Month: April 2019

Uber Technologies Inc. has 91 million users, but growth is slowing and it may never make a profit, the ride-hailing company said Thursday in its initial public offering filing.  The document gave the first comprehensive financial picture of the company, which was started in 2009 after its founders struggled to get a cab on a snowy night.  The filing underscores the rapid growth of Uber's business in the last three years but also how a string of public scandals and increased competition from rivals have weighed on its plans to attract and retain riders.  $3B loss from operations The disclosure also highlighted how far Uber remains from turning a profit, with the company cautioning it expects operating expenses to "increase significantly in the foreseeable future" and it "may not achieve profitability." Uber lost $3.03 billion in 2018 from operations, excluding one-off…

U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in 14 months in March, but the underlying inflation trend remained benign amid slowing domestic and global economic growth. The mixed report from the Labor Department on Wednesday was broadly supportive of the Federal Reserve's decision last month to suspended its three-year campaign to raise interest rates. The U.S. central bank dropped projections for any rate hikes this year after lifting borrowing costs four times in 2018. Minutes of the Fed's March 19-20 meeting, published on Wednesday, showed most policymakers viewed price pressures as "muted," but expected inflation to rise to or near the central bank's 2 percent target. The Fed's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy is currently at 1.8 percent. "For the most part,…

Mexico's foreign minister on Wednesday criticized hold-ups in the flow of goods and people at the U.S-Mexico border, and said he planned to discuss the matter with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials later in the day. After days of traffic delays at sections of the border that have alarmed businesses, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the disruptions were raising costs for supply chains in both countries. "Slowing down the flow of people and goods at the northern border is a very bad idea," Ebrard said in a post on Twitter, using unusually frank language on an issue that has caused constant friction between Mexico and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ebrard said his ministry would get in contact on Wednesday with the new leaders of the U.S.…

Cloaked in black and carrying white buckets filled with artificial blood, the group filed in silence to the entrance of London's Downing Street, behind a troupe of child and teen activists. Ringing a bell as they walked, the 45 adults -- all participants in Extinction Rebellion, a protest movement seeking rapid action to curb global warming -- formed an arc facing the British prime minister's residence and poured out their buckets, turning the surrounding road into a sea of red. The liquid, they said, symbolized "the blood of our children," on the hands of politicians who have failed to act on climate change and stem its impacts, from worsening floods and droughts to growing poverty and water and food shortages. Among those at the protest in March were three members…

After generations of trawling the same waters, the fishermen on the coast of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India know where to cast a net or park a boat without resorting to signs or GPS maps. But their customary rights over this common space - a right won by families who have fished it for centuries - are under threat as the demands of modern life threaten age-old livelihoods and their once fertile habitat. First, families' land and precious sea access was usurped by factories and ports. Now, their rights are under fresh attack by a newly amended Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) law. "Governments have treated the coastline as an empty space that economic actors can take over, forgetting that it is common property of coastal villages, towns and cities," said…

Rob Garver contributed to this report The top Senate Democrat says President Donald Trump's picks to fill two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board are unqualified for the job. Trump has nominated former pizza chain boss Herman Cain and conservative economic commentator Stephen Moore for the Fed — posts that need Senate confirmation. Both are strong Trump supporters. "I don't see the qualifications of Cain or Moore fitting in with the mission of the Fed, which is to conduct monetary policy and not be political," Sen. Chuck Schumer said Tuesday. Cain is best known as the former CEO of the Godfather's Pizza chain and a failed 2012 Republican presidential candidate. He had several top positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. But local Fed boards do not set monetary…

Boeing's orders and deliveries sank in the first quarter, with zero new orders for the 737 MAX following a worldwide grounding in March in the wake of two fatal plane crashes. The groundings forced Boeing to freeze deliveries of the MAX, which had been its fastest-selling jetliner until a March 10 crash on Ethiopian Airlines that killed all 157 onboard, just five months after a similar crash on Lion Air that killed all 189 passengers and crew. Total orders, an indication of future demand, fell to 95 aircraft in the first quarter from 180 a year earlier, suggesting a wait-and-watch approach for airlines as Boeing rides out the worst crisis in its history. Still, Boeing is ahead of its European rival Airbus, which last week said it had won 62…

Britain's Standard Charter Bank has agreed to more than $1 billion in fines and forfeited assets to the U.S. and New York state for violating U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran. Federal and state prosecutors said Tuesday that between 2007 and 2011, the global financial institution processed about 9,500 financial transactions worth about $240 million through U.S. financial institutions to benefit Iranian entities. In addition, U.S. authorities said an unnamed former bank employee in the United Arab Emirates pleaded guilty in Washington to conspiring to defraud the U.S. and to violate the trade sanctions. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said the case "sends a clear message to financial institutions and their employees: If you circumvent U.S. sanctions against rogue states like Iran — or assist those who do — you will…

More families of victims of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia are suing Boeing after its chief executive apologized and said a software update for the MAX 8 jet would prevent further disasters. Family members and lawyers said Monday that CEO Dennis Muilenburg's comment last week related to an automated flight system was an admission that helps their cases. The anti-stall system is suspected as a cause of the Lion Air crash in October and an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March that also involved a MAX 8 jet. The two crashes killed a total of 346 people. Preliminary reports into both crashes found that faulty sensor readings erroneously triggered the anti-stall system that pushed the plane's nose down. Pilots of each plane struggled in vain to regain control. Families of…

China and Pakistan say their ongoing multibillion-dollar infrastructure development cooperation program under Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has entered the next stage after achieving initial targets, dismissing reports the project increased Islamabad’s debt burden rather than boosting economic growth.  Officials in the neighboring countries, traditionally strong allies, say 22 "early harvest" projects, launched five years ago under what is known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), have been completed with an unprecedented Chinese investment of $19 billion.  It has built new roads, power plants and operationaliZed the deep-water strategic Arabian Sea commercial port of Gwadar, which overlooks some of the world’s busiest oil and gas shipping lanes and is celebrated as the gateway to CPEC. Responding to skeptics Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, while responding to skeptics…

Venezuela will "fulfill its commitments" to Cuba despite United States sanctions targeting oil shipments from the South American country to its ideological ally, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Monday. Washington on Friday imposed sanctions on 34 vessels owned or operated by state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela as well as on two companies and a vessel that have previously delivered oil to Cuba, aiming to choke off a crucial supply of crude to the Communist-run island. Venezuela has long sent subsidized crude to Cuba. The United States describes the arrangement as an "oil-for-repression" scheme in which Havana helps socialist President Nicolas Maduro weather an economic crisis and power struggle with the opposition in exchange for fuel. Arreaza said he would not reveal Venezuela's "strategy," but that the sanctions would…

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) heads into its eighth decade amidst doubts in some quarters of its contemporary relevance, the Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister tells VOA that there’s “huge consensus” among political parties in his country in support of NATO membership and of America’s leadership within the alliance. “Our membership is very important, and America’s leading role is key to the success of NATO,” says Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček. This year marks the 20th anniversary of NATO membership for the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Petříček recognizes NATO as an organization “of shared values, as well as an instrument to defend those values.”  Petříček says his country shares the prevailing opinion among NATO member states about what constitutes threats to NATO: “we’re facing a more assertive Russia,…

Japanese automaker Nissan has ousted from its board former chairman Carlos Ghosn and another executive, American Greg Kelly, who are facing charges of financial misconduct. Nissan shareholders approved the measure Monday after a three-hour extraordinary meeting at a Tokyo hotel. Both Ghosn and Kelly have denied the allegations against them. Ahead of the vote, Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa and other Nissan Motor Company executives apologized and bowed deeply to shareholders attending the meeting. Shareholders also approved the appointment of French partner Renault SA's chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan. Ghosn was initially detained in November on suspicion of conspiring to understate his Nissan income by about 50 percent between 2010 and 2015.  He was released on bail in early March and then re-arrested for…

American Airlines is extending by over a month its cancellations of about 90 daily flights as the troubled 737 Max plane remains grounded by regulators. American said Sunday it is extending the cancellations through June 5 from the earlier timeframe of April 24. The airline acknowledged in a statement that the prolonged cancellations could bring disruption for some travelers. The Boeing-made Max jets have been grounded in the U.S. and elsewhere since mid-March, following two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. Airlines that own them have been scrambling other planes to fill some Max flights while canceling others. American Airlines Group Inc., the largest U.S. airline by revenue, has 24 Max jets in its fleet. The Dallas-based airline said it is awaiting information from U.S. regulators, and will contact customers…