Category: News

Switzerland’s government has requested a report into the risks and opportunities of launching its own cryptocurrency, a so-called “e-franc” that would use technology similar to privately launched coins like bitcoin but have backing of the state. The lower house of the Swiss parliament must now decide whether to back the Federal Council’s request for a study into the subject, which has been discussed in Sweden. Cryptocurrencies have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and international governing bodies coming to grips with the technology’s rapid ascent. The coins use encryption and a blockchain transaction database designed to enable anonymous transactions that do not require centralized processing. Other countries interested Several countries have begun evaluating the viability of introducing their own state-backed digital currency, with Sweden’s Riksbank saying an e-crown might help counteract issues…

The United States sought on Thursday to further choke off funding sources for Iranian-backed Hezbollah, imposing sanctions on its representative to Iran, as well as a major financier and his five companies in Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. Treasury said Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi was a Hezbollah financier operating through Belgium, Lebanon and Iraq, and was a close associate of Gambia's former president Yahya Jammeh, who is accused of acquiring vast wealth during his decades-long rule. It also imposed sanctions on Hezbollah's representative to Iran, Abdallah Safi Al-Din, who it said served as an interlocutor between Hezbollah and Iran on financial issues. The department said it had blacklisted Belgian energy services conglomerate Global Trading Group; Gambia-based petroleum company Euro African Group; and Lebanon-based Africa Middle East Investment…

The United Nations is forecasting that the global economy will expand by more than 3 percent this year and next year — but it warns that increasing risks could trigger "a shock to investment and trade" and a sharp drop to 1.8 percent growth in 2019.   The U.N.'s mid-year report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects launched Thursday says growth in the world economy is surpassing expectations, reflecting further economic expansion in developed countries and broadly favorable investment conditions.   However, the report said, "downside risks" have increased including "a rise in the probability of trade conflicts between major economies."   Dawn Holland, chief of the U.N.'s Global Economic Monitoring Branch, cited the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs in January and proposed new tariffs against China as well…

Iranian state TV is reporting that the country has signed an agreement with a British consortium to develop an oil field, just as another major company, France's Total, says it will withdraw from Iran because of the renewed U.S. sanctions. The new agreement is the first between Iran and a company from a key Western ally of the United States since Washington last week announced it will pull out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers. The U.S. said it was reinstalling sanctions against Iran. Managing Director of Pergas International Consortium Colin Rowley, and Bijan Alipour, managing director of National Iranian South Oil Co., signed a preliminary deed on the partnership in the presence of British Ambassador Rob Macaire in Tehran on Wednesday night. The project,…

The European Union has called on U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to stop threatening it with tariffs on steel and aluminum, saying Thursday it is prepared to discuss trade — but not at gun-point.   In March, Trump slapped tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum, but granted the 28 EU countries a temporary exemption until June 1. He also temporarily exempted big steel producers Canada and Mexico, provided they agree to renegotiate a North American trade deal to his satisfaction.   "It's Europe's economic sovereignty, and what we are demanding is that we are exempted without conditions or time limits," French President Emmanuel Macron said in Bulgaria, where EU leaders have gathered for a summit with Balkans countries.   Convinced that the U.S. move…

President Donald Trump says the United States has not “folded” in trade negotiations with China as both countries get set for another round of meetings. “We have not seen China’s demands yet,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “The U.S. has very little to give because it has given so much over the years. China has much to give.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin opens two days of talks in Washington with Chinese officials Thursday. “These meetings are a continuation of the talks held in Beijing two weeks ago and will focus on rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship,” the White House says. They are also aimed at avoiding a full-blown trade war after the U.S. and China exchanged tariffs in March. Trump told the country Wednesday that the U.S. has been…

President Mauricio Macri said Wednesday that Argentina's currency crisis is over, speaking as the country's currency rebounded somewhat and prices for its stocks and bonds rose.   Macri announced last week that Argentina was seeking a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund following a sharp drop in the peso. The decision brought back haunting memories for Argentines who blame the IMF for introducing policies that led to the country's 2001 economic implosion.   Argentina was forced to impose interest rate hikes and to tighten the fiscal deficit target to try to halt the devaluation of its currency, which has lost about 25 percent of its value in recent weeks.   The peso hit a new all-time low of 25.30 to the U.S. dollar Monday. But it rose at 24.8…

Amsterdam unveiled far-reaching plans Wednesday to rein in tourism, reflecting the dissatisfaction of many residents who feel the city's historic center has been overrun. The leading Green-Left and other parties negotiating a new municipal government after March elections vowed to return "Balance to the City," in a document of that name seen by Reuters. "The positive sides of tourism such as employment and city revenues are being more and more overshadowed by the negative consequences," including trash and noise pollution, the document said. Changes the document outlines include curtailing "amusement transportation" such as multiperson "beer bikes"; cracking down on alcohol use in boats on the canals; further restricting Airbnb and other home rentals; and a large tax hike. The plans announced Wednesday also include creating an inventory of all commercial beds in the city to try to cap various sectors, such as those on cruise…

Four years ago, Maeve Taylor and her husband decided to quit their jobs and move their family across the United States to start an organic dairy farm in New York. The couple used a federal loan to buy 35 cows and started to learn their new trade on a patch of rented farmland. But when they began looking for land of their own they hit their first major hurdle. Even in an area with a long agricultural tradition and lots of farmland, there was nothing to buy — at least at a price they could afford. "You'd think you could buy something, but hardly any of it is for sale," Taylor told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Wealthy landowners ... live here as retirement homes or have purchased property as a…

Malaysia's new government to scrutinize past economic policies under the now ousted Najib Razak administration is prompting analysts to warn of a slide in investment and growth in one of Southeast Asia's top economies. The new leadership has appointed a group of prominent citizens, an eminent persons group, to come up with a new policy agenda within the next 100 days that will, among other things, review mega investment projects that have been key drivers of economic growth. The new government has also established a special task force as corruption allegations over the abuse of funds in a sovereign wealth fund set up by Najib, and ordered a review of political representation on Malaysia's largest government investment firms, including the main sovereign and pension funds. Leading the eminent persons group is…

Most U.S. insurance companies have not adapted their strategies to address the dangers of climate change, making them likely to raise rates or deny coverage in high-risk areas, said a study released Tuesday. With predictions of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season approaching, thousands of people could be unable to afford insurance protection or lose it altogether, said the Canadian research study published in the British Journal of Management. Scientific consensus holds that climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, from hurricanes to flooding. Last year, three record hurricanes struck the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, causing billions of dollars' worth of damage. Yet insurance and reinsurance companies overwhelmingly continue to treat storms as "anomalous rather than correlated to climate change," the study said. "Insurers that ignore…

Mexico's central bank said Tuesday that it was creating a cybersecurity unit, following a hack on a domestic payments system at the end of April that affected Mexican banks. The central bank said in a notice in the government's daily gazette that the new unit would design and issue guidelines on information security for the country's banks, which are supervised by the central bank. Central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon Carrillo said Monday that the country had seen an unprecedented attack on payment system connections and that he hoped that measures being taken would stop future incidents. The attack on Mexican banks is similar to one of the biggest-ever known cyber heists, when thieves stole $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank in 2016, said Fermin Gonzalez, head of forensic services…

U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday rejected any plan by President Donald Trump to ease restrictions on China's ZTE Corp, calling the telecommunications firm a security threat and vowing not to abandon legislation clamping down on the company. Trump on Monday had defended his decision to revisit penalties on ZTE for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, in part by saying it was reflective of the larger trade deal the United States is negotiating with China. “I hope the administration does not move forward on this supposed deal I keep reading about,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said. Bilateral talks between the world’s two biggest economies resume in Washington this week. The Wall Street Journal has reported Beijing would back away from threats to slap tariffs on U.S. farm goods in exchange…

Mexico's economy minister said that he saw diminishing chances for a new North American Free Trade Agreement ahead of a Thursday deadline to present a deal that could be signed by the current U.S. Congress. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that the Republican-controlled Congress would need to be notified of a new NAFTA deal by Thursday to give lawmakers a chance of approving it before a newly elected Congress takes over in January. “It is not easy. We do not think we will have it by Thursday,” Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told broadcaster Televisa on Tuesday. But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck a more upbeat tone, telling reporters in Calgary a few hours later, “There is very much an eminently achievable outcome ... and we are…

People nixing vacations to Hawaii's Big island has cost the tourism industry millions of dollars as the top attraction, Kilauea volcano, keeps spewing lava. Cancellations from May through July have hit at least $5 million, said Ross Birch, executive director of the island's tourism board. The booking pace for hotels and other activities, such as tours for lava viewing, zip lines and glass bottom boats have fallen 50 percent. A handful of cruise ships have also decided not to come into port even in Kona on the west side of the island, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) away from the volcano. This is the "first leak we're seeing out of the bucket,'' Birch said. Tourism is one of Hawaii's biggest industries and a big part of the local economy. The…

Uber Technologies’ growth has slowed as a series of scandals has allowed the ride-hailing company’s chief U.S. competitor, Lyft, to grab more market share, digital research firm eMarketer said in a report on Monday. The research firm has lowered its forecasts for Uber’s growth for the next several years. It projects 48 million U.S. adults will use Uber at least once this year, up 18 percent from last year but well off eMarketer’s earlier forecast of more than 51 million. EMarketer based its analysis on data from Uber and Lyft, such as trip numbers and app downloads, as well as customer surveys from researchers at JP Morgan and other firms. Series of scandals The report quantifies the effect of a series of scandals at Uber last year, which included an…

U.S. President Donald Trump urged for a quick conclusion to a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement during a phone call Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.  The White House said Trump "underscored the importance" of quickly reaching a deal, while Trudeau’s office said the two spoke of the "possibility of bringing the negotiations to a prompt conclusion." The talks have come under increased pressure to quickly produce a deal after U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this week he would need to be notified of a new agreement by May 17 to give the current Congress a chance to pass it this year. Canada, the United States and Mexico are renegotiating their 24-year-old free trade pact in a process triggered by the Trump administration. Trump has been highly…