said Tuesday he supported the bill at least partially because of his view that conservative views are stifled online. "We're being discriminated against," he said.The bills have been the subject of a ferocious amount of lobbying, with tech giants warning of dire consequences, like the disappearance of popular consumer online applications like Google Maps. Cicilline called some of those allegations "lies" on Tuesday.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the bills, and said on Tuesday: "The legislation would empower government bureaucracy to reign over our economy. No longer would competition be evaluated on the merits, instead the interest of consumers would be sidelined in favor of the interest of competitors."Dozens of companies and business organizations sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers Monday, urging them to support the measures. L1N2Y01EC Companies supporting the measure include Yelp, Sonos, DuckDuckGo and Spotify.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Diane BartzOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Big Tech bill has votes needed to pass, top U.S. antitrust lawmaker says.

The building of the European Court of Human Rights is seen ahead of the start of a hearing concerning Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia regarding human rights violations in Crimea, at in Strasbourg, France, September 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent KesslerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights confirmed it had issued an order on Tuesday preventing the deportation of one individual due to be on the first flight of migrants from Britain to Rwanda due to depart hours later.The court had decided "that the applicant should not be removed until the expiry of a period of three weeks following the delivery of the final domestic decision in the ongoing judicial review proceedings", its ruling said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

ECHR confirms order to stop deportation of migrant from UK to Rwanda.

CBS Mornings June 14, 2022 / 1:11 PM / CBS News Instagram head on new tools for parents Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri on new parental control options 06:16 Instagram's parent company Meta is giving parents new tools to watch over teens. The company announced that starting on Tuesday, parents will have more power to supervise and limit their teens' time on both Instagram and its Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets. They will be able to monitor what they're doing, and who they are interacting with. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri told "CBS Mornings" that as a father himself, he wants Instagram to lead on teen safety online. "As a dad and as someone who's talked to a lot of experts around the world, we believe that parents know what's best for their children. What I'm most excited about is providing more tools for parents to shape their children's experience on Instagram and on Quest VR into what's best for their teen, for their child," he said. Mosseri said Instagram's new feature will give parents more control over how long their teen spends on the social media site.  "One of the changes we're launching this week is the parent can actually initiate that relationship, and then they can see how much time their teen spends on Instagram. They can set limits to that time, one new feature this week that they can actually pick periods of the week where their child can't use Instagram, maybe it's homework or school time," said Mosseri. Quest VR has a similar feature for parents as well. Instagram also announced a new "nudge" feature that will encourage teen users to get away from content or particular themes that they are spending too long on. The new features come after a report by The Wall Street Journal in September that indicated top executives at Instagram were warned by researchers about the potential harmful impacts of the platform to young users. Mosseri, who testified in December before a Senate subcommittee investigating the harmful effects of Instagram, said that the safety of Instagram's teen users is always a top priority.  Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing titled Protecting Kids Online: Instagram and Reforms for Young Users on Capitol Hill, December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. The committee questioned Mosseri about how the platform impacts the mental health and safety of teens and children. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) "I believe that one of our most important responsibilities is keeping teens safe online. I believe this is an industry-wide issue. I think we're leading on the issue. I think we've invested more than any other company on safety more broadly. These tools have been in the works for a long time," he said.   "I can say that I'm proud of the work that we've done, but I also believe and I'm committed to as a parent that the work never ends and that we have to continue to innovate in the space," Mosseri added.  The new features are available for Instagram users in the U.S. starting today. They will be rolled out to other countries, including the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany later this month, with plans to go global before the end of the year.  In: Facebook Instagram Meta Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Instagram says new safety features will give parents more control over how long teens spend on site.

A person looks on from a terrace as fans who show their proof of vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) returned to the USTA Billie King National Tennis Center on the first day of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament, in the Queens borough of New York City, New York, U.S. August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete at the U.S. Open this year but only as neutrals, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Tuesday, a decision that stands in stark contrast to Wimbledon which banned them.Wimbledon's move to ban them from the tournament which begins later this month prompted the men's ATP and women's WTA Tours to strip the grasscourt Grand Slam of its ranking points. read more Wimbledon's decision prevents players such as men's world number one Daniil Medvedev of Russia from playing at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) but the USTA said Russian and Belarusian players would be welcome at Flushing Meadows.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Alongside the other Grand Slams, the ITF, the ATP and the WTA, the USTA, which owns and operates the US Open, has previously condemned, and continues to condemn, the unprovoked and unjust invasion of Ukraine by Russia," the USTA said."The USTA ... supported the banning of the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations from the ITF, and therefore all international team competitions, and the directive for players from those countries to play under a neutral flag when competing outside of international team competitions."The USTA's decision will allow Medvedev to defend his maiden Grand Slam title after he beat Novak Djokovic in the final last year to deny the Serb a calendar year Grand Slam.AELTC Chairman Ian Hewitt said in April that British government guidance did not allow players to compete at Wimbledon based on their rankings. read more He said there were two available options -- declining entries, or allowing entries but only with specific written declarations from individual players, adding that they made the "most responsible decision possible in the circumstances"."We recognize that each organization has had to deal with unique circumstances that affect their decisions," the USTA added."Based on our own circumstances, the USTA will allow all eligible players, regardless of nationality, to compete at the 2022 U.S. Open."Players from Russia and Belarus were allowed to play at the French Open too.The ATP and WTA have themselves banned Russia and Belarus from international team competitions following the invasion, which Moscow calls a 'special operation', but allowed players from the two countries to compete as neutrals. read more Ukrainian player Sergiy Stakhovsky slammed the decision, writing on Twitter: "You cannot put a price tag on being able to live with yourself. I salute Wimbledon, the only entity which has a moral code."The main draw at the U.S. Open begins on Aug. 29.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russian and Belarusian players allowed to compete at U.S. Open.

Smoke billows from the Freeport LNG plant in Quintana, Texas, U.S., June 8, 2022, in this still image obtained from a social media video on June 9, 2022. Courtesy of Maribel Hill/via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Freeport LNG, one of the largest operators of liquefied natural gas export terminals in the United States, on Tuesday said the damage from last week's fire at its Texas plant would keep it fully offline until September with only partial operation through to the year end.Natural gas prices slumped in the United States and soared in Europe on the news of an extended shutdown at facility that accounts for about 20% of U.S. LNG exports and has been a major supplier to European buyers seeking alternatives to Russian gas since its invasion of Ukraine.The Quintana, Texas, plant was idled by an explosion and fire on June 8 when an over-pressurized pipeline ruptured, the company said on Tuesday. It said processing operations were not damaged. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe news a big buyer of U.S. gas would be missing from the market for months knocked down U.S. Henry Hub natural gas futures by as much as 18%. Prices were off nearly 17% at $7.441 per million British thermal units at midday.European day-ahead gas prices jumped 11.6% to 90.43 euros per megawatt hour after initially spiking as much as 21%.The facility can process 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas into a supercooled liquid for shipping, and had been running near capacity in recent months, according to consultancy Rystad Energy. Some 1.17 bcfd of its output had been going to Europe as of May, up from 0.81 bcfd in March, Rystad said.OUTAGE TO HIT EUROPE, CHINAThe loss of supply came as Europe faces reduced supplies of gas from Russia's Nord Stream pipeline, which has planned maintenance, and as China's LNG demand is expected to recover from COVID-19 shut-ins."It’s very serious," said Alex Munton, director of natural gas and LNG at consultants Rapidan Energy. "We now have a much larger and much more extensive outage at Freeport LNG that will remove more supply from the market than was anticipated last week."Freeport had previously estimated a minimum three-week outage that would have removed about 13 cargoes. The longer outage will remove 40 cargoes. The delay means between 4 million and 5 million tons of LNG in total will be lost from a 100 million tonne per year market, analysts said."We expect Europe will be the region most impacted by this incident," analysts at Rystad Energy said this week. The loss of production through September will remove another 2.8 million tonnes from the market, said Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS.About 70% of Freeport exports in the past few months went to the European Union and Britain, with France, Turkey and Netherlands among the largest European importers this year.PIPELINE BREACHEDThe explosion occurred from a breach in pressurized pipes that transfer LNG from the plant's storage tanks to nearby dock facilities, the company said on Tuesday.None of the facility's liquefaction trains that chill gas, its processing areas, storage tanks or docks were damaged. An investigation into the cause of the explosion is continuing, Freeport LNG said.A spokesperson declined to comment on whether investigators are looking at potential design or structural flaws.The extended, about six-month delay in the plant's return to full operation shows investigators want to understand the cause of the explosion to avoid another fire, outside experts said."There is lot of analysis to understand the problem, put in measures of safety and operational regime to make sure it doesn’t happen again," said Rapidan's Munton.The extended outage will help ease a U.S. natural gas storage deficit, with inventories now around 300 bcf below the five-year average, according to Al Salazar, a senior vice president at Enverus Intelligence Research.Paul Cicio, chief executive of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, a trade group that has called on Congress to limit expanded LNG export permits, said the outage highlighted the impact exports had on costs for U.S. consumers."It should be alarming to federal policymakers that the Freeport LNG terminal only exports 2 Bcfd, yet it is having such a significant impact to prices," he said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, Marwa Rashad in London, Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Sriraj Kalluvila, Arun Koyyur and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Freeport LNG extends outage after fire, targets year end for full operations.

Stocks fell on Tuesday as the S&P 500 dipped further into bear market territory and rates surged as investors braced for further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.The S&P 500 tumbled 0.38% to close at 3,735.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 151.91 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 30,364.83, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18% to finish at 10,828.35."This is one of the days where the market is going to have to take a wait-and-see attitude and certainly that's what seems to be happening in the major indices," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities."We're really stuck in middle ground here," he added, noting that back and forth swings are not unusual ahead of a major announcement.Stocks hit session lows during the final hour of trading after seesawing between sharp gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow rose as much as 170 points at its high and dropped about 370 points at session lows. The S&P 500 finished the session nearly 22% off its highs.The moves in equities came as rates surged again in anticipation of more aggressive tightening policies from the Fed. The 10-year rate topped 3.45% on Tuesday and hit a new 11-year high as the 2-year jumped 14 basis points to 3.418%."If the rates aren't done going up then the stock market's not done going down," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.Shares of Oracle jumped more than 10% after the software company reported an earnings beat boosted by a "major increase in demand" in its infrastructure cloud business. FedEx's stock saw its best day since 1986 after soaring 14% on news that the company would up its quarterly dividend by more than 50% and add three new directors to its board.Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and UnitedHealth slipped 3.1%, 2.7% and 1.7%, respectively, dragging down the Dow. Nine of 11 sectors ended the day in the red, led by utilities and consumer staples. Dow Transports jumped 2% buoyed by gains from FedEx and CH Robinson and was on pace for its best day since March.Travel stocks slipped again with shares of Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean down about 4%. Delta also dipped 2.5%.Tech saw a brief rally during the trading session, led by shares of Tesla, Microsoft and Nvidia. Growth areas like technology have suffered in recent weeks as investors rotate into safe-haven sectors like consumer staples, causing the Nasdaq to fall more than 30% off its highs.Tuesday's moves came ahead of the Federal Reserve's closely watched policy meeting which comes to a close on Wednesday. Traders now expect a more than 90% chance of a 75-basis-point rate hike, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool that measures pricing in the fed funds futures markets.CNBC's Steve Liesman reported Monday that the Fed will "likely" consider a 75-basis-point increase, which is greater than the 50-basis-point hike many traders had come to expect. The Wall Street Journal reported the story first.The Fed "has allowed inflation to get out of control. Equity and credit markets have therefore lost confidence in the Fed," wrote Pershing Square's Bill Ackman in a tweet Tuesday afternoon."Market confidence can be restored if the Fed takes aggressive action with 75 bps tomorrow and in July" and makes a commitment to aggressive increases until inflation "has been tamed," added Ackman.Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:Tuesday's market swings followed an intense sell-off that saw the S&P 500 slump 3.9% to its lowest level since March 2021 and close in bear market territory for the first time since 2020 on Monday. During that last bear market, the S&P 500 lost 33.9% before recovering, according to data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The data also showed that bear markets on average last more than 18 months.Investors on Tuesday digested another important inflation reading of May's producer price index, which showed that wholesale prices rose 10.8% and hovered near a record pace.

S&P 500 falls for a fifth day, slips deeper into bear market territory ahead of Fed decision.

Uplift June 14, 2022 / 1:00 PM / CBS News Remembering Ruby the rescue dog Remembering Ruby, a K9 trooper who made a life-saving rescue 03:44 Ruby was a beloved K-9 trooper with the Rhode Island State Police, but she didn't always work with them. Ruby was once a rambunctious rescue who was was in and out of the shelter – returned five times by five different families, her longtime handler Corporal Daniel O'Neil told CBS News."She was deemed un-adoptable, because of her high energy and she was just unmanageable," O'Neil said. "[The shelter workers] looked at her and just saw that she had a ton of energy that just needed to be focused and maybe put to work." Corporal Daniel O'Neil believes that he and Ruby were destined to be paired together when she joined the Rhode Island State Police. Daniel O'Neil/Rhode Island State Police They reached out to the state police, who wanted to give Ruby a second chance and decided to try her out as a search and rescue dog. O'Neil was picked to be her handler. "We were kind of parallel. Because when I was younger, I was kind of a mess. I couldn't focus and I wasn't good at school. But no one really ever gave up on me. They said, 'Hey, he's a hard worker and he can really make a difference,'" he said. "And I think that's what they saw in Ruby and that's why we were destined to be together."A normal dog could be trained in months. For Ruby, it took a year and a half, but O'Neil didn't want to give up on her. Finally, in 2011, she was a certified K-9 trooper. Six years later, she became even more than that – a hero.  Before she died from cancer in 2022, Ruby received many honors for her heroic rescue of a missing boy. Rhode Island State Police "We got a call from Glocester Police Department stating there was a missing boy," O'Neil said. "And we just went out and started searching." About eight hours into their search, Ruby bolted away from O'Neil down a hill. "I looked over the hill and I saw a pair of boots on the ground, and there was a young boy laying face down and he hit his head and he had a huge laceration on his head and he was all stiff and it looked like he was deceased," O'Neil recalled. "You know, as a father, I was emotional. But as a trooper and a handler and the love I had for Ruby, I was so happy, because she had done exactly what I had trained her to do for the last six years," he said. The boy was in critical condition, and Ruby saved his life. O'Neil went to tell his mother that he was found alive and told her a K-9 trooper helped save her son. That's when they realized a serendipitous connection. The boy's mom once worked at an animal shelter. "And she goes, 'Yeah, there was a dog back in 2011, that I absolutely loved, that I heard became a state trooper back a few years ago,'" O'Neil said. "And I said, 'What?'"The mother told O'Neil her name was Pat Inman, and the dog she remembered from the shelter was named was Ruby. "I loved her, she was the sweetest thing," she told him. "I said, are you kidding?" O'Neil said. "And I said, 'Pat, that dog that you helped for all those times to get adopted and then become a trooper, just saved your son's life.' And she of course starts crying, then I start crying." After Ruby saved the boy's life, his mother, Pat Inman, realized they had serendipitous connection. Inman knew Ruby when she was at the animal shelter years earlier.  Rhode Island State Police Ruby was honored for her hard work – winning the American Humane Hero Dog Award in 2018, appearing on the cover of Rhode Island Monthly magazine and being celebrated by the state troopers. But unfortunately, Ruby was diagnosed with cancer and died in May 2022.Before she passed, a Netflix movie about her called "Rescued by Ruby" premiered. Ruby's story will live on and continue to inspire countless people.  "She was the poster child for shelter dogs. I'm hoping she's a symbol for shelter dogs that, hey, just because they're in a shelter doesn't mean they're bad dogs," O'Neil said. "They just need a chance, they need your patience, they just need your compassion and your love, and they can truly change the world."  Caitlin O'Kane Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Remembering Ruby: Hero K-9 trooper went from the animal shelter to saving a boy's life with state police.

A young man receives his Covid-19 vaccination at a vaccination clinic. People receive the Moderna vaccine in Milford, Pennsylvania.Preston Ehrler | LightRocket | Getty ImagesModerna's two-dose Covid-19 vaccine for kids ages 6 through 17 received the endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration's committee of independent immunization experts on Tuesday, a key step on the path to distributing it to kids.The committee voted to recommend the shots for use in kindergarteners through high schoolers after an all-day public meeting that weighed how safe and effective the shots are.The most common side effects of the vaccines were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, chills, muscle pain and nausea. No cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, were found during Moderna's clinical trials in children in these age groups, according to the FDA.The clinical trials were conducted before the omicron variant became dominant. As a consequence, it's unclear how much protection two shots would provide in these age groups right now. A third shot in other age groups has been shown to substantially increase protection against omicron. Dr. Doran Fink, a senior official in the FDA's vaccine office, said Moderna intends to provide data soon on a third dose for these age groups.The estimates of the vaccines' effectiveness are against other Covid variants that are no longer dominant. The shots for teenagers ages 12 to 17 had an estimated effectiveness of 90% against illness from the alpha variant and the original Covid strain that was first detected in Wuhan, China, according to a FDA presentation. The shots for kids ages 6 to 11 had estimated an estimated effectiveness of 76% effective at preventing illness from the delta variant. Dr. Paul Offit, a committee member, said two doses are unlikely to provide protection against mildness illness from omicron, but they would likely protect against severe illness with a third dose. "I think the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, but I say that with the comfort being provided that there will be a third dose," said Offit, a pediatrician and infectious disease expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "If that was not true, I wouldn't feel the same way. We're not in the same part of this pandemic anymore. It's a different time."Children ages 6 to 11 would receive smaller 50 microgram shots, while teens ages 12 to 17 would receive the same dosage as adults at 100 micrograms.The FDA is expected to authorize the vaccines this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention then has to sign off on the shots before pharmacies and physicians can start administering them. Moderna vaccinations in this age group could start as soon as next week.Children ages 5 and up are already eligible for vaccination with Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, though many parents have not gotten their kids immunized. About 30% of kids ages 5 to 11 and 60% of teens 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated as of early June.Authorizing of Moderna's vaccine for kids ages 6 to 17 would bring eligibility in line with Pfizer's shots. This would also allow the FDA to authorize both Moderna and Pfizer's vaccines for children under age 5 at the same time. The FDA committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss the vaccine for infants through preschoolers, the only age group left not eligible for vaccination.Myocarditis riskModerna asked the FDA to authorize its vaccine for teenagers 12 to 17 more than a year ago in June 2021. However, the FDA held off on authorizing the shot as international data indicated that Moderna's vaccine carried a higher risk of heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, than Pfizer's shot. Moderna requested authorization for the 6 to 11 age group in March.However, U.S. vaccine surveillance through May did not find a significantly higher risk of myocarditis with Moderna's vaccine compared to Pfizer's shots in men ages 18 to 25, said FDA official Hui-Lee Wong during a presentation to the committee Tuesday.Pfizer and Moderna's shots use the same messenger RNA technology. They both carry a risk of myocarditis, typically after the second dose and normally in young men and teenage boys. However, the CDC has found that the risk of myocarditis is higher from Covid infection than vaccination. Myocarditis is typically caused by viral infections.The CDC has found 635 cases of myocarditis in kids and teens ages 5 through 17 out of more than 54 million Pfizer doses administered. The risk is highest among teenage boys ages 12 to 17 after the second dose, according to the CDC. There does not appear to be an elevated risk for kids ages 5 to 11, according to the CDC. "I am a little bit sobered by the myocarditis data and the frequency with which that is occurring," said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Diego and temporary voting member. "So that clearly is needs to be watched closely going forward as we expand the use of the vaccine."People who develop myocarditis after vaccination are typically hospitalized for several days as a precaution. However, most patients seem to fully recover about three months after their diagnosis, according to a CDC survey of cardiologists and other health-care providers.Covid impact on kidsAlthough Covid is generally less severe in children than adults, more kids were hospitalized with the virus during the omicron wave than at any other point of the pandemic, according to the CDC. About two thirds of kids ages 5 to 17 hospitalized with Covid had at least one underlying health condition, like diabetes or obesity.Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra, a CDC official, told the FDA committee that a majority of the kids were hospitalized because they had Covid. In other words, most of them did not test positive for the virus after admission for another health reason.Covid has killed 202 children ages six months to 4-years-old, 189 kids ages 5 to 11, and 443 preteen and teens ages 12 to 17 since January 2020. Covid is among the top five leading causes of death for children younger than 19-years-old, according to the CDC.In total, more than 13 million children younger than 18 have been infected with Covid during the pandemic, according to the CDC. It's unclear how many children in the U.S. have long Covid. However, a national survey in the United Kingdom found that up to 8% of kids have Covid symptoms for more than than 12 weeks. Long Covid can occur even after mild infections.Ruth Link-Gelles, a CDC official, said it is "extremely likely" that another surge of infection will occur as new omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, start circulating more."It's important to keep in mind that we are vaccinating children, or potentially vaccinating children, now with the expectation that that vaccination would protect them in the coming months, when we expect additional surges," Link-Gelles said.

FDA committee recommends Moderna two-dose Covid vaccine for kids ages 6 to 17.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the National Memorial Arboretum before a service to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands in Alrewas, Staffordshire June 14, 2022. Jacob King/Pool via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - The businessman appointed by Boris Johnson as Britain's 'Cost of Living Business Tsar' said six months ago that the prime minister was not blessed with intelligence and should quit.Late on Monday, the government announced that David Buttress, former founder and chief executive of online food delivery company Just Eat, would take on a role to help the public with rising living costs.However, on Tuesday heavily critical tweets that Buttress had written about Johnson were reported by media.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Why is it that the worse people often rise to the highest office and stay there," he wrote in January after the publication of a damning report about parties held at Downing Street during coronavirus lockdowns for which the prime minister himself later received a fine."Boris has to go, he just has to."In another message he accused Johnson of "being fast and loose with the UK economy" and also said: "Never confuse an expensive education with intelligence or integrity. I don’t think Boris is particularly blessed with either."A spokesman for Johnson, who had himself earlier tweeted news of the appointment, said the views were not relevant to Buttress's role."The individual you're referring to has a very clear task with regards to cost of living, as opposed to any other areas of government policy," the spokesman told reporters.Asked if Johnson had read the tweets, he said: "I don't know if he'd be aware of every single comment but the relevant due diligence (was done)."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Michael Holden. Editing by Andrew MacAskillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Boris has to go, UK Johnson's new 'cost of living tsar' said.

The Pfizer logo is seen at the entrance to Pfizer UK headquarters in Tadworth, Britain, December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Peter NichollsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesEastern states urging tweaks in vaccine contractsEU Commission warns that contracts must be respectedExtension in schedule of deliveries deemed insufficientGovernments warn vaccines are likely to be wastedBRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - European Union governments are intensifying pressure on Pfizer (PFE.N) and other COVID-19 vaccine makers to renegotiate contracts, warning millions of shots that are no longer needed could go to waste, according to EU officials and a document.During the most acute phase of the pandemic, the European Commission and EU governments agreed to buy huge volumes of vaccines, mostly from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech (22UAy.DE), amid fears of insufficient supplies.But with the pandemic abating in Europe and amid a marked slowdown in vaccinations, many countries are now urging tweaks to contracts to reduce supplies and consequently cut their spending on vaccines.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe matter was discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg, although the Commission - the EU executive - remained cautious on what could be achieved.Poland, the leading country in this attempt to revise contracts, has more than 30 million COVID vaccines in stock and would need to buy another 70 million under existing agreements, a Polish diplomat told Reuters, urging changes to avoid waste.Poland has a population of about 38 million, with about 60% fully vaccinated, not including boosters - compared with more than 70% in the EU as a whole.In a letter sent to the Commission earlier in June, and seen by Reuters, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski together with counterparts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania called for a "reduction of the amounts" of vaccines being ordered.They said the contracts were agreed when it was impossible to predict how the pandemic would develop, and they should now be changed as the situation is improving."We witness excessive burden on state budgets, combined with delivery of unnecessary amounts of vaccines," the joint letter said, adding: "There is a high probability that doses supplied to the European Union might end up being disposed of".During a public session of Tuesday's EU health ministers meeting, Slovakia said it supported the letter. Other countries, including Cyprus and Malta, urged caution as pandemic conditions could change again.'CONTRACTS MUST BE HONOURED'Pfizer and Moderna (MRNA.O), which is another top supplier of COVID vaccines to the EU, have agreed to postpone some deliveries.However, the ministers said in their joint letter, referring only to tweaks agreed with Pfizer, that they were "an insufficient solution and only delay the problem".EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told Tuesday's public session that the Commission would work to further extend deliveries beyond this year.She warned that excess doses could be needed in the future, and noted: "Contracts must be honoured", adding the EU "cannot unilaterally change the terms of the contracts".An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in May that EU countries would likely lose any legal case brought against suppliers. read more There is currently no legal case, officials said.Polish minister Niedzielski said on Twitter after the meeting that "on the initiative of Poland, renegotiation of vaccine contracts at the European level will begin in July."Reacting to Niedzielski's tweet, an EU official said talks on making contracts more flexible had been going on for awhile with suppliers, as shown by agreed tweaks in contracts.A gathering of EU health experts is planned in Prague in July, following other virtual meetings which have already addressed the issue of over-supplies, the official said.A spokesperson for Pfizer declined to comment on the letter, but reiterated the changes already made to the contract to adapt delivery schedules.Last year, several eastern European states had to receive emergency Pfizer doses, initially destined to other EU states, because they under-ordered the vaccine and preferred AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) cheaper shots, whose deliveries were vastly reduced due to production problems.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Mark Potter and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EU states step up pressure on Pfizer to cut unneeded COVID vaccine supplies.

Smoke hangs over the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Powerful, dry winds are sweeping across Northern California for a third day, driving up the risk of wildfires in a region thats been battered by heat waves, freak lightning storms and dangerously poor air quality from blazes.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAir pollution, which is primarily the result of burning fossil fuels, takes 2.2 years off the global life expectancy for each person, according to a new report out Tuesday from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).The Air Quality Life Index, or AQLI, finds that taken together, air pollution takes a collective 17 billion years of life, and reducing air pollution to meet international health guidelines would increase the global average life expectancy from roughly 72 to 74.2 yearsLife expectancy of air pollution compared with other more well-known causes of harm to human health, like smoking and terrorism.Chart courtesy the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).First-hand cigarette smoke reduces life expectancy by 1.9 years, on average, according to the report. Alcohol and drug use reduce life expectancy by 9 months on average, unsafe water and sanitation reduce expectancy by 7 months, HIV and AIDS reduce life expectancy by 4 months, malaria reduces average life by 3 months and conflict and terrorism reduce life expectancy by 7 days, the report said.The AQLI report is notable because its estimate of the impact on particulate pollution on human life expectancy is based on research that allows it to show causation, not just correlation. "Because of the way these studies were designed - and the quite fortuitous set of policies that enabled that design, they established a causal, rather than a correlative, relationship between particulate matter exposure and mortality," Christa Hasenkopf, the director of AQLI, told CNBC.Air pollution is so dangerous because it is impossible to avoid, especially for people who live in particularly polluted locations, the report says. "Whereas it is possible to quit smoking or take precautions against diseases, everyone must breathe air. Thus, air pollution affects many more people than any of these other conditions," the report says.Sixty percent of particulate matter air pollution is caused by fossil fuel combustion, 18% comes from natural sources (including dust, sea salt, and wildfires), and 22% comes from other human activities.The report, developed by the University of Chicago's Michael Greenstone and his team at the EPIC, is a measurement of the air pollution in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was reducing activity and transportation.The massive contraction of activity only reduced global pollution levels by a tiny bit. Population weighted-average particulate matter declined from 27.7 micrograms (one-millionth of a gram) per cubic meter of air to 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air between 2019 and 2020, according to the report.And in South Asia, where air pollution is the most dire, the air pollution rose in 2020 from the year prior. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are among the most polluted countries in the world.Particulate matter air pollution is suspended in the air and categorized by its size. The smaller it is, the deeper it can get into the body. Particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 micrometers, often designated PM10, can pass through the hairs in the nose, down the respiratory tract and into the lungs.Smaller particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, often designated as PM2.5, is about 3% the diameter of a human hair and can get into the bloodstream by way of the lungs' alveoli. It can affect blood flow eventually causing a stroke, heart attack and other health issues.More than 97% of the global population lives in areas where the air pollution exceeds the current recommended guidelines from the World Health Organization.Chart courtesy the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).When the World Health Organization first published air quality guidance in 2005, it said the acceptable levels of air pollution was less than 10 micrograms per cubic meter. In September, the World Health Organization changed its benchmark guidelines to below 5 micrograms per cubic meter.Currently, 97.3% of the global population, equaling 7.4 billion people, live in places where the air quality does not pass the recommended 5 micrograms per cubic meter limit recommended by the WHO for particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers."This report reaffirms that particulate pollution is the greatest global health threat," wrote Greenstone, who was previously the Chief Economist for President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. "Yet, we also see the opportunity for progress. Air pollution is a winnable challenge. It just requires effective policies."Buildings are shrouded in smog in Beijing, China, on February 26, 2014.Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesFor example, China has been able to dramatically improve its air quality. In 2014, after a year in which China had record levels of pollution, the then Premier, Li Keqiang, declared a "war against pollution." The government spent money to combat pollution and was able to reduce particulate pollution by 39.6%, the report says.Despite China's progress, the air pollution levels in China are still more than what the WHO recommends."It is important to note that air pollution is also deeply intertwined with climate change. Both challenges are primarily caused by the same culprit: fossil fuel emissions from power plants, vehicles, and other industrial sources," the report's executive summary says. "These challenges also present a rare win-win opportunity, because policy can simultaneously reduce dependence on fossil fuels that will allow people to live longer and healthier lives and reduce the costs of climate change."The American Medical Association, the country's largest physician trade group, voted on Monday to adopt a policy to declare climate change a public health crisis."The scientific evidence is clear – our patients are already facing adverse health effects associated with climate change, from heat-related injuries, vector-borne diseases and air pollution from wildfires, to worsening seasonal allergies and storm-related illness and injuries. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis will disproportionately impact the health of historically marginalized communities," said AMA Board Member Ilse R. Levin, in a written statement announcing the vote. "Taking action now won't reverse all of the harm done, but it will help prevent further damage to our planet and our patients' health and well-being.

Air pollution takes 2 years off your life, more than smoking or alcohol.

U.S. June 14, 2022 / 3:02 PM / CBS/AP Happy the elephant may be intelligent and deserving of compassion, but she cannot be considered a person being illegally confined to the Bronx Zoo, New York's top court ruled Tuesday. The 5-2 decision by the state Court of Appeals comes in a closely watched case that tested the boundaries of applying human rights to animals.The zoo and its supporters warned that a win for advocates at the Nonhuman Rights Project could open the door to more legal actions on behalf of animals, including pets, farm animals and other species in zoos. FILE - Bronx Zoo elephant "Happy" strolls inside the zoo's Asia Habitat in New York on Oct. 2, 2018. New York's top court on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, rejected an effort to free Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo, ruling that she does not meet the definition of "person" who is being illegally confined. Bebeto Matthews / AP The court's majority echoed that point. The decision written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said that "while no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion," a writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty of human beings, and does not apply to a nonhuman animal like Happy.The decision affirms a lower court decision, meaning Happy will not be released through a habeas corpus proceeding, which is a way for people to challenge illegal confinement. Granting that right to Happy to challenge her confinement at a zoo "would have an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society," read the majority decision. "Indeed, followed to its logical conclusion, such a determination would call into question the very premises underlying pet ownership, the use of service animals, and the enlistment of animals in other forms of work," read the decision. The Bronx Zoo argued Happy is neither illegally imprisoned nor a person, but a well-cared-for elephant "respected as the magnificent creature she is."The advocates at the Nonhuman Rights Project argued that Happy is an autonomous, cognitively complex elephant worthy of the right reserved in law for "a person." An online petition created by the Nonhuman Rights Project to get Happy transferred to a larger sanctuary has received more than 1.4 million signatures. Two judges, Rowan Wilson and Jenny Rivera, wrote separate, sharply worded dissents saying the fact that Happy is an animal does not prevent her from having legal rights. Rivera wrote that Happy is being held in "an environment that is unnatural to her and that does not allow her to live her life.""Her captivity is inherently unjust and inhumane. It is an affront to a civilized society, and every day she remains a captive — a spectacle for humans — we, too, are diminished," Rivera wrote.The ruling from New York's highest court cannot be appealed. The Nonhuman Rights Project has failed to prevail in similar cases, including those involving a chimpanzee in upstate New York named Tommy, CBS New York reported.Steven Wise, the group's founder, said he was pleased it managed to persuade some of the judges. He noted that the group has a similar case underway in California and more planned in other states and other countries."We will take a really close look at why we lost and we'll try to make sure that that doesn't happen again to the extent that we can," he said.Happy was born in the wild in Asia in the early 1970s, captured, and brought as a 1-year-old to the United States. Happy arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 1977 with fellow elephant Grumpy, who was fatally injured in a 2002 confrontation with two other elephants.Last year, a similar case was heard in a federal court, but had a different outcome. Federal magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz in Cincinnati ruled the offspring of hippos once owned by Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar could be recognized as people or "interested persons" with legal rights. The Animal Legal Defense Fund said at the time it believed it was the first time that animals were declared legal persons in the U.S. In: Lawsuit Bronx Bronx Zoo civil rights New York City New York Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Bronx Zoo elephant named Happy isn't a person, court rules.

WARRENTON, Va. – During a morning meeting in early May, staff at the federal air traffic command center rattle off a few of the day's obstacles: storms near the Florida coast and in Texas, a military aircraft exercise, and a report of a bird strike at Newark Liberty International Airport.The center, about an hour's drive from Washington, D.C., is responsible for coordinating the complex web of more than 40,000 flights a day over the U.S. Shortly after 7 a.m. ET, there were already 3,500 flights in the air. During peak travel periods, that figure can climb to more than 5,000 flights at once. As air travel rebounds to near pre-Covid pandemic levels even as airlines remain understaffed, the agency and carriers are trying to control the rising rate of delays and cancellations that can ruin vacations and cost airlines tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. The problems are coming during the high-demand spring and summer travel season, which also coincides with some of the most disruptive weather for airlines — thunderstorms.LaKisha Price, the air traffic manager at the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control System Command Center, said staff are monitoring potential problems in the nation's airspace "every day, every hour."The center is staffed 24/7.The FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center.Erin Black | CNBCFrom the start of the year through June 13, airlines canceled 3% of the roughly 4 million commercial U.S. flights for that period, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Another 20% were delayed, with passengers waiting an average of 48 minutes.Over the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, 2% of flights were canceled and 17% delayed, with a similar average wait time, according to FlightAware.LaKisha Price Air Traffic Manager at the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command CenterErin Black | CNBCTypically, the FAA manages the flow of air traffic in part by holding inbound traffic at originating airports or slowing arrivals.Flight cancellations and delays last year and in 2022 have raised concerns among some lawmakers.No easy fixesWith no quick fix in sight, the FAA and airlines are scrambling to find other solutions. One option has been allowing airlines to fly at lower altitudes to avoid weather challenges, even though the approach burns more fuel.Airlines are coming up with their own solutions, too. In April, American Airlines launched a program called HEAT that analyzes traffic and potential disruptions, which lets it identify which flights to delay as early as possible to avoid a cascade of cancellations."We can start hours in advance, in some cases five, six hours in advance of what we believe the storm is going to be," said David Seymour, American Airlines' chief operating officer."We've got to be able to be very nimble and adaptive to the scenario as it plays out," he added.The pandemic slowed air traffic controller training, but the FAA hired more than 500 new controllers last year to bring its workforce to about 14,000. The agency wants to hire more than 4,800 more over the next five years. The FAA said it is in the middle of a hiring a campaign called "Be ATC" and said it will work with social media influencers and hold Instagram Live events about the job.The job isn't for everyone. Applicants can be no older than 30 and must retire when they turn 56. Pilots in the U.S. are forced to retire at 65 and airlines are currently facing a wave of retirements, some of which were sped up in the pandemic when carriers urged them to leave early to cut their costs. Lawmakers this year have been considering a bill that would raise the pilot retirement age at least two years.Storms in TexasBack at the command center, the cavernous room where air traffic specialists, airline and private aviation industry members, and meteorologists work features large screens showing air traffic and weather high along the main wall. It shows a bird's-eye view of the country's air traffic, which has been rebounding so fast that fares are outpacing 2019 levels."The problem is Texas right now," John Lucia, national traffic management officer at the center, during one of the morning meetings. He was pointing to a cluster of thunderstorms that were threatening to delay dozens of flights at east Texas airports.He noted the weather was set to hit the Dallas-Forth Worth area at around 10 a.m."So it gives us a couple hours to worry about it," said Lucia, a more than three-decade FAA veteran.Last year, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport became the world's second busiest thanks to booming U.S. travel and a dearth of international trips. The airport is the home hub of American Airlines. Nearby is also Dallas Love Field, the home base of Southwest Airlines.Inclement weather causes 70% of U.S. flight delays in an average year, according to the FAA. But there are other reasons for delays, too."We've seen people streaking on the runway," said Price, the center's air traffic manager. "We've had wildlife on the runways. You have to be ready for everything."Florida congestionSome of the most congested airspace has been in Florida. The state has long been a top tourist destination, but became even more of a hot spot during the pandemic for travelers seeking outdoor getaways. Some airports like Tampa and Miami are seeing higher numbers of airline capacity compared with before Covid-19 hit.At the same time, the state is prone to thunderstorms that can back up air traffic for hours. Airlines and the FAA have sparred over who's at fault, with carriers sometimes blaming air traffic control, including ATC staffing shortfalls, for delays which cost them by the minute.One solution from airlines has been to pare down their flying despite surging demand. JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Alaska Airlines and most recently, Delta Air Lines, have trimmed their schedules back as they grapple with staffing shortages and routine challenges like weather, to give themselves more backup for when things go wrong.In May, the FAA organized a two-day meeting with airlines in Florida about some of the recent delays. Afterward, the FAA said it would ramp up staffing at the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center, which oversees in-air traffic in five states — Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and North and South Carolina — and tends to deal with challenges from bad weather, space launches and military training exercises.The FAA stopped short of capping flights serving Florida but had said it would help airlines come up with alternative routes and altitudes.For example, the agency is also routing more traffic over the Gulf of Mexico, Price said.Spring and summer thunderstorms are among the most difficult challenges because they can be so unpredictable.American's Seymour said the airline can still improve, "We're continuing to look to find better ways to get to manage these situations."

It's a pain to fly these days. The FAA and airlines are trying to fix that.

A gas installation is pictured at a Gaz-System gas compressor station in Rembelszczyzna, outside Warsaw October 13, 2010. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesNo respite for households facing surging energy billsEurope aims to phase out Russian fuel use by 2027Russia already cut gas to some European buyersEurope cannot rely on LNG alone to fill gap left by RussiaLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Even if Europe can fill its gas storage, Europe faces a perilous winter and governments will need to keep rationing plans to hand as they race to secure more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to keep pace with a rapid shift away from reliance on Russian fuel.For European households, meanwhile, there is little respite from sky-high fuel prices that have strained budgets, driven down disposable income and weighed on the economic outlook.The European Union aims to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. But Moscow has already cut gas flows to Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, Danish supplier Orsted, Dutch firm Gasterra and Shell for its German contracts, after they all rejected a Kremlin demand to switch to payments in roubles. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe 27-member European Union, which has traditionally depended on Russia for 40% of its gas needs, aims to have its gas storage 80% full by November from about half full now to see it through winter, when stored gas usually meets about a quarter of demand. Analysts say it is on track. read more But it still leaves a big gap to fill from other sources, such as LNG, and it will be even bigger if Russia cuts flows to more European buyers, although Moscow says it is meeting its obligations and sees no need to halt supplies to other clients.Reuters GraphicsSURGING DEMAND"A complete halt to Russian flows would undoubtedly be Europe's worst-case scenario for this winter as the continent is unlikely to be able to source sufficient supplies from other producers to offset such a significant supply disruption," said Leon Izbicki, European natural gas associate at Energy Aspects.Even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, sparking an energy crisis in Europe, demand for gas had been surging in the post-pandemic recovery. The market for LNG, which is dominated by long-term contracts, was already as tight as a drum.The EU has lifted LNG purchases, with imports up about 58% in the first five months of 2022 compared with 2021 levels, Refinitiv data showed, as more capacity came on stream in the United States and high prices in Europe attracted cargoes.EU LNG imports to key hubs by countryLNG DISRUPTIONSThe United States, a major LNG producer, has promised to help Europe with more shipments.But Europe has limited capacity to receive LNG and, adding to uncertainty, Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest U.S. export plants, said on Tuesday it would take at least 90 days to resume partial operations after an explosion last week. read more "If Europe goes into winter relying on just LNG supplies, then things could get sticky," said Evangeline​ Cookson, research analyst and meteorologist at commodities broker Marex.Unlike piped gas which can be ramped up swiftly, shipping LNG can take weeks and can be disrupted by the weather.The U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said last month there was a 65% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season including six to 10 hurricanes. read more Izbicki of Energy Aspects said gas in storage could see Europe through 2022, even without Russian supplies, but that would leave it struggling when winter comes in late 2023, so governments could not yet shelve their rationing plans.Germany, which has historically relied on Russia for about half its gas needs, has already launched plans for an auctioning system to help ration gas to energy-intensive industries if supplies are cut. read more France has implemented measures to limit gas supplies to large consumers in the event of any shortages. read more Poland, already cut off from Russian gas, has boosted LNG imports, opened a gas link to Lithuania in May and aims to open a new pipeline this year to Norway. But it still has plans in place for curbing gas to heavy industry in a crisis so that it can keep homes and public services supplied. read more Yet rationing would carry a heavy economic price. Berenberg chief economist Holger Schmieding estimated EU economic output would be 2% lower by the end of 2022 if Russian supplies were shut off now.Gas accounts for more than 20% of EU energy use, heating homes, generating electricity and used in the manufacture of vital products such as fertiliser. Meanwhile, the surging cost of fuel is already having a knock-on effect."Even without an embargo, the high prices for gas are taking a heavy toll on consumers, leaving them less money to spend on other goods and services," Schmieding said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting By Susanna Twidale in London; Additional reporting by Nora Buli in Olso, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Forrest Crellin in Paris and Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw; Editing by Veronica Brown and Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Analysis: Europe fills up on gas but race to replace Russia far from over.

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it awaits a constructive response from Iran on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that excludes "extraneous" issues, a possible reference to Iran's demand that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be dropped from a U.S. terrorism list."We await a constructive response from the Iranians, a response that leaves behind issues that are extraneous to the JCPOA," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, referring to the deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.In 2018 then-U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the deal, under which Iran restrained its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its core nuclear limits about a year later.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSpeaking at a briefing, Price was responding to questions about the Iranian foreign minister's statement that Tehran had put forward a new proposal on reviving the agreement, which the U.S. spokesperson did not address in detail.The pact seemed near revival in March but talks were thrown into disarray over last-minute Russian demands and whether the United States might remove the IRGC, which controls elite armed and intelligence forces Washington accuses of a global terrorist campaign, from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.President Joe Biden's administration has made clear it has no plan to drop the IRGC from the list, a step that would have limited practical effect but would anger many U.S. lawmakers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Christopher Gallager, Arshad Mohammed and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. awaits 'constructive' Iranian response on nuclear deal.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment pill Paxlovid is seen in boxes, at Misericordia hospital in Grosseto, Italy, February 8, 2022.Jennifer Lorenzini | ReutersPfizer said on Tuesday it would halt enrollment in a trial for its Covid-19 antiviral drug, Paxlovid, in standard-risk patients after a study revealed the treatment was not effective in reducing symptoms in that group.The drug has emergency use authorization for high-risk groups in which it has been effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.The new data, however, showed a 51% relative risk reduction in standard-risk groups, which the company said was not statistically significant.The standard-risk population usually includes people who do not have health conditions that put them at risk of severe disease and who can recover without the drug.Pfizer said it will include the new data in the company's upcoming application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking full approval for the drug's use in high-risk groups.Data from a study in Israel earlier this month showed the drug reduces Covid-19 hospitalization and death rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients 65 years and older, but was not found to prevent severe illness among younger adults.More than 1.2 million courses of Paxlovid have been administered in the United States, according to data from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Pfizer stops enrollment in Covid antiviral trial in standard-risk population.

The logo of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is shown in the lobby of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - A former CIA coder sent classified U.S. information to the WikiLeaks website out of spite due to personal disputes with his then-colleagues, prosecutors told a jury on Tuesday at the outset of Joshua Schulte's trial.Schulte, 33, said he was being framed. He is standing trial for a second time on charges including unauthorized access of a computer to obtain U.S. government information and illegally sharing defense information. A jury deadlocked on the main charges in his first trial in 2020.In opening statements in Manhattan federal court, prosecutor David Denton said Schulte in 2016 stole software the Central Intelligence Agency used to target foreign adversaries and sent the data to WikiLeaks, a website that has published large amounts of secret information, which posted Schulte's data in 2017.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDenton said Schulte was moved to commit the "ultimate act of betrayal" as payback over arguments with CIA management and other developers in his unit."He did it out of spite," Denton said. "There was no misguided idealism here. He did it because he was angry and disgruntled at work."Schulte, who is representing himself in the trial, countered that the CIA and FBI were embarrassed about the leak, and settled on him to take the fall because of his previous issues with management. He resigned from the CIA in 2016."The CIA had to save face, they faced tremendous political pressure to identify the leaker," Schulte told jurors. "The FBI simply worked backwards from me as their selected patsy."The trial before U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman is expected to last around five weeks and feature testimony from covert CIA officers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Traitor or 'patsy'? Ex-CIA coder's WikiLeaks U.S. trial begins.

U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Rudolph Giuliani has sued Smartmatic to recoup legal fees as he defends against its $2.7 billion lawsuit accusing him, Fox News Network and others of falsely claiming that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election so Joe Biden would defeat Donald Trump.In a counterclaim filed late Monday in a New York state court in Manhattan, Giuliani said the voting machine company's defamation lawsuit, which he characterized as baseless, interfered with his constitutional right to speak freely on issues of public concern."Smartmatic's litigation tactics, including its facially implausible damages claims, are a naked attempt to attack a well-known public figure" and amount to censorship, said Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and lawyer for Trump.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLawyers for Smartmatic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo and former anchor Lou Dobbs, who are also defendants, have filed similar counterclaims citing New York's "anti-SLAPP" law, short for "strategic lawsuits against public participation."They and Giuliani, as well as Smartmatic, are appealing parts of a March 8 decision by state Supreme Court Justice David Cohen allowing most of Smartmatic's lawsuit to proceed.Smartmatic claimed that Fox News, part of Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp (FOXA.O), decimated its business with a bogus narrative that its election software helped Biden, a Democrat, steal the election from Trump, a Republican.The Boca Raton, Florida-headquartered company said Fox News did this to cater to Trump supporters, boost ratings and keep viewers from defecting to smaller right-wing rivals Newsmax and One America News.Smartmatic faulted Giuliani for saying without evidence that the company was formed by people close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez, and founded "for the specific purpose of fixing elections."In his decision, Cohen found a substantial basis to suggest that Fox News had "turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims" about Smartmatic, with reckless disregard for the truth. read more Giuliani has had his New York law license suspended and faces ethics charges in Washington over his election claims.The case is Smartmatic USA Corp et al v Fox Corp et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 151136/2021.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rudolph Giuliani sues Smartmatic to recoup legal fees in Fox News lawsuit.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the George R. Brown Convention Center during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention on May 27, 2022 in Houston, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesNew York's highest court rejected former President Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to avoid testifying in the state attorney general's civil investigation into his business practices on Tuesday, clearing the way for his deposition next month.The state's Court of Appeals said there was no "substantial constitutional question" that would warrant its intervention in the matter following an intermediate appellate court's ruling last month enforcing a subpoena for Trump's testimony.The court also dismissed a motion by Trump's lawyers to stay the subpoenas, saying that doing so would be "academic," since it wasn't taking up the former president's appeal in the first place.Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., agreed last week to answer questions under oath starting July 15 unless the Court of Appeals decided to step in.A message seeking comment on Tuesday's ruling was sent to Trump's lawyer. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., declined comment. A message was also left with a spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James.The appellate division of the state's trial court ruled May 26 that the Trumps had to undergo a deposition, upholding a lower court's ruling that James' office had "the clear right" to question Trump and certain other figures in his company, the Trump Organization.James has said her three-year investigation has uncovered evidence that the Trump Organization exaggerated the value of assets including skyscrapers, golf courses and even his Manhattan penthouse to get loans, insurance and tax breaks for land donations.A lawyer for her office told a judge last month that evidence could support legal action against the former president, his company or both, though the attorney said no decision had been made.Trump has decried the investigation as part of a politically motivated "witch hunt" against him.

New York high court nixes Trump appeal, clearing way for testimony.

Customers push shopping carts outside a Stew Leonard's supermarket in Paramus, New Jersey, U.S., on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. Stew Leonard Jr. said that meat packing plant the company uses is operating at about 70 percent capacity, and he expects it to rebound to full capacity in about a month, CT Post reported.Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA new federal lawsuit accuses the chief executive of the New York metropolitan area-based Stew Leonard's grocery store chain of making racist and sexist comments about workers and customers.Former longtime employee Robert Crosby Jr. also claims in his civil complaint that he was terminated from his job in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act after his bout with Covid-19 left him disabled.Crosby, a 58-year-old father of four, accuses Stew Leonard's and CEO Stew Leonard Jr. of creating a hostile work environment. The suit cites "systemic racial, sexual, religious and ageist discriminatory practices" carried out by management.Crosby is seeking at least $500,000 in damages in the suit filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.The claims in the suit contrast with the farm-folksy image of the grocery chain, which once was praised by President Ronald Reagan and business guru Tom Peters. The first Stew Leonard's opened in 1969 as a small dairy shop in Norwalk, Connecticut. The store, which featured a small petting zoo, farm-themed food displays and animatronic singing animals, experienced explosive growth in size, popularity and publicity in the following decades.The family-owned company now has almost $400 million in annual revenue at seven locations in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.Leonard Jr. declined to comment on the allegations in Crosby's suit."Robert Crosby, Jr. worked for Stew Leonard's almost 20 years, but unfortunately we had to part ways," Leonard Jr. said in a statement provided to CNBC on Tuesday. "We understand he brought a lawsuit and we will review it with our attorneys, however we do not comment on pending litigation."Crosby, a former loss-prevention manager, "verbally opposed" the alleged slurs and practices during his employment, the suit says.The lawsuit also alleges that Leonard Jr. joked about the discovery several years ago of human remains and tombstones from an abandoned Orthodox Jewish cemetery located on and near the grounds of a Yonkers, New York store. The suit says workers were ordered to bury the tombstones so that "no one could find them" by the store's president — Leonard Jr.'s cousin — who later told them to throw the human remains into a dumpster.Crosby's suit alleges that ever since he began working at the Yonkers location in 2001, he and his co-workers were "subjected to a workplace environment that was hostile and toxic."The lawsuit alleges Leonard Jr. repeatedly referred to women as "b-----s," called two white Jewish employees his "resident Jews," regularly referred to Black employees as "thugs" and the N-word, and made comments about Black employees' body parts. Crosby's suit also says he witnessed Leonard Jr. repeatedly say that Jews were the "worst customers to deal with."The suit also describes a company Christmas party in the early 2000s at which Leonard Jr. "insisted that upper management wear sexually suggestive and inappropriate attire including fake breasts, lingerie, sex toys and present a sexually suggestive and offensive skit."Crosby claims he complained several times about Leonard Jr.'s alleged practices to the company's head of human resources. He says in the suit that she told him that "Stew's just being Stew," and that "he has no filter."Covid fightAccording to Crosby's suit, when the coronavirus began spreading widely in the United States in March 2020, Crosby complained about the lack of personal protective equipment at the store, the lack of social distancing and a ban on workers wearing protective masks on site. Those complaints fell on deaf ears, the suit says.Crosby's suit says that he contracted Covid in April 2020, after 50 co-workers tested positive the prior month. He says he developed symptoms that "were extreme and life-threatening" and included "loss of smell and taste, nausea, brain fog, Epstein Barr Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" and memory loss. This required hospitalization, the suit adds.Stew Leonard Jr.Adam Jeffery | CNBC The suit says he developed "Long Haul Covid," and that he was pressured to return to work after having been reluctantly granted medical leave. (Long Covid patients experience symptoms for months after they are infected.) During a subsequent six-day hospitalization in September 2020 for complications from Covid, Crosby was ordered by the vice president of the Yonkers store to "work from his hospital bed."Crosby says he was fired later that month after Stew Leonard's refused to grant him a short leave from work so he could recover from Covid, according to his lawsuit.Crosby filed the suit after he received a notice of probable cause issued by the New York State Division of Human Rights in response to a charge of discrimination he filed against Stew Leonard's in 2021. The notice said the division determined that probable cause exists to believe that Stew Leonard's and Leonard Jr. engaged in unlawful discriminatory practices. It also indicated that Crosby had alleged Leonard would "use the 'N' word freely multiple times." In March, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Crosby a notice of a right to sue Stew Leonard's after he had filed an EEOC complaint against his former employer.Graveyard controversyCrosby also describes in his lawsuit the discovery of tombstones from May 2004 up to 2009 on the leased land occupied by Stew Leonard's in Yonkers.Crosby alleges that a company executive directed him and his coworkers to bury the tombstones "where no one can find them." He also claims they were told they would lose their jobs if anyone found out about it.In 2009, according to the lawsuit, Crosby and other workers discovered human bones while investigating a fire. They were told to "get coffee burlap bags and discard the bones in the dumpster," the suit says. "Defendant Leonard Jr. jokingly referred to the discovery of human remains and tombstones, which were determined to be the remains of an Orthodox Jewish Cemetery, as 'The Yonkers Holocaust,'" the suit alleges.Crosby's suit alleges he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments after his bosses threatened to fire him if he told others about the bones.Crosby's allegations could shed new light on a story that broke in 2004, when the New York attorney general's office alleged that a New Jersey developer may have failed to comply with a 1989 court order to arrange for the relocation of all of the remains from the cemetery when they developed the Yonkers site that came to house Stew Leonard's and two other stores, Costco and Home Depot. The remains were supposed to have been reinterred in Israel, according to media reports at the time.Two tombstones were found discarded near Stew Leonard's in 2004 on the heels of those allegations, according to published reports.Then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer claimed that the remains of up to 135 children may have been left behind during the disinterment project. The developer, Morris Industrial Builders, in 2005 agreed to settle the case with Spitzer by putting up a monument near the site of the former cemetery and to give any of the $100,000 settlement left after the monument was erected to a non-profit organization.At the time, a lawyer for Morris Industrial said "there was no admission of 'inappropriate behavior or improper conduct' and maintained that all the bodies in the cemetery had been reburied," according to a 2005 Associated Press article on the case.The Stew Leonard's chain's image previously took a hit in 1993, when Stew Leonard Sr. pleaded guilty to federal charges in a $17.1 million tax fraud scheme that involved the siphoning off of store cash receipts into his private coffers. The elder Leonard was sentenced to more than four years in prison in the case, which also saw guilty pleas by his wife's two brothers, both of whom were top executives at the store at the time.Court records from the case filed by federal prosecutors show that Leonard Jr. received immunity as part of the deal by his dad and uncles to plead guilty, and that Leonard Jr. allegedly participated in a cash-skimming conspiracy that led to the tax charges.

Ex-employee's lawsuit accuses Stew Leonard's boss of making racist, sexist, anti-Semitic remarks.

REUTERS/Axel SchmidtRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCompaniesNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Danish transport and logistics company DSV A/S (DSV.CO) is interested in buying U.S. rival C.H. Robinson Worldwide's (CHRW.O) business that specializes in arranging international cargo transport on behalf of shippers, two people familiar with the matter said.DSV, which is looking to expand in North America, last week met with a small group of investors and said it would be interested in acquiring C.H. Robinson's global forwarding business, which would give it critical access to trans Pacific ocean trade lanes, the sources said. The unit could fetch a price of as much as $9 billion, the sources said.The sources requested anonymity as these discussions were confidential.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comCH Robinson Worldwide's stock gained 12.30%, its largest daily rise in the last 10 years, on the news before paring some gains.DSV is currently not interested in acquiring all of C.H. Robinson or its freight brokerage business, the sources added.C.H. Robinson, the largest provider of truck brokerage services in the United States, in February reached a settlement with activist investment firm Ancora Advisors. As part of the agreement, the company appointed two new directors immediately and formed a committee to explore strategic options.A DSV spokesperson declined to comment. A C.H. Robinson spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Ancora declined to comment.DSV, which is valued at 239 billion Danish krone or $34 billion, has long signaled interest in expanding in North America and has previously indicated that it would like to grow through mergers and acquisitions amid a robust dealmaking environment in the global logistics sector.Over the past years, DSV has made a number of acquisitions, including its purchase of Agility Public Warehousing Co in 2021 and Panalpina Welttransport Holding in 2019.C.H. Robinson, valued at $13 billion, has two core businesses -- the freight brokerage business, which helps shippers move cargo to carriers, and the global forwarding business, which also arranges for moves but is more complex because it has an international component.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Anirban Sen and Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EXCLUSIVE C.H. Robinson's global forwarding unit draws interest from rival DSV - sources.

Crime June 14, 2022 / 2:07 PM / CBS/AP Tracing family trees to catch killers Tracing family trees to catch killers 01:56 Maine police said Tuesday they've made an arrest stemming from a 37-year-old homicide investigation into the death of a baby in the far northern part of the state.The baby's body was discovered in Frenchville in December 1985, after a Siberian Husky carried the body of the newborn several hundred feet to the home of the dog's owner."I could not believe what I saw. I saw what looked like a little rag doll, but then we saw it was a frozen little baby," the dog's owner,  Armand Pelletier, told the Bangor Daily News in 2014. Police then investigated and found that the baby was born and abandoned in below-zero temperatures at a gravel pit in the town. They said Tuesday they've arrested the baby's mother, Lee Ann Daigle, 58, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Lee Ann Daigle was charged with murder and is currently being held at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.  Aroostook County Court House Police said they were able to identify Daigle due to advancements in the use of DNA technology and genetic genealogy. They said Daigle was charged with a count of murder and arrested outside her home on Monday. Daigle waived extradition and was brought to Maine, where she was being held at Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, police said. Daigle's first court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday, police said.It was unclear if Daigle had yet been able to hire an attorney. Police did not say if she had hired representation.Police said the arrest was the culmination of decades worth of investigative work from dozens of now retired and current detectives who worked on the case, WGME-TV reported.Today, Maine has a law that allows parents to surrender a child less than 31 days old to approved safe haven providers, including law enforcement officers, medical service providers and hospitals. In: Cold Case DNA Murder Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

In 1985, a dog in Maine found the body of a baby girl and carried her back to its home. Police just made an arrest.

The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television programme market in Cannes, France, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric GaillardRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD.O)is looking to cut up to 30% or nearly 1,000 jobs in its global advertising sales team, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.The company on Tuesday started offering members of its U.S. advertising sales team an opportunity to voluntarily leave the company, the source said, adding that the global advertising sales team has about 3,000 members.The company's finance chief Gunnar Wiedenfels in April reaffirmed its goal of achieving $3 billion in cost savings after a $43 billion merger between Discovery Inc and AT&T's (T.N) Warner Media. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWall Street has questioned the streaming industry's long-term prospects after a surge during the pandemic and analysts have cited rising inflation and lower consumer spending as potential threats to the industry.Coinbase Global (COIN.O), Redfin Corp (RDFN.O) and Compass Inc (COMP.N) are among companies that announced layoffs on Tuesday.The Information first reported the job cuts earlier on Tuesday.The company's shares were down marginally in extended trading.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rithika Krishna; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Warner Bros Discovery to cut nearly 1,000 ad sales jobs - source.

World Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 12:49 PM / CBS News Hope in India as country fights air pollution "Everybody living in India is a smoker" due to pollution, but there's some hope 04:24 New Delhi — Air pollution in major South Asian cities has shortened the life expectancy of people living there by up to 10 years, despite COVID-19 lockdowns slowing economic activities since 2020, a new study by a U.S. research group says. New Delhi, India's capital, has been ranked the world's most polluted city, where people have lost almost 10 years of their lives to air pollution, according to the study commissioned by the Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) at the University of Chicago. Air pollution has shortened life expectancy in New Delhi by up to 10 years, and across the country by five years, the study says. The study ranked Bangladesh as the world's most polluted country overall, followed by India, Nepal, and Pakistan.People living in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka are losing nearly nine years of their lives to air pollution, while the national average stands at 6.9 years, according to the research. The "Air Quality Life Index" study by EPIC translates particulate air pollution into real-world impact on life expectancy by calculating how long people would live in a given population if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline for annual average particulate pollution of 5 μg/m³ was met. Millions of Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution 04:21 Levels of the most dangerous air pollution — fine particulate matter known as PM2.5  — in Delhi are more than 10 times the WHO's safe limit. PM2.5 particles can penetrate and settle deep in the lungs, causing severe health issues including respiratory and heart diseases. The study notes that more than 500 million people who live in northern India are "on track" to lose 7.6 years of their lives, on average, if the high pollution levels are not tackled."The report is definitely alarming, although such studies have come out in the past, too," Professor Sachchida Nand Tripathi, an Indian scientist who researches air quality, told CBS News.About 44% of the global pollution since 2013 has come from India, according to the research by EPIC. The country has witnessed a huge spike in air pollution over the last few decades due to rapid industrialization and a heavy reliance on fossil fuels. The number of vehicles on the country's roads has increased about four-fold, the report notes. India is trying hard to switch to cleaner fuels, but experts have told CBS News that it's not going to be easy to quit the national coal habit."It's going to take about 15 years for us to see any tangible reduction in the particulate matter… significant reduction could take two to four decades," Tripathi told CBS News. World Health Organization revises air quality guidance to target hazardous emissions 01:43 He's a member of the Indian government's National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) panel, which is working on a plan to reduce PM2.5 in 122 cities by 20–30% by 2024, compared to 2017 levels. Air pollution in Nepal, the third most polluted country, and in Pakistan, the fourth most polluted country, shortened life expectancy there by 4.1 years and 3.8 years respectively, according to the EPIC study. But some of the districts in the two countries — including Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan — are as bad as Bangladesh, where peoples' lives are being shortened by almost seven years according to the research.The study indicates that more than a billion people living in South Asia may already have have suffered serious health impacts.Tripathi said "rapid economic growth, high population density, and a unique topography that creates a peculiar weather effect" were all likely factors contributing to the high levels of air pollution across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Extreme photos of pollution 27 photos The study says that, globally, air pollution is reducing life expectancy by 2.2 years. That's an impact on par with smoking, and more than three times that of alcohol use and unsafe water."It would be a global emergency if Martians came to Earth and sprayed a substance that caused the average person on the planet to lose more than two years of life expectancy," said Michael Greenstone, an economics professor who co-created the EPIC air pollution life expectancy index. "This is similar to the situation that prevails in many parts of the world, except we are spraying the substance, not some invaders from outer space."The study says air pollution has reduced in both the U.S. and Europe, but the majority of people in both still live in areas that fail to meet the standards set by the WHO. In: india New Delhi Environmental Protection Agency World Health Organization Asia Pollution Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Air pollution slashing 10 years off life expectancy in Delhi, the world's most polluted city, study says.

Night scene of the skyline of Doha with towers are seen at Al Dafna Area in Doha, Qatar, October 20, 2019. Picture taken October 20, 2019. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Qatar plans to pitch 1,000 "Bedouin style" tents in the desert for World Cup soccer fans, organisers said on Tuesday, as the state hopes to attract 1.2 million visitors, nearly half of its population, for the 28-day tournament in November and December.Tents will spring up on the stark desert landscapes surrounding Doha, to offer visitors an authentic taste of Qatari camping, said Omar Al-Jaber, head of accommodation at tournament organiser the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy."We will give the opportunity for fans to live in a desert," Al-Jaber said, adding that 200 tents will be luxurious, commanding "expensive" nightly fees.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comQatar has fewer than 30,000 hotel rooms, according to the most recent estimates by Qatar Tourism, and 80% of those rooms are currently allocated to FIFA's guests, Al-Jaber said.FIFA will release rooms that teams, referees, media and other officials don't need as the tournament draws closer, a spokesperson told Reuters.Qatar has had to boost its non-hotel accommodation and two cruise ships moored in Doha port and shared villas and apartments will provide at least 69,000 rooms, most of them to be managed by Accor, Europe's largest hotel operator.There are also plans to install pre-fabricated fan-villages on empty plots, Al-Jaber said."In total we have more than 100,000 rooms and still there are some new options," he said, assuring there would be enough accommodation for everyone, even at the end of November, when visitor numbers will be at their highest during the tournament's group stage.Nevertheless, current lodging options are scant and expensive - Qatar's official accommodation website on Tuesday offered two-bedroom apartments on the outskirts of Doha for $390 a night and a suite aboard a moored cruise ship for $1650 a night at the end of November.Many visitors won't stay overnight because Qatar has invited regional airlines to operate more than 180 daily shuttle flights, allowing fans to fly in from nearby cities for the day, easing accommodation pressure in Doha.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Andrew Mills, Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Qatar plans 1000 'Bedouin tents' to house World Cup fans.

The Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an oil storage facility, is seen in this aerial photograph over Freeport, Texas, U.S., April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday said it was selling up to 45 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of the Biden administration's previously announced,largest-ever release from the stockpile.Deliveries of crude from the SPR sale would take place from Aug. 16 through Sept. 30, the Energy Department said.The Biden administration said in late March it would release a record 1 million barrels of oil per day of oil for six months from the SPR, held in a series hollowed-out salt caverns on the coasts of Louisiana and Texas.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe release was meant to help control oil prices that spiked after Russia, one of the world's top petroleum producers, invaded Ukraine and as the West imposes sanctions on Moscow.Prices for global benchmark Brent crude have marched higher since the March 31 announcement to trade above $120 a barrel. The rise has come as few global oil producers have spare capacity while consumers emerging from the pandemic drive fuel demand.Biden administration officials have said the oil price could be higher if the SPR had not been tapped. But the release has also driven the level of the reserve to the lowest point since 1987, adding to worries about tight global oil markets despite the United States having more in the stockpile than required under international agreements.Oil contracts from a previous SPR sale announced on May 24 were awarded to nine companies, including Valero (VLO.N), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N), the Energy Department said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Caitlin Webber in Washington and Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. to sell up to 45 mln bbls oil from reserve as part of historic release.

Samples of rare earth minerals from left: Cerium oxide, Bastnaesite, Neodymium oxide and Lanthanum carbonate at Molycorp's Mountain Pass Rare Earth facility in Mountain Pass, California June 29, 2015. REUTERS/David Becker/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States, Canada and other countries have established a new partnership aimed at securing the supply of critical minerals, which are essential for clean energy and other technologies,as global demand for them rises, the State Department said on Tuesday.Demand for the minerals, such as nickel, lithium and cobalt, is projected to expand significantly in the coming decades.Massive amounts of these minerals will be needed to meet the United States' emissions reduction goals, Jose Fernandez, under secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at the State Department, said in a telephone interview.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"You will need six times more lithium by 2050 than you use today in order to meet the clean energy goals," Fernandez said, speaking from Toronto. Canada "is an important supplier of critical minerals," he added.The minerals are key inputs in batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, and are also used in products ranging from computers to household appliances.The Minerals Security Partnership will aim to help "catalyze investment from governments and the private sector for strategic opportunities ... that adhere to the highest environmental, social, and governance standards," the State Department said in a statement.The U.S. government has been working with Canada to boost regional supply chains to counter China's dominance in the sector.Critical minerals are "a generational economic opportunity for Canada if we get it right," Canada's natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a phone interview. He spoke from Toronto's annual mining gathering, called the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference.Canada has large deposits of nickel and cobalt, while the United States does not, Wilkinson said.The Minerals Security Partnership, in addition to Canada and the United States, includes Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Commission.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. and partners enter pact to secure critical minerals like lithium.

U.S. Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 5:44 PM / AP Moderna: New booster gives strong Omicron protection Moderna says new COVID booster gives strong Omicron protection 00:17 A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens.The Food and Drug Administration's outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna's vaccine is safe and effective enough to give kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the second option for those children, joining Pfizer's vaccine. The same FDA expert panel will meet Wednesday to consider tot-sized shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine has long been available for adults in the U.S. and elsewhere, and more than three dozen countries offer it to children, too. If the FDA authorizes Moderna's vaccine for teens and younger children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will next decide whether to recommend the shots. The Massachusetts company is seeking clearance for two doses, and plans to later offer a booster. Tuesday's vote was only for two doses — full-strength for 12-17 and half-sized doses for those 6-11. "The data do support that the benefits outweigh the risks for both of these doses, in both of these age groups," said the CDC's Dr. Melinda Wharton, a member of the panel. The FDA held up Moderna's teen vaccine for months while it investigated a rare side effect, heart inflammation. That's mostly a risk for teen boys and young men, and also can occur with the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna got extra scrutiny because its shots are a far higher dose. In their review, FDA scientists said there were no confirmed cases of the heart inflammation in Moderna's kid studies. But experts say the studies may have had too few participants for a rare side effect like that to appear."That clearly needs to be watched closely going forward as we expand the use of the vaccine," said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a panel member from the University of California, San Diego's medical school. As for other side effects, FDA officials said nothing worrisome was reported — mainly sore arms, headache and fatigue.The FDA analysis concluded that two doses of Moderna are effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness in teens and younger kids, with the levels of virus-fighting antibodies comparable to those developed in young adults. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated at 93% for the teens, and 77% for the younger children, according to the FDA analysis. However, the research was done when earlier versions of the coronavirus were causing most U.S. infections, and it's not clear how well they work against recent more contagious variants. It's also based on a limited number of COVID-19 cases, making the estimates a bit rough.A booster shot was added to the studies, and data is expected in about the next month, Moderna officials said. Booster shots are now recommended for children vaccinated with Pfizer's shots, as well as for all adults.How much demand there will be for Moderna's shots isn't clear. Teens became eligible a year ago for Pfizer's vaccine, which uses the same technology, and only 60% have gotten two doses. Shots for younger kids started in November; about 29% have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.If the FDA authorizes Moderna shots for teens and schoolchildren, a CDC spokesperson said the agency is not expected to review the vaccine until later this month. In: Moderna Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covid-19 pandemic Coronavirus Vaccines Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

FDA advisers back Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 6 and up.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a trip to the Middle East in July, in a break with his campaign pledge of making the kingdom a "pariah" as he struggles to combat record high U.S. gasoline prices.Weeks after taking office, Biden shifted U.S. policy on Saudi Arabia, adopting a tougher stance over the kingdom's human rights record and in particular the killing and dismembering of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018. U.S. intelligence implicated the prince in the murder. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by him.Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had a close relationship with the prince, the defacto ruler of the country. But while a presidential candidate in 2019, Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia "pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are" over the killing of Khashoggi. The White House has said, as recently as this month, that Biden's view has not changed.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe talks with the crown prince - part of Biden's first trip to the region - are seen by rights advocates as at odds with his promise to put human rights at the heart of U.S. foreign policy. Biden's trip from July 13 to July 16 will also include a stop in Israel and the occupied West Bank.A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if Biden "determines it's in his interest to engage with any particular leader, and if such an engagement can deliver results, then he will do so."The official pointed to the crown prince's role in helping secure an extension of a U.N.-brokered truce between Yemen's warring parties as an example of what he said was a need to engage with Saudi Arabia as way to help bring peace and security to the region.Biden's July 15-16 visit to the kingdom comes after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, agreed to boost oil production to offset Russian losses - following Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine - and combat surging oil prices and inflation. read more U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia, U.S., June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinGULF SUMMITWashington's desire to improve ties with Gulf monarchies has become more urgent following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which highlighted the relevance of Gulf oil producers as Europe looks to cut its energy dependence on Russia.The United States is also trying to further isolate Russia over the Ukraine war, urging Gulf states to publicly condemn Moscow, three Western diplomats said. Gulf states have so far tried to maintain what they say is a neutral position, but some Western diplomats view that as siding with Moscow.Biden will meet with regional leaders including Iraq, Egypt and Jordan in Saudi Arabia as part of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the White House said. Washington has proposed an agenda that includes regional security, food security, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and energy issues, a Gulf source familiar with the matter said.In Israel July 13-14, Biden will emphasize the U.S. commitment to the country, which includes billions of dollars in military support. He will hold a virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates.Biden will also travel to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders to reaffirm his commitment to a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the U.S. official said.The visit will help "integrate Israel into the Middle East," the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement.Saudi Arabia has signaled its backing for the so-called Abraham Accords under which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain forged relations with Israel two years ago. But Riyadh has stopped short of formally recognizing neighboring Israel.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Jonathan Landay, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey and Alexander Cornwell; writing by Michelle Nichols and Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Biden to meet with Saudi crown prince despite 'pariah' pledge.

Gas pipelines are pictured at the Atamanskaya compressor station, facility of Gazprom's Power Of Siberia project outside the far eastern town of Svobodny, in Amur region, Russia November 29, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States will allow certain energy-related transactions with Sberbank (SBER.MM), VTB Bank (VTBR.MM), Alfa-Bank and several other Russian entities to continue through Dec. 5, the U.S. Department of Treasury said on Tuesday.Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control said it was extending the general license authorizing the transactions with entities including Russia's Central Bank, Sovcombank, Vnesheconombank, and others.The United States has banned imports of Russian fossil fuels and imposed punitive sanctions on the country for its invasion of Ukraine. But Washington has allowed bank transactions on Russian oil and gas sent to European countries to continue, allowing those nations time to transition to different sources of fossil fuels and into alternative energy.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe Dec. 5 extension date is the same day that the EU intends to impose a ban of seaborne imports of Russian oil that it agreed to this month."This suggests U.S. sanctions could correspondingly tighten at that time by ending the energy payment carve-out," ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based nonpartisan research group said in a note to clients.The EU has depended on Russia, one of the world's top energy exporters, for about 40% of its natural gas and 27% of its imported oil.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Timothy Gardner and Caitlin Webber; editing by Bernadette Baum and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. allows some Russian energy-related transactions until Dec. 5.

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, June 14, 2022.Source: NYSEStock futures were little changed in overnight trading Tuesday as investors anxiously awaited the Federal Reserve's aggressive action to tame surging inflation.Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose just 24 points. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained less than 0.2%.The S&P 500 suffered a five-day losing streak on Tuesday, dipping deeper into bear market territory. The equity benchmark has fallen more than 4% this week already and is now off over 22% from its all-time time hit in early January. The blue-chip Dow slid about 150 points Tuesday, also falling for a fifth straight day Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite ended Tuesday slightly higher.The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The market is betting on a 94% chance of a 75-basis-point rate hike, the biggest increase since 1994, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. (1 basis point equals 0.01%)The shift to price in a larger-than-usual rate hike came after headlines that Fed officials were contemplating such a move following a surprisingly hot inflation reading as well as worsening economic outlook."The change in the headline from 50 basis points to 75 basis points reflects a stark reality but it also reflects the Fed's determination to underscore its commitment to its mandate to maintain price stability," said Quincy Krosby, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial. "It's neither a trial balloon nor a lead balloon — it's reality."Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET following the central bank's policy decision. Investors will be monitoring his language and tone about the Fed's tightening path forward. The central bank will also release its outlook for its benchmark rate, inflation and GDP.Treasury yields have jumped dramatically this week in anticipation of the big rate hike. The two-year rate, most sensitive to changes in monetary policy, surged 40 basis points this week alone to hit its highest level since 2007. The benchmark 10-year yield popped more than 30 basis points to top 3.48%, a high not seen since April 2011.Some notable investors believe the central bank can regain credibility by acting aggressively to show its seriousness in combating inflation.The Fed "has allowed inflation to get out of control. Equity and credit markets have therefore lost confidence in the Fed," wrote Pershing Square's Bill Ackman in a tweet Tuesday. "Market confidence can be restored if the Fed takes aggressive action with 75 bps tomorrow and in July" and makes a commitment to aggressive increases until inflation "has been tamed."

Stock futures are flat as investors brace for a big Fed rate hike.

Paxlovid, Pfizer's anti-viral medication to treat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is displayed in this picture illustration taken in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S., May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/Illustration/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Tuesday it would halt enrollment in a trial for its COVID-19 antiviral drug, Paxlovid, in standard-risk patients after a study revealed the treatment was not effective in reducing symptoms in that group.The drug has emergency use authorization for high-risk groups in which it has been effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.The new data, however, showed a 51% relative risk reduction in standard-risk groups, which the company said was not statistically significant.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe standard-risk population usually includes people who do not have health conditions that put them at risk of severe disease and who can recover without the drug.Pfizer said it will include the new data in the company's upcoming application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking full approval for the drug's use in high-risk groups.Data from a study in Israel earlier this month showed the drug reduces COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients 65 years and older, but was not found to prevent severe illness among younger adults.More than 1.2 million courses of Paxlovid have been administered in the United States, according to data from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Pfizer stops enrollment in Paxlovid trial in standard-risk population.

Gum lines the pockets of most Americans and has been a staple in American culture for centuries.For some, gum is all about flavor, and for others, it's about fear of bad breath, curbing hunger, or alleviating anxiety. For nearly 130 years, the brand Wrigley's has become synonymous with chewing gum. Since its start, the gum maker has dominated the chewing gum market, spawning brands from Juicy Fruit to Orbit to 5 Gum.But it hasn't always been smooth sailing for the William Wriglely Jr. Co.; over its storied past, the brand has faced turbulent years. Since the early 2000s, the chewing gum market has seen a decline in public sentiment, which hurt significant players. In 2006, the company ended its long-standing tradition of being a family run business with William Wrigley Jr. stepping down as CEO. By 2008, Wrigley's faced increasing global competition and was acquired by Mars along with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.According to Euromonitor International, the gum industry's market value hit $18.6 billion in 2020. Since 2015, Mars Wrigley has held 25% of the global brand share for chewing gum and a 40% portion in the U.S. The Covid-19 pandemic since it began in March 2020 has negatively impacted gum's most prominent players and could negatively affect Mars Wrigley gum brands' future.

How Wrigley's managed to dominate the chewing gum world despite nearly a decade of declining public interest.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - A North Carolina charter school's requirement that girls wear skirts based on the view that they are "fragile vessels" deserving of "gentle" treatment by boys is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 10-6 vote sided with three female students who argued Charter Day School's requirement amounted to sex-based discrimination rooted in gender stereotypes that violated their equal protection rights.The Brunswick County school emphasizes "traditional values" and implemented a dress code that its founder, businessman Baker Mitchell, said in an email and testimony would "preserve chivalry" and ensure girls are treated "courteously and more gently than boys."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe state-chartered school argued the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment did not apply to it because it was a private entity, not a "state actor."But U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said it was one since North Carolina delegated to it its duty to provide free, universal education to students. A contrary ruling would mean North Carolina could ignore "blatant" discrimination, she said."Courts may not subjugate the constitutional rights of these public-school children to the facade of school choice," wrote Keenan, who was joined by her fellow Democratic appointees.The court also revived a claim brought under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded education.Galen Sherwin, the students' lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the ruling "should put charter schools across the country on notice."The school's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.The six dissenting votes were all from Republican-appointed judges, including U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr, who said the decision would stifle "innovative alternatives to traditional public education."U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson called the ruling a "shame" and the school's "chivalric approach should neither be legally banished from the educational system, nor should it be legally imposed."(This story corrects judge's name to J. Harvie Wilkinson in last paragraph.)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Nate RaymondThomson ReutersNate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.

North Carolina school's requirement that girls wear skirts unconstitutional, court rules.

MoneyWatch June 14, 2022 / 5:36 PM / MoneyWatch Senators announce bipartisan gun control deal Bipartisan group of senators announce agreement on gun control framework 09:39 A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill designed to curb sales of semi-automatic weapons like AR-15s, the type of firearm used by both shooters in the massacres in Uvalde and Buffalo last month. If passed, the legislation would impose a 1,000% tax on any type of semi-automatic weapon, making the firearms prohibitively expensive for most would-be buyers. The new bill, introduced by Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia on Tuesday, comes as a group of 20 senators announced Sunday that they had reached a consensus on the key priorities of a deal to reform the nation's gun laws. The 1,000% tax on semi-automatic weapons would "give the Senate an option for further action to address the epidemic of gun violence" beyond the reform already in the works, Beyer said in a statement. Called the "Assault Weapons Excise Act," the proposal would add the hefty tax to "large-capacity ammunition feeding devices and semi-automatic assault weapons, according to the text of the bill. If enacted, the semi-automatic rifle allegedly used by the Uvalde shooter would cost $18,700, instead of its current retail price of $1,870.  Although most Americans favor stricter gun laws, Republican lawmakers have opposed bans on semi-automatic weapons like AR-15s, which have been used in a number of mass shootings. AR-15s range in price from about $500 to $2,000, making them affordable for many consumers. Under the gun reform agreement reached by the senators, states would be incentivized to pass "red flag" laws, boost mental health resources, provide funding for school safety resources, clarify the definition of a federally licensed firearms dealer and crack down on criminals who illegally purchase and traffic guns. Because Beyer's bill imposes a tax, qualifying it as a revenue measure, it could be introduced through the reconciliation process. That means it would require approval from only 50 senators, instead of the 60 votes needed to overcome possible filibusters and pass most legislation. The measure could "cut through the gridlock and get it done," Beyer said in his statement. The bill exempts federal, state and local agencies, which means that the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies wouldn't be subject to the tax. In: Taxes Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Lawmaker introduces bill to impose 1,000% tax on semi-automatic weapons.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pauses during an interview with Reuters on the island of Astypalea, Greece, June 2, 2022. Picture taken June 2, 2022. REUTERS/Alkis KonstantinidisRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comATHENS, June 14 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday said Turkey's position that questions Greece's sovereignty over its Aegean islands is "absurd," rendering any talks between the two countries difficult."Turkey's objections, as they were phrased in the latest letters to the United Nations, are absolutely absurd as they raise questions about Greece's sovereignty over its islands," Mitsotakis said in a preview of an interview to be broadcast by state television ERT later on Tuesday. "We cannot have any discussion over the absurd."NATO allies Greece and Turkey have long been at odds over issues ranging from maritime boundaries and claims over their continental shelves in the Mediterranean, to airspace, migrants and ethnically split Cyprus.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTensions flared up again recently, with Erdogan saying that Greece should stop arming islands in the Aegean Sea that have a demilitarised status and abide by international agreements. read more Ankara says the Aegean islands were given to Greece under the 1923 Lausanne and 1947 Paris treaties on condition it does not arm them.Athens has said that Turkey's remarks about it arming the islands are unfounded. Both countries have sent letters to the United Nations outlining their rival positions on airspace and the islands.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last month said Mitsotakis "no longer exists" for him, accusing the Greek leader of trying to block sales of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit to the United States.Mitsotakis said the two leaders would inevitably meet at some point and they should not stop talking to each other."We need to meet each other and we need to discuss ... we need to be able to agree that we disagree but we need to agree on the framework for solving our differences," Mitsotakis said.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday urged Greece and Turkey to refrain from any actions or rhetoric that could escalate the situation."At a time when (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war in Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe, it is even more important for allies to stand together," he said in an interview with Greek semi-state Athens News Agency.In 2021 Greece and Turkey resumed bilateral talks on improving ties after a five-year hiatus but have made little progress. Last week Erdogan announced that Turkey was halting all bilateral talks.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Greek PM Mitsotakis says Turkey's position over Greek islands' sovereignty 'absurd'.

An aerial view of Boeing 777X airplanes parked at King County International Airport-Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsey WassonRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. and European aviation safety regulators plan to hold a meeting next week with Boeing (BA.N) on its 777X airplane that is awaiting certification, Europe's top aviation safety regulator said on Tuesday.Boeing in April said it was halting production of the 777X through 2023 and confirmed a delay in handing over the first 777X jet to 2025 from the previous target of late 2023, but said it remained confident in the program. read more Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Washington that the meeting is "very important" to share information.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"We just need to agree on common principals of how to achieve the safety targets that we have and we need to understand each other. That's where we are," Ky said, adding that "we need to agree on planing, who does what."The FAA and Boeing did not immediately comment.Ky added the meeting is to talk about "what are the issues, what are the solutions, what are the mitigating factors."The FAA warned Boeing in a March 21 letter that existing certification schedules for the 737 MAX 10 and 777X were "outdated and no longer reflect the program activities."Certification is needed before Boeing can begin deliveries.The 777X, known as the 777-9 and a larger version of the 777 wide-body jet, has been in development since 2013 and at one point was expected to be released for airline use in June 2020.In May 2021, the FAA told Boeing that, realistically, it would not certify the 777X until mid- to late 2023 and rejected a request by Boeing to clear a certification hurdle, citing numerous concerns about lack of data and the lack of a preliminary safety assessment.Congress approved a sweeping certification reform bill in late 2020 after two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes. Ky said the regulators around the world are making some changes to rules after those crashes."All of us are much more cautious in terms of what is the risk," Ky said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

European, U.S. regulators to hold meeting with Boeing on 777X.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday called for Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell to implement aggressive interest rate hikes to tamp down inflation."Jay Powell can't solve the war in Ukraine. He can't get more oil out of the ground. … The same goes for the other big source of inflation, food," the "Mad Money" host said."He has to hit us with some monster rate hikes to cool things down while selling, I hope, at least $200 billion in bonds a month — twice the current schedule — just to fix a problem not of his own making," he added.His comments come as the Fed began its June meeting to decide the size of the next interest rate hike, which will be announced on Wednesday. The Fed, which raised interest rates by 25 basis points in March and 50 basis points in May, will also start offloading some of its balance sheet on Wednesday in an effort to drain trillions of dollars of liquidity from the financial system.Investors and central bank policymakers alike are bracing for a 75-basis-point rate hike on Wednesday. The market reacted accordingly as the S&P 500 slipped further into bear territory on Tuesday while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average also remained volatile.Inflation hit new highs in May as prices rose 8.6% from last year in the fastest increase in over four decades, also driving the market's recent declines.Cramer has advocated for 100-basis-point rate hikes in recent weeks, urging Powell to take stronger action even as he argued that the Fed chief is not to blame for the current state of inflation."In retrospect, the Fed provided way more liquidity than it needed to. It should've stopped buying bonds more than a year ago. …  But beyond selling trillions in bonds to rein in the economy and raising rates to cool down what can be cooled — which isn't much — we've got to stop blaming Powell for all things inflation," Cramer said.

Jim Cramer calls for ‘monster rate hikes’ ahead of key Fed decision.

Members of K-pop boy band BTS pose for photographs during a news conference promoting their new album "BE(Deluxe Edition)" in Seoul, South Korea, November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Heo RanRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - BTS, the South Korean band that spearheaded a global K-pop craze, is taking a break as a group to work on solo projects, the singers announced on Tuesday.Band member RM, speaking at the annual FESTA dinner that celebrates the group's founding, said he had been feeling a need to explore his own work without the constant recording and performing required of BTS."The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something," said RM, seated at a table with his six fellow band members and speaking in Korean.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comA video of the dinner was posted on the band's official Twitter handle.An English translation of the remarks showed one of the members calling the break a "hiatus," a description a representative for the band disputed in a statement."To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats," the statement said.BTS made its debut in June 2013 and became a worldwide sensation with its upbeat hits and social campaigns aimed at empowering young people. The group released its new album, "Proof," on Friday.Last year, BTS became the first Asian band to win artist of the year at the American Music Awards. The group met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in May to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Korean pop band BTS taking a break to work on solo projects.

A demonstrator holds a placard while taking part in the 'March for Our Lives', one of a series of nationwide protests against gun violence, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he was "comfortable" with the framework of a bipartisan gun violence bill unveiled earlier this week and would vote for it if it is not changed substantially, adding momentum to a compromise that could pass the Senate as early as next week."The heavy lifting is done," Senator Chris Murphy, the lead Democrat on the bill, told reporters.Republican Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican in the effort, said negotiators could finish writing the bill by the end of this week, clearing the way for a possible vote next week.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMcConnell's support is a significant boost to a growing group of bipartisan lawmakers who are expected to back the finished legislation. The bill needs 60 votes to advance in the evenly-split 100-seat chamber, including 10 Republicans.Crafted in the aftermath of last month's massacres at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, the framework is far less ambitious than proposals offered by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.The plan, lauded by Biden, includes support for state "red flag" laws keeping firearms from potentially dangerous people, tougher criminal background checks for gun buyers under age 21 and a crackdown on "straw purchases" by people buying weapons for others who could not pass a background check.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer repeatedly has said he would work quickly to pass the bill once it is written. But thorny issues still need to be resolved.Cornyn said negotiations were focused on the "red flag" provision.The legislation would provide money to help other states set up their own laws, but it would not create a national red-flag program, he said. Sixteen states already have red flag laws in place, he said.The provision should be broadened, he said, so that new federal funding could be targeted at various state programs, such as outpatient treatment programs for people suffering from mental illness.McConnell said support for the package's provisions was "off the charts" among current gun owners, according to a poll presented to Republican senators.Ten Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent have joined forces in the Senate on what Democrats are calling a "first step" toward tackling mass murders, such as the recent ones in New York and Texas. In those shootings, semi-automatic weapons were used to kill 10 Black people in Buffalo and 19 elementary school children and two teachers in Uvalde.Biden and other Democrats pushed to renew an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. Senate Republicans made it clear this provision and one to raise the age for buying such weapons to 21 from 18 did not have enough support to pass.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Richard Cowan and Moira Warburton; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Bernadette Baum and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Senate Republican leader backs gun violence bill.

MoneyWatch Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 4:45 PM / MoneyWatch Interest rates hit homebuyers’ wallets Homebuyers feel pinch as interest rates rise 03:39 With the dream of buying a home increasingly out of reach for many Americans, aspiring property owners may want to consider Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania city is the best metro area in the country for first-time buyers, according to a new study.The Steel City offers a healthy mix of affordable housing and good neighborhoods, with a steady flow of properties coming onto the market, Bankrate found. The personal finance website examined the nation's 50 largest metro areas and ranked their attractiveness for first-time homebuyers based on 11 different metrics, including access to cultural centers and the local job market.The median home price in Pittsburgh in the first quarter of 2022 was $169,000, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, compared with the national median of $320,500. And those lower prices have become very attractive in today's competitive housing market, one Pittsburgh realtor told CBS MoneyWatch.  "For newcomers to the area, especially if they're from a larger metro area, our housing values are a pleasant surprise," said John Petrack, executive vice president for the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh. "We tend to have a very stable housing market. We don't experience the large ups or downs of other major cities, although the last two years have seen unusually high appreciation for us." Florida is the least affordable state to live in 01:27 Rounding out Bankrate's top five cities for first-time house-hunters are Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cincinnati, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; and Buffalo, New York. Minneapolis ranks second in part because of its unemployment rate, which placed sixth in the study's labor market category. Housing inventory in the Twin Cities is low and prices are rising, "but the area's great schools, health care, job opportunities, and the variety of arts and entertainment options make living here a fantastic value," said Minneapolis Area Realtors President Denise Mazone.Tough marketsThe worst places for first-time homebuyers were Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle because of their low housing inventory, high-priced homes and higher unemployment, according to Bankrate study,The median home price in Los Angeles in April was $1 million, up 13% from last year, according to Redfin data. Las Vegas' median home price for the same period was $435,000, up 30% from a year ago, and Seattle's median home price was $889,000, up 11% from a year ago. A million-dollar price tag is one thing, but families looking to buy in L.A. also have to generate enough funds to compete with cash buyers and institutional buyers, said Anthony Vulin, president of Greater Los Angeles Realtors. The competition is steep when there's a shortage of available homes for sale in the first place, he said.  "Big picture, we need to solve L.A.'s housing production problem to truly make the region more friendly to first-time buyers," Vulin told CBS MoneyWatch.Home prices have soared this year, largely because housing demand has outstripped supply after construction companies cut back on building new homes during the coronavirus pandemic. Home prices have also climbed because some longtime homeowners chose to delay selling and stay put as the pandemic swept across the nation.The rise in prices has been widespread, with Florida cities Miami, Orlando and Tampa seeing some of the sharpest increases. High prices have snatched the dream of homeownership away from some middle-class Americans — many of whom have opted to bail on the market in recent weeks. Others have decided to stay the course and search for cheaper priced homes in other cities. Khristopher J. Brooks Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports. Twitter Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

This is America's best city for first-time homebuyers.

The dais as the House select committee tasked with investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol hold a hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. June 13, 2022. Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on U.S. Capitol said on Tuesday it had postponed a hearing scheduled with officials from ex-President Donald Trump's Justice Department but would go ahead with one set for Thursday focused on ex-Vice President Mike Pence.The committee said its hearing Thursday would present testimony illustrating how Trump put pressure to refuse to count votes on his vice president, Mike Pence, on and before Jan. 6."As a federal judge has indicated, this likely violated two federal criminal statues," Representative Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chairperson, said in a video statement released on Twitter on Tuesday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThousands of Trump supporters marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after listening to Trump's fiery speech repeating his unfounded claim that his defeat in the November 2020 election by Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud.The Democratic-led House Select Committee earlier on Tuesday announced the postponement of Wednesday's hearing, without providing a reason for the change.The committee had scheduled six public hearings this month to discuss results of its nearly year-long investigation into events surrounding the attack, which took place as Pence and lawmakers met to formally certify Biden's victory.Wednesday's hearing was to have focused on Trump's efforts to assemble a team at the Justice Department to promote his false voter fraud claims. Jeffrey Rosen, a former acting attorney general, was among those scheduled to testify. read more At a hearing on Monday, the committee focused on Trump's claims of election fraud and showed video testimony by top Trump advisers that they told him his fraud claims were unfounded, but he disregarded them.Trump has denied wrongdoing. He issued a 12-page statement after the hearing criticizing the committee and reiterating his fraud claims.Committee members said they expected the postponed hearing would take place shortly. Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger told reporters it had been moved to next week. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin said he was confident the series of hearings would be completed this month.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan, additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham, Paul Grant and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. congressional Jan. 6 panel postpones hearing on Trump's Justice Dept.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday offered investors a list of stocks he believes will help investors' portfolios withstand the geopolitical and economic issues currently roiling the stock market."When the market comes down so far, so fast, you can find genuinely good buying opportunities," the "Mad Money" host said."You've got to be selective because the market remains horrific. That means picking at the kind of defensive stocks that can hold up just fine even with inflation and the very real possibility of a Fed-mandated recession," he said.The S&P 500 slipped deeper into bear market territory on Tuesday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a small decline. The Nasdaq Composite saw a slight gain.Cramer said that investors will want to pick up cheap names with dividend protection and healthy growth, and came up with a list of stocks in the S&P 500 he believes they should be eyeing.To create the list, he first ran a screen on the index for companies that fit the following three criteria:Its stock trades at less than 16.5 times earnings (the average stock in the S&P 500 currently trades at 16.5 times earnings, according to Cramer)It is expected to grow earnings both this year and next yearIts stock yields more than 3.5%, in order to stay above the benchmark 10-year Treasury yieldLeft with 23 names that fit the above requirements, Cramer picked out his ten favorites.Here is the list:Devon EnergyONEOKVerizonHuntington BancsharesVICI PropertiesNewell BrandsIBMCiscoAdvance Auto PartsNRG EnergyDisclosure: Cramer's Charitable Trust owns shares of Cisco and Devon Energy.Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer's every move in the market.DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

Jim Cramer says to consider buying these 10 cheap, high growth stocks with dividend protection.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON/NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Investors have dramatically raised their bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) rather than 50 bps on Wednesday, a swing in expectations which has fuelled a violent selloff across world markets.Expectations for a 75-bps hike at the June meeting jumped to 89% on Tuesday from only 3.9% a week ago, according to CME's Fedwatch Tool. Consequently, expectations of a 50 bps rate hike on Wednesday have melted to 11% from a surefire bet a week earlier.Investors worry that a 75-bps rate increase, which would be the biggest since 1994, will negatively impact the valuation of equities, particularly technology stocks, and jeopardize the post-COVID-19 recovery.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMonday's selloff confirmed a so-called bear market for the U.S. S&P 500 equity index (.SPX), which is down more than 20% from its most recent closing high.On Tuesday, investors continued to sell U.S. stocks as investors braced for an aggressive Fed.In the Treasuries market on Tuesday, U.S. two-year yields , which are highly sensitive to rate expectations, spiked to 3.439%, the highest since November 2007. Benchmark U.S. 10-year yields touched 3.479%, its strongest level since April 2011.Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoThe yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes briefly inverted on Tuesday as far as 5.4 basis points, which typically suggests an incoming recession. The curve was last steeper at 4.2 bps.The Fed ends its two-day meeting on Wednesday amid data last Friday showing that U.S. consumer prices rose at their fastest pace since 1981.Data showed that in the 12 months through May, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) surged 8.6%, the largest year-on-year increase in roughly 40 years. The so-called core CPI climbed 6.0% in May on a year-on-year basis. read more Some investment banks including Goldman Sachs said they now expect 75-basis-point increases in June and July, and then a 50-basis point hike in September. TD Securities expects the same quantum of rate hikes in June and July. read more "The market has quickly adjusted rate hike expectations for the next few meetings, including 75 bps each for June and July," said Mauricio Agudelo, head of fixed income investments at Homestead Funds."In our view, the market is already doing the tightening for the Fed, therefore the Fed must deliver."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Julien Ponthus in London and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee, David Evans and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. rate markets price in aggressive 75-bps hike on Wednesday.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) speaks during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Chris Magnus to be the next U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., October 19, 2021. Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is planning to introduce legislation setting a 21% surtax on oil company profits considered excessive, an aide for the senator told Reuters.The bill applies a 21% additional tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, the aide said. The 21% tax would be in addition to any regular income tax due. Profits over 10% would be considered excessive under the bill, according to the aide.Unlike other proposed windfall profit taxes, the aide said, Wyden's bill would apply the tax based on profit margins, not oil prices.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"While Americans pay more to fill up their gas tanks, Big Oil companies are raking in record profits, rewarding their CEOs and wealthy shareholders with massive stock buybacks, and using special loopholes in the tax code to pay next to nothing in taxes," Wyden, a Democrat, said in a statement.The American Petroleum Institute, the top U.S. oil lobby organization, said "policymakers should be focused on increasing energy supply and reducing costs for Americans. Imposing new taxes on our industry will do the exact opposite and only discourage investment at a time when it's needed most." read more President Joe Biden on Friday accused the U.S. oil industry, and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) in particular, of capitalizing on a supply shortage to fatten profits after a report showed inflation surging to a new 40-year record. read more In May, the U.S. House passed a bill that would allow Biden to issue an energy emergency declaration, making it unlawful for companies to excessively increase gasoline and home fuel prices.The Senate, evenly divided at 50 members in each party, needs 60 votes -- including 10 Republicans -- to pass most legislation.Bloomberg first reported the planned legislation.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Shepardson; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Senate finance chair to propose tax on excess oil profits.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday said that there could be a "key moment" for investors to do some buying in the S&P 500 this week, leaning on analysis from DeCarley Trading market strategist Carley Garner.Garner believes there's a "moderate chance" of a rebound later this week, but the more likely scenario is either seeing some stability around where the S&P 500 is currently trading or a breakdown to the 3,500s, the "Mad Money" host said."At that point, though, she would want you to be a buyer, not a seller, because eventually the bears will run out of firepower and some of the money sitting on the sidelines will come back into the market," he added. "This is a bullish scenario, people."The S&P 500 slid deeper into bear market territory on Tuesday as it fell for the fifth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a small decline, while the Nasdaq Composite inched up slightly."Even if the present is awful, stocks tend to bottom when the fundamentals are at their worst because the averages don't reflect the present, they reflect what we're expecting in the future, say six to twelve months out," Cramer said.To start his explanation of Garner's analysis, Cramer took a look at the daily chart of the S&P 500 June futures contract:Garner believes the S&P 500 might be oversold and could be ready for a bounce, according to Cramer. The relative strength indicator at the bottom of the chart, an important momentum indicator, is near 30. That shows that prices are getting oversold. Coupled with the fact that the RSI and S&P 500 are diverging, the sellers are starting to get tired, said Cramer.Garner also believes that the recent dismal consumer sentiment index number from the University of Michigan suggests that the S&P 500 is close to bottoming, according to Cramer.If the S&P 500 makes a "miraculous" recovery above 4,030 — a key floor of support roughly 300 points above where it currently is – the current decline could be chalked up to a "bear trap" that will send the S&P soaring higher around 4,400. But without the recovery, the index could plunge to its next floor of support around 3,550, said Cramer."But, and this is a very big but, if we do get a decline to the 3,500s, she thinks that would be a buying opportunity. Of course, she could be wrong," Cramer said.Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer's every move in the market.DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

Charts suggest this week could be a ‘key moment’ for the S&P 500, Jim Cramer says.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint statement with European Commission President Ursula, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 11, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn OgirenkoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces are suffering painful losses in fighting Russian troops in both the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.In a late night address, he also said Ukraine needed modern anti-missile weapons now, adding there could be no justification for partner countries to delay delivery. Some Russian rockets are evading defences and causing casualties, he said.Ukraine said its forces were still trying to evacuate civilians from Sievierodonetsk after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the city, the latest stage in a weeks-long battle in the Donbas region that Moscow seeks to capture. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"The fiercest battles, as before, are in Sievierodonetsk and other nearby towns and communities. The losses, unfortunately, are painful," said Zelenskiy."But we have to hold strong - holding strong is so critically important in Donbas. The more losses the enemy suffers there the less strength it will have to pursue its aggression," he said.Ukraine is also seeing "painful losses" in the Kharkiv region to the east of Kyiv, where Russia is trying to strengthen its position after being pushed back recently, Zelenskiy said. He added: "Battles are continuing there and we have to keep fighting, fighting hard."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Ljunggren and Ronald Popeski; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ukraine suffering painful losses, needs anti-missile weapons, Zelenskiy says.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Happy the elephant will stay at the Bronx Zoo after New York state's highest court on Tuesday ruled against an animal rights group that said she deserved some of the same rights as humans and should be freed.In a 5-2 decision, the Albany-based Court of Appeals said the writ of habeas corpus, which allows people to be released from illegal custody, did not apply to Happy despite claims that the 51-year-old elephant shared many of the same cognitive abilities as humans. read more "While no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote, "Happy, as a nonhuman animal, does not have a legally cognizable right to be at liberty under New York law."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDiFiore also said granting freedom to Happy would have "an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society" and could generate a "flood" of petitions to free animals, perhaps including pets and service animals.She said it should be up to the legislature to decide whether to grant nonhuman animals the same legal rights as people.Tuesday's decision is a defeat for the Nonhuman Rights Project, which began asking New York courts four years ago to release Happy to one of two U.S. elephant sanctuaries.An elephant named Happy is pictured in the Bronx Zoo, in New York City, New York, U.S., in this undated social media photo. Gigi Glendinning/via REUTERS The Florida-based group had objected to what it considered Happy's imprisonment in a one-acre (0.4 hectare) enclosure at the zoo, segregated from other elephants.The group said it would continue pushing for her release."This is not just a loss for Happy, whose freedom was at stake in this case," the group said in a statement. "It's also a loss for everyone who cares about upholding and strengthening our most cherished values and principles of justice."A spokesperson for the Bronx Zoo did not respond to requests for comment.Two lower courts had previously sided with the zoo, which maintains that Happy is well cared for.In spirited opinions, the dissenting judges empathized with Happy."When the majority answers, 'No, animals cannot have rights,' I worry for that animal, but I worry even more greatly about how that answer denies and denigrates the human capacity for understanding, empathy and compassion," Judge Rowan Wilson wrote.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Happy the elephant is denied personhood, to stay at Bronx Zoo.

Signage is seen outside of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) offices in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 11, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew KellyRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority plans to increase its resources to understand and monitor cryptocurrencies as more of the Wall Street watchdog's members trade digital assets, Chief Executive Officer Robert Cook said on Tuesday."We are already having to be engaged in the space and we think that as a result it's appropriate for us to bulk up our capabilities there," Cook said at a trading industry conference.FINRA has several dozen members that have been approved to trade digital asset securities, as well as members who allow customers to access crypto products, and members with registered representatives who have outside business activities around crypto, Cook said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe regulator is also developing digital asset verification techniques and is looking at whether it can do cross market surveillance on various blockchains, he said.Cryptocurrencies prices have dropped sharply in recent weeks, with bitcoin hitting an 18-month low on Tuesday after major crypto lender Celsius Network froze withdrawals and the prospect of sharp U.S. interest rate rises shook the volatile asset class.Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O)said on Tuesday it will cut about 1,100 jobs, or 18% of its workforce to ride out the downturn in the cryptosphere. Companies like BlockFi and Crypto.com have also slashed hundreds of jobs, while top firms including Meta Platforms and Intel Corp (INTC.O) have tapped the brakes on hiring. read more While federal agencies jockey for position to be the primary regulator for digital assets, regardless of the outcome, FINRA will most likely have a role to play, Cook said."We're going to need to be engaged and prepared to have the resources to do that, so anybody who is getting laid off from a crypto platform and wants to work for FINRA, give me a call," he said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by John McCrank Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Wall Street watchdog to laid-off crypto employees: work for us.

Entertainment June 14, 2022 / 4:43 PM / CBS News BTS, the Korean pop sensation BTS, the Korean pop sensation 08:22 K-pop fans around the world, known as the "BTS Army," were stunned by BTS's announcement that the group will take a break to work on solo projects. The seven-member band — J-hope, Suga, RM, V, Jin, Jungkook and Jimin — held their annual FESTA dinner party on Tuesday, and in a pre-recorded video announced the "hiatus." But the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS said they'll still be working on projects as a group, as well as individually.  BTS at a press conference for the 2017 Billboard Music Award at Lotte Hotel Seoul on May 29, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. THE FACT/Imazins via Getty Images "BTS are not taking a hiatus. Members will be focusing more on solo projects at this time," the statement said. RM lead the talk around the table, saying: "I always thought that BTS was different from other groups, but the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don't give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something." He added,  "I have a lot of things to say as an individual, but nothing as a group."Jimin said, "I think that's why we're going through a rough patch right now, we're trying to find our identity and that's an exhausting and long process." The members took turns reminiscing about their time together as a band and some of their career milestones. RM, with teary eyes, assured fans, "This new chapter of BTS, that is yet to come, will be the best, I hope."Jungkook said: "I promise we will return someday, more mature than now. Till then, we ask for your blessing."As the announcement was happening, Twitter filled up with emotional posts from BTS fans. Overall, fans seemed supportive.One tweet said, "I know it's hard to accept BTS hiatus but their happiness is what that matters the most. They should be given the opportunity to explore the world and find themselves as solo individuals. I promise to support whatever decisions they make. Thank you BTS 💜"  Another fan tweeted, "We will always be here. We love you and support you bts💜"It should be noted that the "Army" will get even more of BTS by way of their solo projects. J-Hope and Suga confirmed that they will be releasing solo music, and Jungkook also revealed tentative plans for his own album. It was also recently announced that J-Hope will be performing solo at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago next month."We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things," Jungkook said, addressing the fans. "We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now." In: South Korea Music Jaz Garner Jaz Garner is a producer and social media manager based in New York City for CBS News. Twitter Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

K-pop band BTS to take "hiatus" to focus on solo projects, leaving fans in disbelief.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - The American Petroleum Institute, the top U.S. oil lobby organization, on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden’s administration to lift a slew of restrictions on fossil fuel development to help ease soaring energy prices.The request underscores an uncomfortable dilemma for the Biden administration as it seeks to follow through on its promises to combat climate change while also battling to curb rampant inflation.Oil prices have surged more than 70% since late last year as global demand rebounds from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic and as trade flows are disrupted by punitive sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on major supplier Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe jump has contributed to a record surge in U.S. gasoline prices to around $5 a gallon, part of a broad wave of rising consumer prices that threaten Biden’s fellow Democrats heading into the November mid-term elections. read more “This combination of factors and events leaves us in the situation we face today. Namely, the most consequential energy crisis since the 1970s,” API President Mike Sommers wrote in a letter addressed to Biden and dated Tuesday, referring to the Arab oil embargo. “Fortunately, the United States benefits from an abundance of oil and natural gas resources and has developed cutting-edge technologies to be the world’s energy leader."The letter included a 10-point policy wish list from the oil industry, which included lifting restrictions on federal oil and gas lease sales, speeding permitting for fossil fuel projects, and rolling back proposals for increased climate disclosure.Biden has set a target to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050 to slow global warming. But in recent months his administration has also called for increased domestic oil and gas production and requested more oil from the producer group OPEC to help curb inflation.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. oil lobby pushes Biden to roll back fossil fuel curbs.

Politics Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 6:48 PM / AP Trump ordered to testify in financial probe Judge rules Trump must testify in New York financial probe 01:20 New York's highest court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump's last-ditch effort to avoid testifying in the state attorney general's civil investigation into his business practices, clearing the way for his deposition next month.The state's Court of Appeals said there was no "substantial constitutional question" that would warrant its intervention in the matter following an intermediate appellate court's ruling last month enforcing a subpoena for Trump's testimony.The court also dismissed a motion by Trump's lawyers to stay the subpoenas, saying that doing so would be "academic," since it wasn't taking up the former president's appeal in the first place. Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., agreed last week to answer questions under oath starting July 15 unless the Court of Appeals decided to step in.A message seeking comment on Tuesday's ruling was sent to Trump's lawyer. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., declined comment. A message was also left with a spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James. The appellate division of the state's trial court ruled May 26 that the Trumps had to undergo a deposition, upholding a lower court's ruling that James' office had "the clear right" to question Trump and certain other figures in his company, the Trump Organization.James has said her three-year investigation has uncovered evidence that the Trump Organization exaggerated the value of assets including skyscrapers, golf courses and even his Manhattan penthouse to get loans, insurance and tax breaks for land donations.A lawyer for her office told a judge last month that evidence could support legal action against the former president, his company or both, though the attorney said no decision had been made.Trump has decried the investigation as part of a politically motivated "witch hunt" against him. In: Donald Trump New York Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

New York high court nixes Trump appeal, clears way for deposition.

Bausch Health Companies Inc: "I can not believe that this has worked out as bad as it has. It's one of the worst picks I've had. ... [CEO Joe Papa's] got to come back on the show. That's the only way to clear the air."Equinix Inc: "I thought that Equinix would be a good stock, but you know what, we're in a situation now where anything that's just a building with plumbing in it's not doing it for people. We're going to have to stay away for now."Mosaic Co: "I can not recommend buy or sell, because it is at a level that is just right at the precipice of either going back up or going down big."Farmland Partners Inc: "I like Farmland Partners. ... It just is very, very expensive, and that's the problem."Saverone 2014 Ltd: "I find myself loathe to recommend something that is not making money. .... I've got to be cut and dry in this bear market. I just have to."Disclosure: Cramer's Charitable Trust owns shares of Bausch Health.

Cramer's lightning round: Stay away from Equinix for now.

Voters are casting their ballots in primary elections in four states, setting up some of the most closely-watched and expensive general election matchups in the fall.In South Carolina, Republican incumbent U.S. Reps. Tom Rice and Nancy Mace are both facing Trump-backed challengers. Rice is one of the six House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and is up for reelection. Rice has vehemently defended his impeachment vote, telling Politico recently that "I think that was one of the worst things, if not the worst, that a president has ever done in terms of attacking the Constitution and separation of powers." Trump has backed Russell Fry in the race, and they face five other Republicans in the primary. The large number of candidates could keep both Rice and Fry under 50% of the vote, which would lead to a runoff on June 28. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images Mace, a freshman Republican who flipped South Carolina's 1st District from blue to red, is facing off against former State Rep. Katie Arrington, who was the 2018 GOP nominee for this district who lost to Democrat Joe Cunningham.Mace voted to certify the 2020 election results and to hold Trump ally Steven Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. She was also outspoken against Trump's conduct in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.In a statement on Saturday, Trump continued his attacks on her. "Nancy fights Republicans all the time and is not at all nice about it.  Frankly, she is despised by almost everyone, and who needs that in Congress, or in the Republican Party?" he said.Republican incumbent Sen. Tim Scott isn't facing any serious primary challengers on Tuesday and he's expected to easily win deep-red South Carolina in November. But he's raised nearly $40 million so far, more than any other Republican.Democrats Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter and state Rep. Krystle Matthews are competing to take on Scott.In the governor's race, Trump-backed incumbent Republican Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to defeat his primary challenger, Harrison Musselwhite.On the Democratic side, Cunningham, who lost his House seat to Mace in 2018, and state Sen. Mia McLeod are the top two contenders on Tuesday. Also in the spotlight will be Nevada, the state that officially gave President Joe Biden enough electoral votes to win the presidency in 2020. Mr. Biden won the state by less than three points in 2020, and the state's economy has been hit hard by inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans are hoping to flip the Senate seat and the governor's mansion in the fall — and a number of Republicans are running to succeed the term-limited Secretary of State, who refused to throw out the election results in favor of Trump.Trump-backed Republican Adam Laxalt, who succeeded current Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as the state's attorney general, long held a comfortable lead in the Senate race, but retired Army captain Sam Brown has narrowed the once 40-point gap.  Ben Smith (left) and Adam Laxalt are running for the Republican nomination for Senate in Nevada.  David Calvert/Getty Images, David Becker/Getty Images Laxalt, who lost the governor's race in 2018, also has endorsements from a number of high-profile Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Donald Trump Jr., who came to Nevada to campaign with Laxalt. Cortez Masto doesn't have a serious challenger on Tuesday, but she has already raised big sums ahead of November — nearly $20 million in the last year — and goes into primary day with more than $9 million cash on hand.Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, elected in 2018, was the first Democrat to win the governor's mansion in more than 20 years. He faces a primary challenger on Tuesday, Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins.Fifteen Republicans are on the Republican primary ballot for governor. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former boxer Joey Gilbert, former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and entrepreneur Guy Nohra are so far leading the field. Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has faced blowback from Trump's supporters since the 2020 election, including being censured by the state party. There is a crowded Republican primary field to be the party's nominee in November, including some candidates who have spread false claims or raised questions about the 2020 election. There has been no credible evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed Nevada's results. In Nevada's 1st Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Dina Titus is facing a challenger on the left, progressive Amy Vilela, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. In the 2nd District, national Republican groups have gotten involved to support Congressman Mark Amodei in his primary. Amodei is being challenged by Danny Tarkanian, a Douglas County commissioner who has had unsuccessful runs for Congress in the past decade.And in one bonus race, South Texas will be holding a special election to fill the House seat vacated by Democrat Filemon Vela, in the 34th District, for the remainder of the term. A win could give House Republicans a symbolic win ahead of this November. Two Republicans and two Democrats are running in the nonpartisan primary, which would go into a runoff if no candidate clears 50%.    6:05 PM South Carolina 1st U.S. House District Republican primary Rep. Nancy Mace and Kate Arrington are on the ballot.    6:05 PM South Carolina 7th U.S. House District Republican primary Rep. Tom Rice, Russell Fry, Barbara Arthur, Garrett Barton, Mark McBride, Spencer Morris and Ken Richardson are on the ballot.   6:05 PM South Carolina U.S. Senate Republican primary Sen. Tim Scott and Larry Adams Jr. are on the ballot.   6:04 PM South Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter and Krystle Matthews are on the ballot.   6:04 PM South Carolina Governor Republican primary Gov. Henry McMaster and Harrison Musselwhite are on the ballot.   6:04 PM South Carolina Governor Democratic primary Joe Cunningham, Mia McLeod, Calvin McMillian, William Williams and Carlton Boyd are on the ballot.   6:04 PM Nevada U.S. Senate Republican primary Adam Laxalt, Sam Brown, William Conrad, William Hockstedler, Sharelle Mendenhall, Tyler Perkins, Carlo Poliak and Paul Rodriguez are on the ballot.   6:03 PM Nevada U.S. Senate Democratic primary Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Stephanie Kasheta, Corey Reid and Allen Reinhart are on the ballot.   6:03 PM Nevada Governor Republican primary Joe Lombardo, Dean Heller, Joey Gilbert, John J. Lee, Guy Nohra, Seven Achilles Evans, Gary Evertsen, Eddie Hamilton, Tom Heck, Stan Lusak, Edward O'Brien, Fred Simon, William Walls, Amber Whitley, Barak Zilberberg.   6:03 PM Nevada Governor Democratic primary Gov. Steve Sisolak and Tom Collins   6:02 PM Nevada Secretary of State Republican primary Kristopher Dahir, Jesse Haw, Jim Marchant, Richard F. Scotti, John Cardiff Gerhardt, Socorro Keenan and Gerard Ramalho are on the ballot.   6:02 PM Texas 34th U.S. House District Republican special election primary Mayra Flores and Juana Cantu-Cabrera are on the ballot.   6:02 PM Texas 34th U.S. House District Democratic special election primary Rene Coronado and Dan Sanchez are on the ballot.

Primary results 2022: South Carolina, Nevada and more hold elections Tuesday.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific appeared set for a lower start on Wednesday following overnight losses on Wall Street as the S&P 500 fell deeper into bear market territory. Investors in the region will also be looking ahead to the release of Chinese economic data expected later today.Futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese stocks, with the Nikkei futures contract in Chicago at 26,470 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 26,420 — lower than the Nikkei 225's last close at 26,629.86.Australian stocks also looked poised to open lower, with the SPI futures contract at 6,637, against the S&P/ASX 200's last close at 6,686.A slew of Chinese economic data, including industrial production and retail sales for May, is set to be out later on Wednesday.Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell deeper into bear market territory, declining 0.38% to 3,735.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 151.91 points, or 0.5%, to 30,364.83. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 0.18% to around 10,828.35.The moves stateside came as U.S. Treasury yields rose again as investors anticipate more aggressive tightening policies from the Federal Reserve, which is set to announce its latest interest rate decision later Wednesday stateside.The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield last stood at 3.4791%, while the 2-year rate was at 3.4393%. Yields move inversely to prices. The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yield curve briefly inverted recently as investors position for potentially aggressive monetary policy tightening to tame inflation.The yield curve inversion is closely monitored by traders and is often viewed as an indicator of potential recession ahead.CurrenciesThe U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 105.518 after a recent bounce from levels below 105.The Japanese yen traded at 135.27 per dollar, weaker as compared with levels below 135 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6881, struggling to recover after last week's fall from levels above $0.72.

Asia-Pacific stocks set for lower start; China's May retail sales, industrial production out ahead.

Federal forces are pictured at a scene following a shootout that left three security forces wounded and 10 suspected criminals killed, in Texcaltitlan, Mexico June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMEXICO CITY, June 14 (Reuters) - Three security forces were wounded and 10 suspected criminals killed in a shootout in Mexico State bordering the capital Mexico City, state officials said on Tuesday.Violence has plagued the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to pacify the country with a less confrontational approach to dealing with crime.Mexico State's prosecutor's office said on Twitter that during an operation in the small municipality of Texcaltitlan "a heavily armed group attacked" its security forces, three of them sustaining non-life threatening injuries.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMeanwhile, 10 suspected criminals were killed and seven were arrested, four of them injured.State security forces seized 20 long weapons, handguns, cartridges, five vehicles, bulletproof vests, military-style uniforms, and communications equipment.Violence in Mexico spiked after former President Felipe Calderon sent the army into the streets to fight drug traffickers in 2007, unleashing a wave of violence that has not abated.While Lopez Obrador inherited a nation already reeling from a high murder rate, since taking office average annual homicide totals are on track to be the highest under any Mexican administration since modern records began.His security policy, which he termed "hugs not bullets," has faced sharp criticism for being soft on crime.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Anthony Esposito; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ten killed in Mexico State shootout with security forces, officials say.

Until inflation peaks and the Federal Reserve stops hiking rates, market forecaster Jim Bianco warns Wall Street is on a one way trip to misery."The Fed only has one tool to bring in inflation and that is they have to slow demand," the Bianco Research president told CNBC "Fast Money" on Tuesday. "We may not like what's happening, but over in the Eccles building in Washington, I don't think they're too upset with what they've seen in the stock market for the last few weeks."The S&P 500 dropped for the fifth day in a row and tripped deeper into a bear market on Tuesday. The index is now off 23% from its all-time high hit on Jan. 4. The Nasdaq is off 33% and the Dow 18% from their respective record highs."We're in a bad news is good news scenario because you've got 390,000 jobs in May," said Bianco. "They [the Fed] feel like they can make the stock market miserable without creating unemployment."Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury Note yield hit its highest level since April 2011. It's now around 3.48%, up 17% over just the past week.'Complete mess right now'"The bond market, and I'll use a very technical term, it's a complete mess right now," he said. "The losses that you've seen in the bond market year-to-date are the greatest ever. This is shaping up to be the worst year in bond market history. The mortgage-backed market is no better. Liquidity is terrible."Bianco has been bracing for an inflation comeback for two years. On CNBC's "Trading Nation" in December 2020, he warned inflation would surge to highs not seen in a generation."You've got quantitative tightening coming. The biggest buyer of bonds is leaving. And, that's the Federal Reserve," said Bianco. "You've got them intending on being very hawkish in raising rates."Bianco expects the Fed will hike rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, which falls in line with Wall Street estimates. He's also forecasting another 75 basis point hike at the next meeting in July."You could raise rates enough and you could butcher the economy and you can have demand fall off a cliff and you can have inflation go down. Now, that's not the way you or I want it to be done," said Bianco. "There's a high degree of chance that they're going to wind up going too far and making a bigger mess of this."He contends the Fed needs to see serious damage to the economy to back off its tightening policy. With inflation affecting every corner of the economy, he warns virtually every financial asset is vulnerable to sharp losses. According to Bianco, the odds are against a soft or even a softish landing.His exception is commodities, which are positioned to beat inflation. However, Bianco warns there are serious risks there, too."You're not there in demand destruction yet. And so, I think that until you do, commodities will continue to go higher," he said. "But the caveat I would give people about commodities is they've got crypto levels of volatility."For those with a low tolerance for risks, Bianco believes government-insured money market accounts should start looking more attractive. Based on a 75 basis points hike, he sees them jumping 1.5% within two weeks. The current national average rate is 0.08% on a money market account, according to Bankrate.com's latest weekly survey of institutions.It would hardly keep up with inflation. But Bianco sees few alternatives for investors."Everything is a one way street in the wrong direction right now," Bianco said.Disclaimer

Wall Street is on a one way trip to misery until Fed hikes stop, market forecaster Jim Bianco warns.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummaryCompaniesNo respite for households facing surging energy billsEurope aims to phase out Russian fuel use by 2027Russia already cut gas to some European buyersEurope cannot rely on LNG alone to fill gap left by RussiaLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Even if Europe can fill its gas storage, Europe faces a perilous winter and governments will need to keep rationing plans to hand as they race to secure more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to keep pace with a rapid shift away from reliance on Russian fuel.For European households, meanwhile, there is little respite from sky-high fuel prices that have strained budgets, driven down disposable income and weighed on the economic outlook.The European Union aims to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. But Moscow has already cut gas flows to Bulgaria, Poland, Finland, Danish supplier Orsted, Dutch firm Gasterra and Shell for its German contracts, after they all rejected a Kremlin demand to switch to payments in roubles. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe 27-member European Union, which has traditionally depended on Russia for 40% of its gas needs, aims to have its gas storage 80% full by November from about half full now to see it through winter, when stored gas usually meets about a quarter of demand. Analysts say it is on track. read more But it still leaves a big gap to fill from other sources, such as LNG, and it will be even bigger if Russia cuts flows to more European buyers, although Moscow says it is meeting its obligations and sees no need to halt supplies to other clients.Reuters GraphicsSURGING DEMAND"A complete halt to Russian flows would undoubtedly be Europe's worst-case scenario for this winter as the continent is unlikely to be able to source sufficient supplies from other producers to offset such a significant supply disruption," said Leon Izbicki, European natural gas associate at Energy Aspects.Even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, sparking an energy crisis in Europe, demand for gas had been surging in the post-pandemic recovery. The market for LNG, which is dominated by long-term contracts, was already as tight as a drum.The EU has lifted LNG purchases, with imports up about 58% in the first five months of 2022 compared with 2021 levels, Refinitiv data showed, as more capacity came on stream in the United States and high prices in Europe attracted cargoes.EU LNG imports to key hubs by countryLNG DISRUPTIONSA gas installation is pictured at a Gaz-System gas compressor station in Rembelszczyzna, outside Warsaw October 13, 2010. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File PhotoThe United States, a major LNG producer, has promised to help Europe with more shipments.But Europe has limited capacity to receive LNG and, adding to uncertainty, Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest U.S. export plants, said on Tuesday it would take at least 90 days to resume partial operations after an explosion last week. read more "If Europe goes into winter relying on just LNG supplies, then things could get sticky," said Evangeline​ Cookson, research analyst and meteorologist at commodities broker Marex.Unlike piped gas which can be ramped up swiftly, shipping LNG can take weeks and can be disrupted by the weather.The U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said last month there was a 65% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season including six to 10 hurricanes. read more Izbicki of Energy Aspects said gas in storage could see Europe through 2022, even without Russian supplies, but that would leave it struggling when winter comes in late 2023, so governments could not yet shelve their rationing plans.Germany, which has historically relied on Russia for about half its gas needs, has already launched plans for an auctioning system to help ration gas to energy-intensive industries if supplies are cut. read more France has implemented measures to limit gas supplies to large consumers in the event of any shortages. read more Poland, already cut off from Russian gas, has boosted LNG imports, opened a gas link to Lithuania in May and aims to open a new pipeline this year to Norway. But it still has plans in place for curbing gas to heavy industry in a crisis so that it can keep homes and public services supplied. read more Yet rationing would carry a heavy economic price. Berenberg chief economist Holger Schmieding estimated EU economic output would be 2% lower by the end of 2022 if Russian supplies were shut off now.Gas accounts for more than 20% of EU energy use, heating homes, generating electricity and used in the manufacture of vital products such as fertiliser. Meanwhile, the surging cost of fuel is already having a knock-on effect."Even without an embargo, the high prices for gas are taking a heavy toll on consumers, leaving them less money to spend on other goods and services," Schmieding said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting By Susanna Twidale in London; Additional reporting by Nora Buli in Olso, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Forrest Crellin in Paris and Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw; Editing by Veronica Brown and Edmund BlairOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Analysis: Europe fills up on gas but race to replace Russia far from over.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's public approval rating fell to 39% in its third straight weekly decline, approaching the lowest level of his presidency, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Tuesday.The two-day national poll found that 56% of Americans disapprove of Biden's job performance.Biden's approval rating has been below 50% since August, a sign that his Democratic Party could be on track to lose control of at least one chamber of Congress in the Nov. 8 midterm election.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBiden has been dogged this year by a surge in inflation, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine helping drive fuel prices higher and global supply chains still hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.The decline in Biden's popularity has been largely driven by dissatisfaction within his own party. Seventy-four percent of Democrats approved of Biden's performance this week, down from about 85% in August. Only 11% of Republicans approved, largely unchanged from August.Biden's overall approval rating has yet to hit the lows seen by his predecessor, Donald Trump, whose popularity bottomed out at 33% in December 2017. Biden's lowest rating so far was 36% in late May.The Reuters/Ipsos poll is conducted online in English throughout the United States. The latest poll gathered responses from a total of 1,005 adults, including 443 Democrats and 364 Republicans. It has a credibility interval - a measure of precision - of four percentage points.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Biden's approval falls in third straight week, nears record low -Reuters/Ipsos.

CBS Mornings June 14, 2022 / 12:42 PM / CBS News Threats against U.S. lawmakers on the rise Data shows violent threats against U.S. lawmakers have more than doubled in past five years 03:51 New data from the U.S. Capitol Police shows that threats made against lawmakers has drastically increased in the last five years, with nearly 10,000 threats investigated last year alone. In 2020, Sidhartha Mathur was a college graduate with a public health degree and no criminal history. But that changed after he said he let his emotions take over. Mathur was arrested weeks after the 2020 election for leaving Maryland Rep. Andy Harris a message where he threatened him and his family.  "At that moment, I let my anger get the best of me," he told CBS News Congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane. Prosecutors deemed it a death threat and filed federal charges against Mathur. He pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of communicating a threat and was sentenced to serve eight consecutive weekends in jail, followed by six months of home confinement and two years of probation. FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 23, 2021 file photo, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., discusses the infrastructure bill making its way through congress during a news conference held by the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sidhartha Kumar Mathur who threatened to kill Rep. Andy Harris from Maryland over Republicans' baseless claims of a rigged presidential election was sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021 to serve eight consecutive weekends in jail followed by six months of home confinement. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / AP Mathur said he was angry his congressman was challenging the results of the election.  "You say your intention was to voice your opinion, you went a lot farther than that? "MacFarlane asked. "I did. In fact, when I picked up the phone and I was so infuriated at that time. It was an unfortunate thing that I did and I'm very sorry," Mathur said.Some politically charged rhetoric has already turned violent. In 2017, a rifle-wielding attacker opened fire on Republican lawmakers at a congressional baseball practice, wounding House GOP Whip Steve Scalise and several others.  "I'm lucky to be alive. God definitely took care of me that day," Scalise said.  Scalise has been undergoing physical therapy since the shooting. he said there should be a "zero tolerance" policy and rigorous prosecution for threats, including verbal ones.  House Republican Whip Steve Scalise walks with his wife Jennifer as he leaves the House chamber in the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017. To hugs and a roaring bipartisan standing ovation, Scalise returned to the House, more than three months after a baseball practice shooting left him fighting for his life.( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jose Luis Magana / AP "Clearly people, there's got to be mental illness involved. The rage that some people might get where they think it is ok to take a political difference and then want to go commit violence based on it," said Scalise. An armed California man was arrested last week near Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house in Maryland after making threats against Kavanaugh. He is charged with attempting to murder a Supreme Court justice. Many experts point to the increasingly overheated and inflammatory rhetoric of politicians for being behind the rise in threats."There's no question that hearing from elected officials that this is unacceptable behavior, that there are consequences for embracing this kind of hate speech and extremist ideology that makes a difference just as the failure to do that makes a difference,"Margaret Huang, president and chief executive officer of Southern Poverty Law Center, said.Though it's not only politicians who bear responsibility, according to Mathur, who acknowledges that people should resist doing what he did."I still think about it every day, like when I wake up or when I'm going to sleep, it's it's going to stay with me forever, basically just for that one mistake, for that one night," said Mathur.  The House Sergeant at Arms has formally recommended more security cameras and upgrades at members' hometown offices, in addition to those at the Capitol. Officials with the Capitol Police tell CBS News they are working to hire and deploy an additional 280 officers by the end of the summer. In: United States Congress steve scalise Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

New data finds violent threats against Congress have more than doubled in past five years.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON/GENEVA, June 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday it had suspended some food aid in South Sudan due to a funding shortage - heightening the risk of starvation for 1.7 million people.The move to suspend aid to almost a third of the 6.2 million people in South Sudan the WFP had planned to assist this year comes as global food prices soar amid the Russia-Ukraine war, leaving humanitarian agencies with funding shortfalls.Climate change is also exacerbating the situation, with South Sudan facing severe flooding, localised drought as well as man-made conflict that has left more than 60% of the population grappling with severe hunger.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMen carry bags of food while women wait for their rations at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) food distribution site in Pibor, South Sudan, June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Adriane Ohanesian/File Photo"South Sudan is facing its hungriest year since independence. We are already in a crisis, but we are trying to avert the situation from becoming more explosive," the WFP's acting country director in South Sudan, Adeyinka Badejo-Sanogo, told reporters in Geneva.Badejo-Sanogo, who was speaking from Juba, South Sudan's capital, said the WFP urgently needs $426 million to cover needs for the next six months and dial back what she described as an "explosive situation".The WFP said it had exhausted all options before suspending food assistance, including halving rations in 2021.It said that following the food aid suspension, it is now hoping to reach 4.5 million South Sudanese in need, including 87,000 people already experiencing famine-like conditions.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

World Food Programme suspends some food aid in South Sudan as funds dry up.

China's retail sales plunged 11.1% in April from a year ago as Covid controls kept many people at home and malls closed. Pictured here is a luxury store in Shanghai on June 4, 2022, just a few days after the city officially began to reopen.Hugo Hu | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Luxury brands have slashed expectations for their China business this year after the country's latest Covid lockdowns, according to an Oliver Wyman survey shared exclusively with CNBC.Forecasted growth for luxury and premium consumer brands was cut by 15 percentage points, and down nearly 25 percentage points for luxury brands alone, according to survey results released Wednesday. Premium and luxury goods businesses now expect only 3% year-on-year growth in their mainland China business this year, down sharply from an 18% surge they forecast a few months ago, the report said. That's based on a weighted average of the survey results. Oliver Wyman said its survey of executives in May covered more than 30 of the consulting firm's clients across premium consumer and luxury goods, representing more than $50 billion in retail sales.Uncertain futureShanghai, the city with the largest gross domestic product in China and a hub for foreign business, faced the brunt of China's Covid outbreak this spring — the country's worst since the initial shock of the pandemic in early 2020. The city ordered people to stay home and most businesses to shut for two months, before attempting to reopen on June 1."There is still a very high uncertainty of what will be the future Covid [measures] in China," Kenneth Chow, principal at Oliver Wyman, said in a phone interview this week."There is a huge doubt about whether the consumer confidence [can] recover quickly, as in 2020 and 2021," he said, citing the firm's interviews with executives.China's retail sales plunged by 11.1% in April from a year ago, following a 3.3% increase during the first three months of the year. Consumer spending in China never fully recovered from the initial phase of the pandemic, and as Covid drags into its third year, people are increasingly worried about future income.The unemployment rate in China's 31 largest cities surpassed 2020 highs to reach 6.7% in April — the highest since records began in 2018. "It seems that this time around, the affluent Gen Z [age 25 or younger] may react differently, especially since a lack of job security may be something that they have to deal with for the very first time," the report said. "Another common view from our interviewees is that the longer the restrictions, the longer the upcoming U-trough will last."Even in areas not locked down, client anecdotes said in-store traffic fell by more than 50%, and the percentage of those visitors actually making a purchase was up to 30% lower, according to the Oliver Wyman report.China has maintained a strict "dynamic zero-Covid" policy that uses travel restrictions and swift lockdowns to try to control the virus. While the strategy helped the country quickly return to growth in 2020, the higher transmissibility of this year's omicron variant has made the virus harder to control.Looking ahead to next year, survey respondents were more cautious about future growth, with only 12% — down from 40% previously — expecting their China business to grow by more than 20%.The brands on average now expect 11% growth next year in their mainland China business, with only 6% not planning for growth, the report said.Bright spotsMany of the luxury and premium consumer brands surveyed were optimistic about growth opportunities from domestic travel and e-commerce, Chow said. He said once domestic travel is allowed to pick up, Hainan tends to benefit.The tropical Chinese island has become a luxury goods shopping hub since most Chinese travelers cannot go overseas.He added that many luxury brands were using e-commerce to reach smaller Chinese cities, while brands in a lower range of the market were exploring new store openings. But "when speaking with some of our clients, the Covid lockdown in Shanghai and some other cities have been their primary concern, rather than store expansion," Chow said.Read more about China from CNBC ProLooking longer-term, high levels of Chinese consumer saving has historically been a good predictor of future spending, the report said.In the first quarter, Chinese household inclinations to save reached the highest since 2002, according to a survey by the People's Bank of China."Once consumer confidence is resumed and also the Covid lockdown measures have been relieved, there will be a much better spending level to be unlocked," Chow said. But "the question still remains on when the Covid measures will be relieved."Oliver Wyman's survey found that the most optimistic expect China to make a full recovery as early as July, while pessimists don't expect a return to normal until next year. "The neutral view puts an end to the restrictive policies to occur around October this year," the report said.

Luxury brands say China's latest Covid wave has whacked consumer demand.

A person walks past a Bank of America sign in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEADRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Bank of America (BAC.N) is rolling out a new cash management tool to U.S.-based clients, it said on Tuesday, in a bid to gain market share in the $300 billion cash management business for multi-national corporations.Transaction banking - which covers processing employee payroll, paying suppliers and collecting from customers - contributed roughly 8% of the bank's total 2021 revenue, or $7.23 billion.The second-largest U.S. bank said it was extending its virtual account management (VAM) tool - already available in Europe - to the United States, where the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated customers' use of electronic payments.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe tool helps companies manage multiple accounts by creating a virtual ledger, accessible online, that shows all their account balances and transactions, and can model future cash flow. The tool can be opened and used within a day, whereas a bank account can take weeks to open.Companies need this because they often keep hundreds of a different bank accounts to separate funds generated by their subsidiaries or clients, said Liba Saiovici, head of global receivables in global transaction services for Bank of America."It becomes very costly and complex for the client," Saiovici said, because they have to employ people to manage the accounts. "(Our) clients are expanding, but their treasury teams are not expanding at the same rate."Transaction banking is a competitive but fragmented business. Citigroup Inc (C.N), the largest global bank in the sector, commands roughly 10% of the market, Chief Executive Jane Fraser said earlier this month.Efficiency, scale and significant investment are key to gaining market share in this business, Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck said."It's a service that needs to continuously be invested in. Clearly there's room for competition."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Bank of America aims to grow corporate cash management with new tool.

U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Rudolph Giuliani has sued Smartmatic to recoup legal fees as he defends against its $2.7 billion lawsuit accusing him, Fox News Network and others of falsely claiming that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election so Joe Biden would defeat Donald Trump.In a counterclaim filed late Monday in a New York state court in Manhattan, Giuliani said the voting machine company's defamation lawsuit, which he characterized as baseless, interfered with his constitutional right to speak freely on issues of public concern."Smartmatic's litigation tactics, including its facially implausible damages claims, are a naked attempt to attack a well-known public figure" and amount to censorship, said Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and lawyer for Trump.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJ. Erik Connolly, a lawyer for Smartmatic, said: "Smartmatic is confident in its claims against Mr. Giuliani."Fox News and two other defendants, Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo and former anchor Lou Dobbs, have filed similar counterclaims citing New York's "anti-SLAPP" law, short for "strategic lawsuits against public participation."They and Giuliani, as well as Smartmatic, are appealing parts of a March 8 decision by state Supreme Court Justice David Cohen allowing most of Smartmatic's lawsuit to proceed.Smartmatic claimed that Fox News, part of Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp (FOXA.O), decimated its business with a bogus narrative that its election software helped Biden, a Democrat, steal the election from Trump, a Republican.The Boca Raton, Florida-headquartered company said Fox News did this to cater to Trump supporters, boost ratings and keep viewers from defecting to smaller right-wing rivals Newsmax and One America News.Smartmatic faulted Giuliani for saying without evidence that the company was formed by people close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez, and founded "for the specific purpose of fixing elections."In his decision, Cohen found a substantial basis to suggest that Fox News had "turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims" about Smartmatic, with reckless disregard for the truth. read more Giuliani has had his New York law license suspended and faces ethics charges in Washington over his election claims.The case is Smartmatic USA Corp et al v Fox Corp et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 151136/2021.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rudolph Giuliani sues Smartmatic to recoup legal fees in Fox News lawsuit.

Cast member Chris Evans poses for a photo, as he arrives for the UK premiere of 'Lightyear' in London, Britain June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Maja SmiejkowskaRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLOS ANGELES, June 14 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) new animated Pixar movie "Lightyear" features a gay couple, the latest step by the company to show traditionally under-represented groups on the big screen.Actor Chris Evans, who voices the main character in "Lightyear," applauded moves to reflect all types of people and said those who react negatively should be disregarded."The real truth is those people are idiots," Evans said in an interview with Reuters Television ahead of the debut of "Lightyear" in theaters on Friday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Every time there’s been social advancement as we wake up, the American story, the human story is one of constant social awakening and growth and that’s what makes us good," he added."Lightyear" was banned in the United Arab Emirates because it depicts homosexuality, and Disney has been unable to secure permission to show the movie in 13 other Middle Eastern and Asian countries L1N2XW2X0.The movie is Pixar's imagining of the movie that inspired the toy version of Buzz Lightyear featured in the acclaimed "Toy Story" franchise.Evans voices Buzz Lightyear, a legendary space ranger. Buzz's close friend in the film is a female space ranger who marries another woman. A scene showing milestones in the couple's relationship includes a brief kiss."There's always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs," Evans said. "I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward and embrace the growth that makes us human."Producer Galyn Susman asked why viewers "don't get more upset showing failed relationships."In "Lightyear," "We have a relationship here which lasts an entire lifetime. It's loving, it's supportive and it shows Buzz exactly what he doesn't have and that's the whole point."We should all be so lucky to have that kind of relationship in our life," she added.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

'Lightyear' star Chris Evans calls critics of on-screen representation 'idiots'.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - London marked the deaths of 72 people in a tower block fire at memorial services across the city on Tuesday, five years after a blaze that shook the nation and revealed widespread and fatal flaws in building regulations.On June 14, 2017, Britain woke to the news of its deadliest fire in a residential building since World War Two, captured in images of a 23-storey inferno that have come to symbolise the tragedy of that night and a quest for justice for the local community and relatives of those who died.A memorial service at Westminster Abbey in central London began the commemorations. Other events included a 72-second silence, a wreath-laying ceremony and a silent walk at the site of the fire.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"The bereaved, survivors and residents that I have spoken to are clear if nothing changes, those who lost their lives will have died in vain and they are not prepared to accept that," solicitor Imran Khan told the congregation at Westminster Abbey.A member of the public holds a white rose during a memorial service for those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire on June 14 2018, at Westminster Abbey in London, Britain June 14, 2022. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERSGrenfell Tower, a social housing block in a wealthy west London borough, was destroyed in the fire, started by an electrical fault in a refrigerator. A combustible cladding system retro-fitted to the tower's external walls was the main factor in the unstoppable spread of the flames.The disaster prompted a wave of soul-searching over whether neglect of an ethnically mixed, largely low-income community had played a part in the tower's fate.In the months after the blaze, hundreds of buildings were found to have similar cladding and a public inquiry has found numerous faults in the planning and administration of the Grenfell refurbishment.Campaign groups are focused on prosecuting those found responsible for these failings, saying this would represent justice for the victims. Police are still conducting a criminal investigation and a public inquiry is ongoing.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by William James and Jacqueline Clyne, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Britain remembers victims of Grenfell fire, five years after deadly blaze.

Smoke billows from the Freeport LNG plant in Quintana, Texas, U.S., June 8, 2022, in this still image obtained from a social media video on June 9, 2022. Courtesy of Maribel Hill/via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Freeport LNG, one of the largest U.S. operators of liquefied natural gas export terminals, on Tuesday said damage from last week's fire at its Texas plant would keep it fully offline until September with only partial operation through year end.Natural gas prices slumped in the United States and soared in Europe on news of an extended shutdown. The facility accounts for about 20% of U.S. LNG exports and has been a major supplier to European buyers seeking alternatives to Russian gas since its invasion of Ukraine.An explosion and fire on June 8 idled the Quintana, Texas, plant when an over-pressurized pipeline ruptured, the company said on Tuesday. It said processing operations were not damaged. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comLoss for months of a big U.S. gas buyer knocked down U.S. Henry Hub natural gas futures , which settled at $7.189 per million British thermal units, down more than 17% from the open. [nL1N2Y11AD] read more European day-ahead gas prices spiked as much as 21% and settled 11.6% higher at 90.43 euros per megawatt hour.The facility can process 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas into a supercooled liquid for shipping, and had been running near capacity in recent months, according to consultancy Rystad Energy. Some 1.17 bcfd of its output had been going to Europe as of May, up from 0.81 bcfd in March, Rystad said.OUTAGE TO HIT EUROPE, CHINAEurope faces reduced supplies of gas from Russia's Nord Stream pipeline, which has planned maintenance. China's LNG demand is expected to recover from COVID-19 shut-ins."It’s very serious," said Alex Munton, director of natural gas and LNG at consultants Rapidan Energy. "We now have a much larger and much more extensive outage at Freeport LNG that will remove more supply from the market than was anticipated last week."Freeport said the prolonged outage will remove 40 cargoes, up sharply from its earlier estimate of a three-week outage that would have removed about 13 cargoes. Analysts said between 4 million and 5 million tons of LNG in total will be lost from a 100 million tonne per year market."We expect Europe will be the region most impacted by this incident," analysts at Rystad Energy said this week. The loss of production through September will remove another 2.8 million tonnes from the market, said Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS.About 70% of Freeport exports in the past few months went to the European Union and Britain, with France, Turkey and Netherlands among the largest European importers this year.PIPELINE BREACHEDThe explosion occurred from a breach in pressurized pipes that transfer LNG from storage tanks to nearby dock facilities, the company said.There was no damage to the liquefaction trains that chill gas, its processing areas, storage tanks or docks.The incident is being investigated by the company, U.S. energy and pipeline regulators, and the U.S. Coast Guard. A company spokesperson declined to comment on whether investigators are looking at potential design or structural flaws.The extended delay of about six months in the return to full operation shows investigators want to understand the cause of the explosion to avoid another fire, outside experts said."There is lot of analysis to understand the problem, put in measures of safety and operational regime to make sure it doesn’t happen again," said Rapidan's Munton.The extended outage will ease a U.S. natural gas storage deficit, with inventories now around 300 bcf below the five-year average, according to Al Salazar, a senior vice president at Enverus Intelligence Research.Paul Cicio, chief executive of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, a trade group that has called on Congress to limit expanded LNG export permits, said the outage highlighted the impact exports had on costs for U.S. consumers."It should be alarming to federal policymakers that the Freeport LNG terminal only exports 2 Bcfd, yet it is having such a significant impact to prices," he said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, Marwa Rashad in London, Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Sriraj Kalluvila, Arun Koyyur, Tomasz Janowski and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Freeport LNG extends outage after fire, targets year end for full operations.

U.S. Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 7:25 PM / CBS News People across the U.S. can catch the strawberry supermoon on Tuesday night, if the weather permits. According to NASA, the full moon will be at its closest point to the Earth for this orbit at 7:24 p.m. EDT Tuesday. It will be close enough to be considered a supermoon, making it the second one of 2022.  It will appear full Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, and it'll be the lowest full moon of the year, reaching only 23.3 degrees above the horizon Wednesday at 1:56 a.m. EDT, the agency said.  Full strawberry supermoon is seen on June 14 in Indonesia. WF Sihardian/NurPhoto via Getty Images How did strawberry moon gets its name? The name has nothing to do with its color. Traditionally, the strawberry moon is the full moon in June, which is typically the last of spring or first of summer.  According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, the name was used by Native American Algonquin tribes that live in northeastern U.S. and Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples. It was used to mark the ripening of strawberries ready to be gathered in June. How to watch the strawberry supermoonAfter sunset, sky gazers are recommended to look southeast to watch the full moon rise above the horizon, the Almanac said. It reached peak illumination earlier, on Tuesday, at 7:52 a.m. EDT, but it won't be visible in North American time zones until Tuesday evening, as some parts of the world have already seen the supermoon. The Almanac can calculate moonrise and moonset times based on your location here.  "Full moons are a fun time to observe lunar features, as the rest of the sky will be washed out by the light. With the naked eye, you can see the vast highlands and lowlands of the moon, which can appear to be certain shapes and generate stories about those shapes, depending on the culture you follow," according to Space.com. For those that won't stay up, a free livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy is also showing the full moon rise over Rome. And if you miss this supermoon, there will be another on July 13.  In: moon Christopher Brito Christopher Brito is a social media producer and trending writer for CBS News, focusing on sports and stories that involve issues of race and culture. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

June's strawberry supermoon will take the sky Tuesday night.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - BTS, the South Korean band that spearheaded a global K-pop craze, is taking a break as a group to work on solo projects, the singers announced on Tuesday.Band member RM, speaking at the annual FESTA dinner that celebrates the group's founding, said he had been feeling a need to explore his own work without the constant recording and performing required of BTS."The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something," said RM, seated at a table with his six fellow band members and speaking in Korean.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comA video of the dinner was posted on the band's official Twitter handle.Members of K-pop boy band BTS pose for photographs during a news conference promoting their new album "BE(Deluxe Edition)" in Seoul, South Korea, November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Heo RanAn English translation of the remarks showed one of the members calling the break a "hiatus," a description a representative for the band disputed in a statement."To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats," the statement said.BTS made its debut in June 2013 and became a worldwide sensation with its upbeat hits and social campaigns aimed at empowering young people. The group released its new album, "Proof," on Friday.Last year, BTS became the first Asian band to win artist of the year at the American Music Awards. The group met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in May to discuss hate crimes targeting Asians.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Korean pop band BTS taking a break to work on solo projects.

Ukrainian servicemen ride BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb GaranichRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSummarySievierodonetsk city focus of fight for eastern UkraineHundreds trapped in Sievierodonetsk's Azot chemical plantNATO defence ministers due to discuss Ukraine military aidKYIV, June 15 (Reuters) - Russia told Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical plant in embattled Sievierodonetsk to lay down their arms by early Wednesday as it fights to maintain momentum in its battle for control of eastern Ukraine.Ukraine is calling for an increase in Western heavy weapons after Russia committed the bulk of its firepower to the eastern Donbas region, a topic expected to feature prominently at a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Wednesday in Brussels.Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped alongside soldiers inside Azot, a chemical factory where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment and assaults that have reduced much of Sievierodonetsk to ruins.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFighters should "stop their senseless resistance and lay down arms" from 8 a.m. Moscow time (0500 GMT), ​Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defence Management Centre told the Interfax news agency.Civilians would be let out through a humanitarian corridor, Mizintsev said.The Azot bombardment echoes earlier battles over the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port of Mariupol, where hundreds of fighters and civilians took shelter from Russian shelling. Those inside surrendered in mid-May and were taken into Russian custody.Shelling on Azot was so strong that "people can no longer stand it in the shelters, their psychological state is on edge," said regional governor Serhiy Gaidai of Luhansk, one of two eastern provinces Moscow claims on behalf of separatist proxies.The battle for Luhansk's Sievierodonetsk - a city of barely more than 100,000 people before the war - is now the biggest fight in Ukraine as the conflict has become a war of attrition.Ukraine is still trying to evacuate civilians after Russian forces destroyed the last bridge to the city. Ground has changed hands several times over the past few weeks, and Ukrainian officials have given little indication they will back down."We have to hold strong ... The more losses the enemy suffers, (the) less strength it will have to pursue its aggression," Zelenskiy said in an address late Tuesday.'UNABLE TO LEAVE'Ukraine still holds Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk's twin city on higher ground on the western bank of the Siverskyi Donets river. But with all the bridges now cut, its forces acknowledge a threat that they could be encircled.Kyiv has said 100-200 of its soldiers are killed each day, with hundreds more wounded.Russia gives no regular figures of its own losses but Western countries say they have been massive as President Vladimir Putin seeks to force Kyiv to cede full control of two provinces, Luhansk and Donetsk, collectively known as the Donbas.Momentum in Sievierodonetsk has shifted several times over the past few weeks - with Russia concentrating its overwhelming artillery firepower on urban districts to obliterate resistance, then sending in ground troops vulnerable to counter-attacks.Bigger battles could lie ahead for the wider Ukrainian-held pocket of the Donbas, nearly all on the opposite bank of the river which Russian forces have found difficult to cross. Ukraine says Russia plans to assault Sloviansk from the north and along a front near Bakhmut to the south.In Donetsk province, critical infrastructure including homes, schools, hospitals and markets have been attacked over the past week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York."This has made life nearly unbearable for people who are also facing severe water shortages, and at times are unable to leave their homes for days on end due to the fighting," Dujarric said.WEAPONSUkrainian officials have renewed pleas for the United States and its allies to send more and better artillery as well as tanks, drones and other heavy weapons.Western countries have promised NATO-standard weapons - including advanced U.S. rockets. But deploying them is taking time, and Ukraine will require consistent Western support to transition to new supplies and systems as stocks dwindle of their Soviet-era weapons and munitions.The meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of a NATO defence ministerial is being led by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It is the third time the group of nearly 50 countries are meeting to discuss and coordinate Ukraine assistance.Washington has committed about $4.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, including longer-range rocket systems, drones and advanced artillery.But Zelenskiy said Ukraine does not have enough anti-missile systems to shoot down Russian projectiles targeting its cities."Our country does not have enough of them ... there can be no justification in delays in providing them," Zelenskiy said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Rami Ayyub; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Russia tells Ukraine to lay down arms in Sievierodonetsk battle.

Men walk past oil tanks at the plant of Liangyou Industry and Trade Co., Ltd in Qufu, Shandong province, China July 4, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) - China's army of small, privately owned oil refiners are raising output on hopes of recovering fuel demand as COVID-19 curbs ease and refining margins swell due to an increasing supply of cheap Russian oil, traders and analysts said.Higher demand from the world's largest crude oil importer at a time of tight supply is likely to have far-reaching market consequences, including displacing shipments from West Africa and Brazil as well as boosting Russian earnings even as Europe and the United States impose sanctions for attacking Ukraine.The refiners, or teapots, tend to lack credit needed for long-term contracts with suppliers, leaving them reliant on the spot market for purchases and sensitive to near-term margins.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThis makes them a volatile segment of China's refining sector but, accounting for over 20% of crude imports, they are capable of exacerbating swings in the country's market impact.Teapot purchases fell more than 31% in January-May from the same period a year prior, showed data from analytics firm Kpler, as COVID-19 containment measures subdued domestic fuel use.Key cash crude prices in US dollars per barrelWith economic stimulus and easing travel curbs, analysts said teapots are set for a turnaround, pouncing on Russian crude trading at steep discounts to international benchmarks as others snub the sanctioned nation in search of supplies elsewhere."There is no doubt that teapots will maximise cheap Russian crude purchases because profit is their sole consideration," a Singapore-based oil trader said.Russian crude ESPO and Urals are roughly $10 a barrel cheaper than Middle East's Oman, cutting teapots' costs and so boosting profitability, another trader said.SHANGONG FACTORData about individual refiners is rarely made public, but as most teapots are based in Shandong, imports into that eastern province are often used as a proxy for overall teapot demand.Shandong made up 11.6% of China's crude oil imports in 2015, Kpler data showed, the year the government allowed teapots to directly import crude. Since 2016, its share has averaged 27%.China's teapot refiners set to crank up oil demandIts 31% slump in January-May versus China's overall 9.3% decline points to the speed at which teapots cut imports when COVID-19 restrictions hit compared with larger, state-run refiners elsewhere, and indicates room for a potential rebound.Shandong imported 1.68 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in January-May, or 19.8% of China's total, versus 2.56 million bpd or 26.3% in the same period of 2021, Kpler data showed.Over 2017-2021, Shandong's June imports averaged 2.22 million bpd. A return to that average would increase imports this month by over half a million bpd.RUN RATESChina has been one of the largest buyers of Russian oil this year, even as Europe and the United States sanction Russian energy products in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation". read more China has expressed concern for the conflict but does not support sanctions on Russia."We estimate that China can easily add another 1 million bpd of Russian crude to its diet," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a June 1 note to clients.Wood Mackenzie analyst Daphne Ho said Russia will need to divert about 2.5 million bpd of crude from Europe by the end of 2022, with China a viable destination.While it is hard to forecast how much more Russian crude China can buy, traders expect China to hike refining throughput by 1.4 million to 2 million bpd if China fully eases COVID-19 restrictions and oil demand bounces back to pre-pandemic levels.Teapots may raise utilisation rates to about 70% by the end of June from around 60% in late May, a second Singapore-based trader estimated, adding state-owned firms have gradually resumed oil product purchases from teapots.A 10 percentage point rise would imply additional imports of about 300,000 bpd.The average teapot refinery run rate rebounded to 64% last week, after slipping under 50% in April, the lowest since March 2020, showed data from Shandong-based consultancy Longzhong.China’s independent refiners raise operating rates on brightening fuel demand outlookHowever, high stockpiles of crude and refined products may limit imports over the near term. Data from analytics firm Vortexa indicated onshore commercial crude oil stocks reached nine-month highs of over 900 million barrels as of late May, near an all-time high of 1 billion barrels in August 2020.To ease the glut, the government issued 4.5 million tonnes of extra fuel export quotas last week, but higher local fuel demand will be needed to clear the surplus and justify stepped-up imports, traders said. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Muyu Xu; Additional reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Gavin Maguire and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Analysis: China's teapots crank back to life, aided by cheap Russian oil.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - A North Carolina charter school's requirement that girls wear skirts based on the view that they are "fragile vessels" deserving of "gentle" treatment by boys is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-6 that Charter Day School violated three female students' equal protection rights by adopting the skirts policy based on gender stereotypes about the "proper place" for girls in society.The school implemented a dress code that its founder, businessman Baker Mitchell, in an email and testimony said would "preserve chivalry" and ensure girls are treated "courteously and more gently than boys."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe state-funded school in Brunswick County argued the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment did not apply to it because it was a private entity, not a "state actor."But U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said it was one since North Carolina delegated to it its duty to provide free, universal education to students. A contrary ruling would mean North Carolina could ignore "blatant" discrimination, she said.The Richmond, Virginia-based court also allowed the students to pursue a claim under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded education.The ruling "is a victory for North Carolina’s students attending public charter schools, and should put charter schools across the country on notice that they must follow the same rules as traditional public schools when it comes to guaranteeing students’ equal educational opportunities," said Galen Sherwin, the students' lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union.Aaron Streett, the school's attorney, called the ruling "mistaken and harmful," saying it contradicted U.S. Supreme Court precedent and "limits the ability of parents to choose the best education for their children."The six dissenting votes were all from Republican-appointed judges.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Nate RaymondThomson ReutersNate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.

North Carolina charter school's skirt requirement for girls unconstitutional, court rules.

A man participates in a Netflix series 'Squid Game' mission at a department store in Bangkok, Thailand, November 20, 2021. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 14 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc's (NFLX.O) most-watched series is no longer just a fictitious television show after the streaming service greenlit "its biggest reality competition ever" called "Squid Game: The Challenge."Unlike the series where the stakes are life or death, the worst possible fate in this 456 player competition will be leaving without the $4.56 million winnings, which Netflix claims is the largest lump sum prize in reality TV history."Squid Game" became Netflix's most-watched series when it was released in September 2021 as it told the story of cash-strapped contestants who play childhood games for a chance to win life-changing sums of money.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe first season holds the record as Netflix’s most popular series of all time, with over 1.65 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, the company said.The 10-episode reality competition will include games inspired by the original show, as well as new additions, Netflix said.One of YouTube’s top U.S. creators, MrBeast, did an unofficial iteration of this idea by recreating aspects of the South Korean drama’s set and hosting games featured in the show, like “Red Light, Green Light.” The YouTuber also opted out of the killing aspect but strapped a device to all 456 players that mimicked a bullet shot when a player was ruled out.Netflix’s reality show will be filmed in the UK and is currently only casting English speakers. The announcement comes just days after the scripted series was renewed for a second season.(This story corrects a typo in first paragraph)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Jenna Zucker; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Netflix plans 'Squid Game' reality show with big cash prize, no fatal consequences.

CBS Evening News June 14, 2022 / 7:46 PM / CBS News SCAD gets creative as U.S. college enrollment drops University gets creative as U.S. college enrollment drops 02:01 The pandemic, soaring costs and questions over relevance had led to a 5% drop in enrollment at U.S. colleges over the last two years. But one Georgia school is bucking the trend thanks to a different approach. For a class in sneaker design, or to shoot a virtual commercial in the Arctic, head to the Savannah College of Art and Design — also known as SCAD — where design meets technology. The school even gives most freshmen a VR headset. Enrollment is up 9% from the previous year.  "We're very oriented toward invention, more so than tradition," school president Paula Wallace told CBS News. "Whereas other colleges might be more emphasizing tradition over invention." Wallace said the curriculum is critiqued and updated multiple times a year.  The most popular majors are animation, filmmaking and fashion. Sneaker design is now a minor in a curriculum that's evolving nimbly and practically. It has an entire school dedicated to business innovation. "Not a lot of people, when they're applying for a beauty marketing job, can say they majored in beauty and fragrance in college," Hannah Harris, a 2022 graduate, told CBS News. Harris said she's learned how to launch a product and bring her ideas to life. "Creativity is really about invention that's relevant," Wallace said. "We don't teach anything that you can't get a good job in."  SCAD claims students have a 99% employment rate within 10 months of graduation — "no starving artists," Wallace quipped. "Our students want to work at Disney, Google, L'Oreal, and those businesses want to hire and they do hire from SCAD," Wallace said.  Mark Strassmann Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau. Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

"No starving artists": Savannah College of Art and Design leans into creativity as U.S. college enrollment drops.

i24newsInternationalLatin AmericaSearch for missing journalist in Brazil nearing the end, indigenous group saysJoao LAET / AFPMembers of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley looking for clues that lead to the whereabouts of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, on the banks of the Itaguaí river in Vale do Javari, state of Amazonas, Brazil, on June 13, 2022.Phillips and Pereira went missing more than a week agoThe search for missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in Brazil's Amazon rainforest was nearing the end on Tuesday as the area left to search kept shrinking, a spokesman for indigenous group Univaja said.Phillips and Pereira went missing more than a week ago on a remote stretch of the Itacoai River in far western Brazil, near the border with Colombia and Peru.Eliesio Marubo, a lawyer for Univaja, said that indigenous searchers tipped off the authorities after discovering traces of the men in the area, helping to focus the search."We understand that we are heading toward the end. The search area has been further reduced," Marubo said late on Monday, according to Reuters. JOAO LAET / AFPA Federal Police experts examine a boat seized by the Task Force for the rescue of Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips at the port of the city of Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas, Brazil, on June 11, 2022.Police on Sunday said searchers had found belongings of the two men in a creek off the river near where they were last seen on June 5.A Reuters witness on Tuesday observed that authorities had opened a more extensive channel in the brush leading to the creek where the belongings were found, allowing for bigger boats to gain access to expand the search.In a letter to the Phillips family, reviewed by Reuters, the Brazilian ambassador in London apologized on Tuesday for passing on incorrect information that bodies had been discovered.Information received from investigating officials in Brazil misled the embassy, ambassador Fred Arruda wrote, adding, "I wholeheartedly apologize."Brazilian federal police said they expect to conclude this week the forensic analysis of a blood sample collected from the boat of a man suspected of a possible role in the case.

Search for missing journalist in Brazil nearing the end, indigenous group says.

The seal of the United States Department of State is shown in Washington. REUTERS/Joshua RobertsRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States, Canada and other countries have established a new partnership aimed at securing the supply of critical minerals, which are essential for clean energy and other technologies,as global demand for them rises, the State Department said on Tuesday.Demand for the minerals, such as nickel, lithium and cobalt, is projected to expand significantly in the coming decades.Massive amounts of these minerals will be needed to meet the United States' emissions reduction goals, Jose Fernandez, under secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at the State Department, said in a telephone interview.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"You will need six times more lithium by 2050 than you use today in order to meet the clean energy goals," Fernandez said, speaking from Toronto. Canada "is an important supplier of critical minerals," he added.The minerals are key inputs in batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, and are also used in products ranging from computers to household appliances.The Minerals Security Partnership will aim to help "catalyze investment from governments and the private sector for strategic opportunities ... that adhere to the highest environmental, social, and governance standards," the State Department said in a statement.The U.S. government has been working with Canada to boost regional supply chains to counter China's dominance in the sector.Critical minerals are "a generational economic opportunity for Canada if we get it right," Canada's natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a phone interview. He spoke from Toronto's annual mining gathering, called the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference.Canada has large deposits of nickel and cobalt, while the United States does not, Wilkinson said.The Minerals Security Partnership, in addition to Canada and the United States, includes Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Commission.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. and partners enter pact to secure critical minerals like lithium.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he was "comfortable" with the framework of a bipartisan gun violence bill unveiled earlier this week and would vote for it if it is not changed substantially, adding momentum to a compromise that could pass the Senate as early as next week."The heavy lifting is done," Senator Chris Murphy, the lead Democrat on the bill, told reporters.Republican Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican in the effort, said negotiators could finish writing the bill by the end of this week, clearing the way for a possible vote next week.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comMcConnell's support is a significant boost to a growing group of bipartisan lawmakers who are expected to back the finished legislation. The bill needs 60 votes to advance in the evenly-split 100-seat chamber, including 10 Republicans.Crafted in the aftermath of last month's massacres at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, the framework is far less ambitious than proposals offered by President Joe Biden and other Democrats.The plan, lauded by Biden, includes support for state "red flag" laws keeping firearms from potentially dangerous people, tougher criminal background checks for gun buyers under age 21 and a crackdown on "straw purchases" by people buying weapons for others who could not pass a background check.A demonstrator holds a placard while taking part in the 'March for Our Lives', one of a series of nationwide protests against gun violence, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoSenate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer repeatedly has said he would work quickly to pass the bill once it is written. But thorny issues still need to be resolved.Cornyn said negotiations were focused on the "red flag" provision.The legislation would provide money to help other states set up their own laws, but it would not create a national red-flag program, he said. Sixteen states already have red flag laws in place, he said.The provision should be broadened, he said, so that new federal funding could be targeted at various state programs, such as outpatient treatment programs for people suffering from mental illness.McConnell said support for the package's provisions was "off the charts" among current gun owners, according to a poll presented to Republican senators.Ten Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent have joined forces in the Senate on what Democrats are calling a "first step" toward tackling mass murders, such as the recent ones in New York and Texas. In those shootings, semi-automatic weapons were used to kill 10 Black people in Buffalo and 19 elementary school children and two teachers in Uvalde.Biden and other Democrats pushed to renew an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. Senate Republicans made it clear this provision and one to raise the age for buying such weapons to 21 from 18 did not have enough support to pass.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Richard Cowan and Moira Warburton; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Bernadette Baum and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Senate Republican leader backs gun violence bill.

A demonstrator holds a sign, during a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government, Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI)'s President Marcelo Augusto Xavier da Silva and for the search for British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who went missing while reporting in a remote and lawless part of the Amazon rainforest near the border with Peru, in front of Justice Ministry in Brasilia, Brazil June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano MachadoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBRASILIA, June 14 (Reuters) - Brazilian police said on Tuesday they have arrested a second suspect in the investigation of the disappearance of British journalist Don Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest in western Brazil.The statement by the federal police said Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, also known as "Dos Santos,", aged 41, was under temporary arrest on the suspicion he was involved in the case with Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, known as "Pelado"who was arrested last week in the riverside village where the missing men were last seen on June 5. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Second suspect arrested in case of missing British reporter in Brazil's Amazon - police.

Politics June 14, 2022 / 9:56 PM / CBS News Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, will join the Biden administration, a White House official confirmed to CBS News. She is set to replace Cedric Richmond as the director of the Office of Public Engagement. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is seen at the Essence Festival at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 7, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Essence Richmond resigned from the position in May. It was not immediately clear when Lance Bottoms would join the White House.The one-term former mayor — who was Atlanta's second Black mayor — shocked the political world when she announced last year she would not run for reelection. Before President Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate for the 2020 election, Lance Bottoms was considered to be among the top contenders for the position.  Axios was first to report Lance Bottoms would be joining the Biden administration. In: Joe Biden Nancy Cordes Nancy Cordes is CBS News' chief White House correspondent. Twitter

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to join Biden administration, White House official says.

U.S. June 14, 2022 / 6:31 PM / CBS News Tens of thousands of residents in the western Texas city of Odessa were with little to no water service Tuesday due to a massive water main break. The break occurred at around 6 p.m. local time Monday at the intersection of 42nd and San Jacinto streets. Crews were unable to isolate the source of the break, forcing them to take the city's water treatment plant offline, Odessa Mayor Javier Joven said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "Because of the critical nature of the loss in pressure, we were compelled to take the plant offline, to begin the repairs that are ongoing as we speak," Joven said. According to the office of Texas Gov. Gregg Abbot, about 165,000 area residents were affected by the water outage, which prompted a disaster declaration for the area. Cases of water were being distributed to residents at several locations throughout the city. A boil water notice was also in effect. Odessa Public Works and Utilities director Thomas Kerr said repairs were expected to be complete sometime Tuesday evening, after which the water treatment plant would have to be restarted. "We will need to restart the plant, and start loading the pipeline system, getting people back in water," Kerr said, adding it was a process that could take another 10 to 12 hours. There was no immediate word on a cause, although the broken pipe was close to 60-years-old, Kerr said. Meanwhile, like much of the state, Odessa is seeing above-average temperatures for this time of year. On Tuesday, temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.  The agency warned people against working or playing outside for extended periods of time, and encouraged residents to stay hydrated and cool.Odessa is also currently experiencing a "severe drought," the weather agency said, and severe thunderstorms with lightning, hail and gusty winds are expected Tuesday night. In: Water Main Break Texas Thanks for reading CBS NEWS. Create your free account or log in for more features. Please enter email address to continue Please enter valid email address to continue

Water main break impacting 165,000 residents' water service in Odessa, Texas.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro conduct Taiwan Strait transits August 27, 2021. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday backed Taiwan's assertion that the strait dividing the island from the Chinese mainland is an international waterway, a further rebuff to Beijing's claim to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.In recent years, U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing Beijing's anger.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOn Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said the country "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait" and called it "a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters'."Commenting on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an email to Reuters: "The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, meaning that the Taiwan Strait is an area where high seas freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law."Price added that the world has "an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we consider this central to the security and prosperity of the broader Indo-Pacific region."He reiterated U.S. concerns about China's "aggressive rhetoric and coercive activity regarding Taiwan" and said the United States "would continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait."Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou called China's position a "fallacy." read more China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and views the island as an inherent part of Chinese territory.Taiwan says China has no right to speak for it or claim sovereignty, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their own future and that the People's Republic of China has never controlled any part of the island.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Brunnstrom, Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina; Editing by Lincoln Feast.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. rebuffs China by calling Taiwan Strait an international waterway.

Models of oil barrels and a pump jack are displayed in front of a rising stock graph and "$100" in this illustration taken February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJune 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Wednesday on worries over fuel demand ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting which is expected to see the central bank to hike rates by at least 75 basis points to combat inflation. read more WTI crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $118.85 a barrel by 0008 GMT. Brent crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.2%, to $120.91 a barrel.Surging inflation has led investors and oil traders to brace for a big move by the Fed this week - what could be the largest U.S. interest rate hike in 28 years.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOn the demand side, China's latest COVID outbreak, traced to a 24-hour bar in Beijing, has raised fears of a new phase of lockdowns. read more In its monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stuck to its forecast that world oil demand will exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2022, but said Russia's invasion of Ukraine - Moscow calls is actions a "special operation" - and developments related to the coronavirus pandemic pose a considerable risk. read more The producers' group sees demand growth slowing next year, OPEC delegates and industry sources told Reuters, as surging oil prices help drive up inflation and act as a drag on the global economy. read more Still, offering some support to prices is tight supply, which has been aggravated by a drop in exports from Libya amid a political crisis that has hit output and ports.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Laura Sanicola; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oil prices slip ahead of expected U.S. Fed interest rate hike.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) walks through the Senate Subway during a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOTTAWA, June 14 (Reuters) - Canada's minister of natural resources on Tuesday said U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a key Democrat, would likely block the passage of tax credits that favor U.S.-manufactured electric vehicles (EVs) and are opposed by Ottawa.Last year, many Democrats in Congress and President Joe Biden proposed boosting EV tax credits to up to $12,500 - including a $4,500 incentive for union-made, U.S.-assembled vehicles and $500 for U.S.-made batteries. The base $7,500 credit would be limited to only U.S. made vehicles starting in 2027.But those provisions were part of larger infrastructure bill, dubbed "Build Back Better", which has not passed in Congress in large part due to Manchin's opposition.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"I had a long conversation with Senator Manchin... who is not supportive of the EV provision. He is obviously a critical vote if this (bill) comes to another vote," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told Reuters in a telephone interview."While we are continuing to be vigilant and we are continuing to engage on the issue... my understanding is that (the EV tax incentives) may not move forward even if the bill does," he said.Wilkinson met Manchin last month about two weeks after the senator questioned the need for EV tax credits at a hearing on April 28."There's a waiting list for EVs right now with the fuel price at $4 (per gallon). But they still want us to throw $5,000 or $7,000 or $12,000 credit to buy electric vehicles. It makes no sense to me whatsoever," Manchin said at the Senate hearing. read more Manchin's office did not respond on Tuesday to a request for comment about whether he specifically objected to the U.S. production provisions, or if he opposed the entire tax credit expansion on grounds it was not needed.U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters last week the White House was pushing Congress on EV tax credits but acknowledged the proposal's fate is uncertain. "Obviously there's discussions," Granholm said. "The president would certainly encourage his original proposal to be adopted."Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a trip to Washington last year, directly lobbied Biden to drop the incentives, saying the measures threatened to undermine "50 years of integrated automaking in our two countries". read more Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Mexico, France, South Korea, Italy, and other countries wrote U.S. lawmakers last year saying the proposed EV tax credits would violate international trade rules, and Canada pledged to retaliate if they passed. read more The pivot to EVs is important to Canada because it is trying to safeguard the future of its manufacturing heartland in Ontario - where major carmakers have long assembled combustion engine vehicles - as the world seeks to cut emissions by embracing EVs.Canada and the United States want all sales of passenger vehicles to be zero emissions by 2035.Since the U.S. legislation stalled last year, Canada has teamed up with industry, including General Motors (GM.N), to retool assembly lines for EVs, and Stellantis (STLA.MI), the parent of Jeep and Chrysler, to build an EV battery plant in Windsor in partnership with South Korea's LG Energy Solution (373220.KS). read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Steve Scherer, additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Senator likely would block passage of EV tax credits - Canada minister.

3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the AWS (Amazon Web Service) cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - A top Democratic lawmaker on antitrust issues said Tuesday a bill aimed at reining in the market power of Big Tech platforms like Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google had the votes to pass the both chambers of Congress in the next few weeks.On the sidelines of an event to rally support for measures before the Senate and House of Representatives that would prevent tech platforms, including Apple (AAPL.O) and Facebook , from favoring their own businesses in search and other ways, Representative David Cicilline, chair of the House antitrust subcommittee, said: "I'm very confident when these bills come to the floor, they will pass. Convincingly."Asked when, he said: "Before we leave for the summer, my hope is that it will happen. Obviously, best case scenario would be in the next week. Worst case scenario in my view, the month of July."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comU.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of a Senate antitrust panel, also said last week that she enough support in the Senate to win passage.Representative Ken Buck, a Republican sponsor, said Tuesday he supported the bill at least partially because of his view that conservative views are stifled online. "We're being discriminated against," he said.The bills have been the subject of a ferocious amount of lobbying, with tech giants warning of dire consequences, like the disappearance of popular consumer online applications like Google Maps. Cicilline called some of those allegations "lies" on Tuesday.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the bills, and said on Tuesday: "The legislation would empower government bureaucracy to reign over our economy. No longer would competition be evaluated on the merits, instead the interest of consumers would be sidelined in favor of the interest of competitors."Dozens of companies and business organizations sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers Monday, urging them to support the measures. L1N2Y01EC Companies supporting the measure include Yelp, Sonos, DuckDuckGo and Spotify.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Diane BartzOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Big Tech bill has votes needed to pass, top U.S. antitrust lawmaker says.

get the free app Updated on: June 14, 2022 / 10:23 PM / CBS News Rep. Nancy Mace faces tough primary Rep. Nancy Mace faces tough GOP primary in South Carolina 11:10 Voters cast their ballots Tuesday in primary elections in four states, setting up some of the most closely-watched and expensive general election matchups in the fall. Polls are now closed in all four states: South Carolina, Nevada, North Dakota and Maine.In South Carolina, Republican incumbent U.S. Reps. Tom Rice and Nancy Mace are both facing Trump-backed challengers. Rice is one of the six House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and is up for reelection. Rice has vehemently defended his impeachment vote, telling Politico recently that "I think that was one of the worst things, if not the worst, that a president has ever done in terms of attacking the Constitution and separation of powers." Trump has backed Russell Fry in the race, and they face five other Republicans in the primary. The large number of candidates could keep both Rice and Fry under 50% of the vote, which would lead to a runoff on June 28. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images Mace, a freshman Republican who flipped South Carolina's 1st District from blue to red, is facing off against former State Rep. Katie Arrington, who was the 2018 GOP nominee for this district who lost to Democrat Joe Cunningham.Mace voted to certify the 2020 election results and to hold Trump ally Steven Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. She was also outspoken against Trump's conduct in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.In a statement on Saturday, Trump continued his attacks on her. "Nancy fights Republicans all the time and is not at all nice about it.  Frankly, she is despised by almost everyone, and who needs that in Congress, or in the Republican Party?" he said.Republican incumbent Sen. Tim Scott isn't facing any serious primary challengers on Tuesday and he's expected to easily win deep-red South Carolina in November. But he's raised nearly $40 million so far, more than any other Republican.Democrats Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter and state Rep. Krystle Matthews are competing to take on Scott.In the governor's race, Trump-backed incumbent Republican Gov. Henry McMaster defeated his primary challenger, Harrison Musselwhite.On the Democratic side, Cunningham, who lost his House seat to Mace in 2018, won the primary, defeating state Sen. Mia McLeod and several others. Also in the spotlight will be Nevada, the state that officially gave President Joe Biden enough electoral votes to win the presidency in 2020. Mr. Biden won the state by less than three points in 2020, and the state's economy has been hit hard by inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans are hoping to flip the Senate seat and the governor's mansion in the fall — and a number of Republicans are running to succeed the term-limited Secretary of State, who refused to throw out the election results in favor of Trump.Trump-backed Republican Adam Laxalt, who succeeded current Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as the state's attorney general, long held a comfortable lead in the Senate race, but retired Army captain Sam Brown has narrowed the once 40-point gap.  Ben Smith (left) and Adam Laxalt are running for the Republican nomination for Senate in Nevada.  David Calvert/Getty Images, David Becker/Getty Images Laxalt, who lost the governor's race in 2018, also has endorsements from a number of high-profile Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Donald Trump Jr., who came to Nevada to campaign with Laxalt. Cortez Masto doesn't have a serious challenger on Tuesday, but she has already raised big sums ahead of November — nearly $20 million in the last year — and goes into primary day with more than $9 million cash on hand.Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, elected in 2018, was the first Democrat to win the governor's mansion in more than 20 years. He faces a primary challenger on Tuesday, Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins.Fifteen Republicans are on the Republican primary ballot for governor. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former boxer Joey Gilbert, former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and entrepreneur Guy Nohra are so far leading the field. Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has faced blowback from Trump's supporters since the 2020 election, including being censured by the state party. There is a crowded Republican primary field to be the party's nominee in November, including some candidates who have spread false claims or raised questions about the 2020 election. There has been no credible evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed Nevada's results. In Nevada's 1st Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Dina Titus is facing a challenger on the left, progressive Amy Vilela, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. In the 2nd District, national Republican groups have gotten involved to support Congressman Mark Amodei in his primary. Amodei is being challenged by Danny Tarkanian, a Douglas County commissioner who has had unsuccessful runs for Congress in the past decade.And in one bonus race, South Texas will be holding a special election to fill the House seat vacated by Democrat Filemon Vela, in the 34th District, for the remainder of the term. A win could give House Republicans a symbolic win ahead of this November. Two Republicans and two Democrats are running in the nonpartisan primary, which would go into a runoff if no candidate clears 50%.    6:05 PM / June 14, 2022 South Carolina 1st U.S. House District Republican primary Rep. Nancy Mace and Kate Arrington are on the ballot.    6:05 PM / June 14, 2022 South Carolina 7th U.S. House District Republican primary Rep. Tom Rice, Russell Fry, Barbara Arthur, Garrett Barton, Mark McBride, Spencer Morris and Ken Richardson are on the ballot.   6:05 PM / June 14, 2022 South Carolina U.S. Senate Republican primary Sen. Tim Scott and Larry Adams Jr. are on the ballot.   6:04 PM / June 14, 2022 South Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter and Krystle Matthews are on the ballot.   Updated 7:52 PM / June 14, 2022 South Carolina Governor Republican primary results: Henry McMaster wins Republican nomination for South Carolina Governor Gov. Henry McMaster wins Republican nomination for South Carolina Governor   Updated 4m ago South Carolina Governor Democratic primary: Joe Cunningham wins Joe Cunningham wins the Democratic primary for South Carolina governor.    6:04 PM / June 14, 2022 Nevada U.S. Senate Republican primary Adam Laxalt, Sam Brown, William Conrad, William Hockstedler, Sharelle Mendenhall, Tyler Perkins, Carlo Poliak and Paul Rodriguez are on the ballot.   6:03 PM / June 14, 2022 Nevada U.S. Senate Democratic primary Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Stephanie Kasheta, Corey Reid and Allen Reinhart are on the ballot.   6:03 PM / June 14, 2022 Nevada Governor Republican primary Joe Lombardo, Dean Heller, Joey Gilbert, John J. Lee, Guy Nohra, Seven Achilles Evans, Gary Evertsen, Eddie Hamilton, Tom Heck, Stan Lusak, Edward O'Brien, Fred Simon, William Walls, Amber Whitley, Barak Zilberberg.   6:03 PM / June 14, 2022 Nevada Governor Democratic primary Gov. Steve Sisolak and Tom Collins   6:02 PM / June 14, 2022 Nevada Secretary of State Republican primary Kristopher Dahir, Jesse Haw, Jim Marchant, Richard F. Scotti, John Cardiff Gerhardt, Socorro Keenan and Gerard Ramalho are on the ballot.   6:02 PM / June 14, 2022 Texas 34th U.S. House District Republican special election Republicans Mayra Flores and Juana Cantu-Cabrera and Democrats Rene Coronado and Dan Sanchez are on the ballot.

Primary results 2022: South Carolina, Nevada and more hold elections Tuesday.

A member of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union stands next to a truck during a strike in Yeosu, South Korea, June 9, 2022. Yonhap via REUTERS/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSEOUL, June 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's unionised truckers headed back on the roads on Wednesday after the union and the transport ministry reached a tentative late-night agreement, ending a nationwide strike that crippled ports and industrial hubs.The transport ministry and truckers union agreed on late Tuesday to extend the truckers' minimum wage system and continue discussing expanding a guarantee of minimum pay for carrying cargo to cover additional products. The transport ministry will also review expanding fuel subsidies. read more Shares in some affected industries rose in early trade, after the eight-day strike had delayed cargo shipments from autos to cement and alcohol, costing South Korea more than $1.2 billion in lost output and unfilled deliveries.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"So the strike has been called off until our demands are passed in parliament," said Park Jung-hoon, an official at the union's Busan chapter, referring to the process the transport ministry must undertake to implement the agreement."In the next two to three days, 100% of unionised truckers at Busan port are expected to return to work after they get some rest. There might be some shippers who seek retributions, and in such cases, we will respond strongly."The strike had been an early test of the new government of President Yoon Suk-yeol and had further stretched global supply chains already disrupted by China's COVID-19 curbs and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Shares in Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) rose 4% while shares in Hanil Cement (300720.KS) rose as much as 7% in early trade."Production has been normalised at our Ulsan Plant and we will continue to minimise customer inconvenience from the production disruption," Hyundai Motor said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday.Yoo Ji-woong, an analyst at Daol Securities estimated the strike had impacted about 5,000 vehicles each for both Hyundai and Kia (000270.KS) but said there were sufficient opportunities to make up for lost production during June through overtime.Steelmaker POSCO, a unit of POSCO Holdings (005490.KS), halted work at some plants on Monday due to a lack of space to store unshipped products, but plans to achieve originally planned production output by adjusting its maintenance, a spokesperson said."We plan to resume our overland transport of steel products out of Pohang and Gwangyang steel plants starting 1 p.m. (0400 GMT) on Wednesday," the spokesperson added.Korea Zinc (010130.KS) said its shipments of sulfuric acid, a key raw material of semiconductors, are back on track after strikers retreated from its production base in Ulsan.An official at SK Plasma, which manufactures medicines with plasma, said its shipments of plasma supplies, which had been trapped in Busan port, partially resumed on Wednesday.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Byungwook Kim and Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Jihoon Lee; Writing by Joyce Lee; Editing by Lincoln Feast.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

S.Korea truckers return to work after strike ends; shares rally.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returns from laying a wreath at Indonesia's National Heroes Cemetery on June 6, 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Albanese made his first trip to Indonesia promising to strengthen ties during two days of diplomatic and business meetings.Ed Wray | Getty ImagesLong before Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made his first bilateral visit to Jakarta, Indonesia's trust in Australia was already slipping. According to Lowy Institute's first poll on Indonesia in a decade, Indonesians' trust in Australia had slipped 20 points in 10 years — from 75% in 2011 to 55% last year.Indonesians have also grown distrustful of most major powers, including the U.S. and China, according to the Australian think tank's survey of 3,000 Indonesians late last year."A majority of Indonesians trust the United States and Australia to act responsibly, but this number has fallen dramatically since 2011," the survey showed.Indonesia's distrust of Australia grew deeper after Canberra signed the AUKUS trilateral nuclear-submarine and security deal with the U.S. and the UK last year, former Indonesia foreign affairs minister Marty Natalegawa told CNBC last week.Australia's new leaders now have their diplomatic work cut out for them, he added."It would be important for Indonesia to decipher intent — what the new Australian government's objectives are in the [Asia-Pacific] region," the minister said during an exclusive interview on "Street Signs Asia."   The AUKUS deal ruffled some feathers in Asia-Pacific — and both Indonesia and Malaysia expressed concern after it was announced. Indonesia said it did not want to see a "continuing arms race and power projection in the region" and urged Australia to meet its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. Frayed Australia-Indonesia tiesQuestions remain over whether Australia and Indonesia can take their relationship to a deeper level under Albanese's leadership.Indonesia views AUKUS as a threat, said Made Supriatma, visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.Jakarta has long viewed Canberra as ambivalent and unreliable — and the AUKUS pact as well as the joining of the Quad made things worse since it could provoke China and destabilize the region, Supriatma said. History did not help."The Indonesian military elites have not forgotten about Australia's 'intervention' in East Timor in 1999," he said referring to Indonesia's attacks on East Timor after its election for independence."The Indonesian military could not dispel the perception that the Australian military had intervened into the Indonesian territory" and forced the Indonesia's armed forces to retreat, he added.To Indonesians, it did not matter that Australia had acted at the behest of the U.S.Following the announcement of AUKUS, political observers including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd expressed concerns that the Australia-Indonesia relationship had fallen by the wayside as the security pact focused more on managing Canberra's fraying relations with Beijing. Australia chose to make Indonesia the first ministerial one-on-one pitstop after the election, but many in Indonesia would not think Australia deserved the same attention, Tim Lindsey and Tim Mann of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at The University of Melbourne said in an opinion piece in the Conversation."They see [Australia] as a low-ranked trade and investment partner more focused on the United States and United Kingdom than Southeast Asia," they said.  Strengthening trade ties?Australia's new government has made every effort to reset relations.That includes reinforcing its promise to establish a $140 million ($200 million Australian dollars) climate and infrastructure partnership with Indonesia, pledging an additional $327 million in overseas development to Southeast Asia, and appointing a dedicated high-level roving regional envoy. "We want to strengthen the relationship with Indonesia, but also with Southeast Asia. We see that, as ASEAN is central to the region," Albanese said during his visit last week. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to media on June 5, 2022. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Indonesia on Monday to meet its President Joko Widodo and shore-up relations between the two neighbors, in his first bilateral visit since being elected last month.Matt Jelonek | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesTo keep relations between the two countries warm, Lindsey and Mann advocated for increased aid to Indonesia, making it easier for Indonesians to enter Australia, as well as more funding for Indonesian studies in Australia.  "Australians can get a visa on arrival in Indonesia but even Indonesians wanting to visit Australia on a tourist visa face an expensive, complicated and demeaning application process," they pointed out. This is where the Indonesia-Australia CEPA deal can come into play, said Krisna Gupta and Donny Pasaribu, analysts at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.The Indonesia–Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) was signed three years ago.It was aimed at liberalizing trade between the two countries "extending beyond a reduction in tariffs to non-tariff measures, trade in services, and investment," Gupta and Pasaribu said. But, there were many caveats and exceptions with non-tariff measures."The economic importance of IA-CEPA remains to be seen, at least from Indonesia's side. Not only are there are many caveats, but implementing IA-CEPA would also require many changes in Indonesian regulations at the ministerial and local levels, which has been very challenging in the past," the two analysts said.But there are other benefits such as people-to-people exchanges that can open up the commercial relationship between Australia and Indonesia.Unfortunately Indonesia just can't seem to improve its manufacturing advantage, at least compared to Vietnam and Thailand, let alone with ChinaKrisna Gupta and Donny PasaribuCrawford School of Public Policy"While trade in goods may be a bit harder to work on, trade in services can be the way to go. Additionally, Australia can help improve people movement through working holiday visas," they said.Increasing a bigger intake of Indonesian foreign students or having more student exchanges at all school and education levels could also boost the two nation's trade dealings, they say. Partners or rivalsBut don't expect Indonesia's trade with Australia to come anywhere close to China's trade with Australia, they said. Two-way trade between China and Australia was worth A$250 billion ($176 billion) in 2020.In comparison, trade between the Indonesia and Australia was only worth A$17 billion for the same period mostly in cattle and beef and coal sales.But, China was easier to trade with as the world's so-called factory and supply chain hub, the ANU economists pointed out.In fact, Indonesia and Australia are not complementary trading partners but rivals, they pointed out.Both countries are commodity exporters while China is a major buyer of raw materials in the region. "Unfortunately Indonesia just can't seem to improve its manufacturing advantage, at least compared to Vietnam and Thailand, let alone with China," the ANU analysts said. Tim Harcourt, chief economist at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance with the University of Technology Sydney, agreed that "Indonesia is still underdone as an economic partner" to Australia. But he sees progress.Aside from services and people trade, Harcourt said the Australian government is pivoting toward more non-traditional trade collaborations with Indonesia in science, gaming and software. Things are different this time, Harcourt added. "The fact that Albanese took a heavy weight delegation of ministers and business leaders shows it was more than lip service," the economist said. "I thought the fact he brought the science and industry minister as well as the trade minister shows the Labor government wants to build up research and development with Indonesia's institutions."

Indonesians are increasingly wary of Australia, but its new leader wants to change that.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro conduct Taiwan Strait transits August 27, 2021. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERSRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday backed Taiwan's assertion that the strait separating the island from China is an international waterway, a further rebuff to Beijing's claim to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.The Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.In recent years, U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing Beijing's anger.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comOn Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said the country "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait" and called it "a false claim when certain countries call the Taiwan Strait 'international waters'."Commenting on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an email to Reuters: "The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, meaning that the Taiwan Strait is an area where high seas freedoms, including freedom of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law."The world has "an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we consider this central to the security and prosperity of the broader Indo-Pacific region," Price added.He reiterated U.S. concerns about China's "aggressive rhetoric and coercive activity regarding Taiwan" and said the United States "would continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait."Earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou called China's position a "fallacy." read more On Wednesday, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang said the strait was by "no means China's inland sea"."China's ambition to swallow up Taiwan has never stopped or been concealed; the Taiwan Strait is a maritime area for free international navigation," he told reporters.China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and views the island as an inherent part of Chinese territory.Taiwan says China has no right to speak for it or claim sovereignty, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their own future and that the People's Republic of China has never controlled any part of the island.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by David Brunnstrom, Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Lincoln Feast.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. rebuffs China by calling Taiwan Strait an international waterway.

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it awaits a constructive response from Iran on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal without "extraneous" issues, a possible reference to Iran's demand its Revolutionary Guards be dropped from a U.S. terrorism list."We await a constructive response from the Iranians, a response that leaves behind issues that are extraneous to the JCPOA," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, referring to the deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.In 2018 then-U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on the deal, under which Iran restrained its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its core nuclear limits about a year later.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSpeaking at a briefing, Price was responding to questions about the Iranian foreign minister's statement that Tehran had put forward a new proposal on reviving the agreement, which he did not address in detail. read more Another State Department spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, denied the United States received any serious proposal from Tehran. Iran has declined direct talks with Washington about reviving the deal and transmits messages chiefly via European diplomats."We have seen no substantive communication from Iran, but we are open to any initiative that would allow us to immediately conclude and implement the deal we negotiated in Vienna for mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA, dropping issues that go beyond the JCPOA," said the spokesperson.The pact seemed near revival in March but talks were thrown into disarray partly over whether the United States might remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which controls elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of a global terrorist campaign, from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.President Joe Biden's administration has made clear it has no plan to drop the IRGC from the list, a step that would have limited practical effect but would anger many U.S. lawmakers.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Christopher Gallager, Arshad Mohammed and Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. awaits 'constructive' response from Tehran on nuclear deal.

Livestreaming sessions by Chinese livestreamers Li Jiaqi and Viya, whose real name is Huang Wei, (L) are seen on Alibaba's e-commerce app Taobao displayed on mobile phones in this illustration picture taken December 14, 2021. Picture taken December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comBEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) - China will put into effect revised rules governing mobile apps on Aug. 1, the cyberspace administration said on Tuesday.Mobile app providers must not use apps to conduct activities that endanger national security, the Cyberspace Administration of China said, as per its draft of the rule in January. It also said that apps with functions that could influence public opinion will need to seek security review.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Albee Zhang and Brenda Goh, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

China cyberspace regulator's revised rules governing mobile apps to be effective in August.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comNEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Happy the elephant will stay at the Bronx Zoo after New York state's highest court on Tuesday ruled against an animal rights group that said she deserved some of the same rights as humans and should be freed.In a 5-2 decision, the Albany-based Court of Appeals said the writ of habeas corpus, which allows people to be released from illegal custody, did not apply to Happy despite claims that the 51-year-old elephant shared many of the same cognitive abilities as humans. read more "While no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote, "Happy, as a nonhuman animal, does not have a legally cognizable right to be at liberty under New York law."Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comDiFiore also said granting freedom to Happy would have "an enormous destabilizing impact on modern society" and could generate a "flood" of petitions to free animals, perhaps including pets and service animals.She said it should be up to the legislature to decide whether to grant nonhuman animals the same legal rights as people.Tuesday's decision is a defeat for the Nonhuman Rights Project, which began asking New York courts four years ago to release Happy to one of two U.S. elephant sanctuaries.Happy and its companion Patty are pictured at Bronx Zoo in New York City, New York, U.S. in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on May 18, 2022. Bronx Zoo/Handout via REUTERS The Florida-based group had objected to what it considered Happy's imprisonment in a one-acre (0.4 hectare) enclosure at the zoo, segregated from other elephants.The group said it would continue pushing for her release."This is not just a loss for Happy, whose freedom was at stake in this case," the group said in a statement. "It's also a loss for everyone who cares about upholding and strengthening our most cherished values and principles of justice."A spokesperson for the Bronx Zoo did not respond to requests for comment.Two lower courts had previously sided with the zoo, which maintains that Happy is well cared for.In spirited opinions, the dissenting judges empathized with Happy."When the majority answers, 'No, animals cannot have rights,' I worry for that animal, but I worry even more greatly about how that answer denies and denigrates the human capacity for understanding, empathy and compassion," Judge Rowan Wilson wrote.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Happy the elephant is denied personhood, to stay at Bronx Zoo.

A Toyota Motor Corp. logo is seen on a car at the International Auto Show in Mexico City, Mexico November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Henry RomeroRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comTOYOTA, Japan, June 15 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), under scrutiny from investors over its commitment to embrace battery electric vehicles, said on Wednesday it needs to offer a variety of choices to suit different environments and customer needs.The world's largest automaker by sales kicked off its annual general meeting on Wednesday under fire from environmentally minded investors for not phasing out gasoline-powered cars and for its lobbying on climate policy. read more Once a favourite with environmentalists for the hybrid Prius model it popularised more than two decades ago, Toyota argues that hybrids still make sense in markets where infrastructure isn't ready to support a faster move to battery electric vehicles.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comThe company last year committed 8 trillion yen ($60 billion) to electrify its cars by 2030, half of which is slated to develop full EVs. Still, it expects annual sales of such cars to reach only 3.5 million vehicles by the end of the decade, or around a third of current sales.Like other car makers, Toyota has been plagued by a severe shortage of semiconductor chips that has forced it to repeatedly cut production.On Wednesday, head of Toyota's purchasing group, Kazunari Kumakura, said at the meeting that he expects the chip shortage to continue.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Toyota, slow to move to EVs, says it offers choices to meet customer needs.