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☆ Social Security cost-of-living adjustment will be 3.2% in 2024, well below this year's record-setting increase
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Jozef Polc / 500Px | 500Px Plus | Getty ImagesSocial Security beneficiaries will see a 3.2% boost to their benefits in 2024, the Social Security Administration announced on Thursday. The annual cost-of-living adjustment for 2024 will affect more than 71 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. Typically, Medicare Part B premium payments are deducted from Social Security checks. How the 2024 COLA comparesThe 2024 benefit increase is much lower than record 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment Social Security beneficiaries saw this year, the biggest boost in four decades in response to record high inflation. Older Americans 'still feeling the sting' of inflationThe 2024 adjustment comes as many retirees are still struggling with higher prices.

Persons: Jozef Polc, Jo Ann Jenkins, Jenkins, Tracey Gronniger, Gronniger Organizations: Social, Social Security Administration, Social Security, Senior Citizens League, Consumer, Urban, Clerical Workers, AARP, Justice, COLA, Security

☆ New allegation against detained Ukrainian magnate Kolomoisky, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ihor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian business tycoon and one of Ukraine's most prominent billionaires, arrives at court in Kyiv, September 2, 2023. REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 14 (Reuters) - Detained Ukrainian business magnate Ihor Kolomoisky, already facing fraud charges, has been served with notice of a third set of allegations, a Ukrainian official said on Thursday. Leshchenko said the new allegations resulted from an investigation by Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security. They included forging documents, illegal takeovers of property by an organised group and property acquisition in questionable circumstances. Kolomoisky is among the tycoons who built their fortunes in the ashes of the Soviet Union and amassed political power in Ukraine's fragile democracy.

Persons: Ihor, Vladyslav, Ihor Kolomoisky, Serhiy Leshchenko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy's, Kolomoisky, Leshchenko, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov, Lincoln Organizations: REUTERS, Ukraine's Bureau of Economic Security, of Economic Security, National, European Union, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: Ukrainian, Kyiv, Privatbank, Ukraine, PrivatBank, Soviet, U.S

CNN —One of Ukraine’s most powerful oligarchs has been arrested in a fraud investigation, state media in the country are reporting. A Kyiv court on Saturday ordered Ihor Kolomoisky, a key supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 2019 presidential campaign, to 60 days in pre-trial detention while authorities investigate fraud charges against him, reported Ukrinform. Kolomoisky’s media and banking businesses have made him one of the richest men in Ukraine. Video and photos showed Kolomoisky being led away from the district court in Kyiv. Earlier this year Zelensky fired a slew of senior Ukrainian officials over a corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies.

Persons: Ihor Kolomoisky, Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Kolomoisky, Ukrinform, –, ”, Vasyl Maliuk, Zelensky, Arsen Avakov, Avakov Organizations: CNN, US State Department, State Department, Security Service of Ukraine, of Economic Security, General’s, Kolomoisky, “ Locations: Ukraine, Shevchenkivskyi, Kyiv, Europe, Russia

☆ Old Cold War tool could help in new era of tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The United States may soon expand its export controls to cover semiconductors used in artificial intelligence and access to cloud computing. The People’s Republic has responded with tit-for-tat export controls on gallium and germanium, two strategic metals used in chips and other technologies where it has a dominant position. This is what the U.S. and its allies did during the last Cold War, when they established the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom). The United States’ subsidies for green technologies via its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) caused tension with its allies. Its premier, Li Qiang, travelled to Germany last month hoping to persuade it not to row in behind the United States.

Persons: Joe Biden, Hung Tran, Li Qiang, –, Biden, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Frances Burwell, Canada –, George Hay, Oliver Taslic, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, NATO, Soviet, Atlantic Council, Reuters Graphics Reuters, European Union, Multilateral Export Controls, United, Republican, Florida, EU, U.S, U.S . Trade, Technology Council, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, China, Republic, U.S, Netherlands, Japan, States, United States, People’s Republic, Germany, Beijing, ’, Russia, Britain, Canada, Australia, South Korea

TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - State-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC) sees potential for more mergers and acquisitions in high-end corners of the chipmaking industry following its planned $6.4 billion buyout of materials maker JSR (4185.T), the head of its private equity arm said. "We see potential in some speciality materials markets where JSR can win dominant positions by combining with other materials makers," Ikeuchi said in an interview. "We believe that we can boost Japanese chip materials makers' global competitiveness by spurring industry consolidation," he added. In the chemicals industry, for example, Japan has "too many players making similar products that were once competitive but are now commoditised," Ikeuchi said. JIC, overseen by the powerful trade ministry, was set up in 2018 to invest in Japanese companies to boost the nation's competitiveness.

Persons: Shogo, Ikeuchi, JIC, Makiko Yamazaki, Ritsuko Shimizu, Jamie Freed Organizations: Japan Investment Corp, JIC Capital, Japan, Innovation Network Corp of Japan, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, chipmaking, Japan

☆ US economy on the brink as time runs low to avert debt default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

After a weekend of acrimony between negotiators for House Republicans and the White House, Biden will meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Monday for critical talks on pulling the economy back from the precipice. Biden and McCarthy to meet MondayThe rhetoric eased a little, however, after Biden and McCarthy spoke as the president flew home on Air Force One. McCarthy already passed a bill raising the debt ceiling in exchange for a wish list of Republican demands. This is a balance of power that ought to drive both sides towards a compromise, but extremist elements in the House GOP could make that impossible. Like McCarthy, Biden also faces political pressure within his own party after some progressive Democrats expressed fears he would offer the speaker too much in any deal.

☆ Opinion: It’s no accident world leaders are revisiting this site of nuclear devastation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Opinion Paul Sracic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —It’s no accident that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida selected Hiroshima as the site for the 2023 G7 meeting. Paul Sracic Arne HoelSince World War II, Hiroshima has served as a powerful symbol of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons. Not surprisingly, 78 years later, many Japanese are still haunted by the horrors of nuclear war. The threat of nuclear weapons is one Kishida has both written and spoken about before. The proliferation of nuclear weapons to North Korea, not to mention the ongoing nuclear program in Iran, alongside the ongoing concern that Russia might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine serve as a reminder of the urgent need for global cooperation to mitigate the risk of nuclear war.

☆ Japan, Germany agree to carefully monitor markets, coordinate as needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Tetsushi Kajimoto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - Japan and Germany agreed on Saturday to coordinate closely on financial jitters stemming from problems among Western banks while carefully monitoring global markets and economy, a Japanese finance ministry official told Reuters. The agreement came in a 45-minute meeting between Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, visiting Tokyo for bilateral government consultations. We will carefully watch developments and coordinate with the central bank and overseas authorities," Suzuki told Lindner, according to the Japanese official. Both sides agreed on the need to closely monitor financial developments and coordinate as needed, the official said, without elaborating further. They agreed on the need to strengthen supply chains as an element of economic security.

☆ Supreme Court will hear case challenging Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The order taking the case came four months after a federal appeals court panel unanimously ruled that the CFPB's funding mechanism was unconstitutional. The Biden administration had asked the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of that ruling. CNBC has requested comment from the Community Financial Services Association of America, the group that challenged the CFPB's authority in the case. The court, in its 5-4 ruling that year, said that the director must be removable by the will of the president, for any reason.

☆ Japan eyes easing S.Korea export controls as Seoul seeks to improve ties -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Japan is considering relaxing controls on exports to South Korea as its president, Yoon Suk-yeol, seeks to improve ties amid a strained East Asian security environment, the Sankei newspaper reported on Saturday. Japan's foreign ministry and trade ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on the report when Reuters contacted them outside regular business hours. "Given the growing need to promote cooperation among countries sharing universal values at a time when the importance of economic security is increasing, we hope that Japan will judge wisely," the South Korean ministry said. Their diplomatic officials are due to meet on Monday in the South Korean capital, Seoul, as they near a conclusion of a plan for the resolving their dispute, Jiji news reported on Friday. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by William Mallard, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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