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WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - A bill to suspend the U.S. government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avert a disastrous default cleared a key procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting the stage for an vote on the bipartisan debt deal itself. The procedural vote, which allows for the start of debate and then a vote on the bill itself, passed by a vote of 241-187, with 52 Democrats needed to overcome the opposition of 29 Republicans. [1/6] U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) returns to his office from the House floor at the U.S. Capitol ahead of an expected vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a bill raising the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, in Washington, U.S., May 31, 2023. "I cannot, in good conscience, vote for the debt ceiling deal," Sanders said on Twitter. White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, who was one of Biden's lead negotiators, urged Congress to pass the bill.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy's, Joe Biden's, McCarthy, Biden, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Schumer, Chip Roy, Roy, Kevin McCarthy, Julia Nikhinson, Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders, Sanders, Shalanda Young, Biden's, Young, White, David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton, Julio, Cesar Chavez, Kanishka Singh, Scott Malone, Rosalba O'Brien, Alistair Bell Organizations: Kevin McCarthy's Republicans, Senate, Treasury, Republican, Office, ., U.S, Capitol, U.S . House, REUTERS, Twitter, White, Republicans, Internal Revenue Service, Democratic, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington , U.S, Washington

May 31 (Reuters) - Electric vehicles may not reach cost parity with internal combustion engine vehicles until after 2030, Ford (F.N) Chief Executive Jim Farley said on Wednesday. He also predicted lower distribution costs from selling EVs online, as well as higher revenue from new software-driven digital services. Farley said Ford's software services business now has 600,000 subscribers, triple the number of a year ago. As the company expands its ability to harvest data from vehicles and drivers, offering insurance could be "a natural for Ford," he said. "Cooperation is essential," he said, especially for companies that may not have the resources to build out a full EV ecosystem.

Persons: Jim Farley, Farley, EVs, Shivansh, Paul Lienert, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Ford, ICE, Ford Pro, EV, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Detroit

Credit Suisse bankers, worried about their future are seeking safer employment at competitors, one person said. Credit Suisse said in April that the bank's "employee attrition has been higher over the last year," and that it had just over 48,000 full-time employees at the end of the first quarter. In an example of competitors poaching Credit Suisse's staff, Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, has hired at least eight bankers from Credit Suisse and was targeting more, Bloomberg News reported this month. UBS management has also said it would set a very high bar when deciding whether to retain any of Credit Suisse's investment banking staff. A banker from Credit Suisse in Zurich told Reuters the lender was in a state of flux, with its investment bank seeing the most staff departures.

Persons: Blick, Colm Kelleher, Noele Illien, Stefania Spezzati, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Credit Suisse, UBS, . Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse's, Santander, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Swiss Finance Ministry, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Swiss, Spain’s, Zurich

☆ EU tech chief calls for voluntary AI code of conduct within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LULEA, Sweden, May 31 (Reuters) - The United States and European Union should push the artificial intelligence (AI) industry to adopt a voluntary code of conduct within months to provide safeguards while new laws are developed, EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday. The European Union's AI Act, with rules on facial recognition and biometric surveillance, could be the world's first comprehensive legislation governing the technology, but is still going through the legislative process. "In the best of cases it will take effect in two and a half to three years time. That is obviously way too late," Vestager told reporters before a meeting of the joint EU-U.S Trade and Technology Council in Sweden. Vestager, a European Commission vice president, said a code of conduct come emerge quickly while governments and legislators from the EU to Canada to India establish rules.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, Thierry Breton, Philip Blenkinsop, Mark Potter Organizations: LULEA, European Union, EU, U.S Trade, Technology Council, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Sweden, United States, European, Canada, India

☆ ECB warns of hit to top European banks if funds run into trouble
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The biggest risk it identified was that shadow banks withdrew their funds from banks, such as deposits and repurchase agreements. These account for 13% of all traditional banks' liabilities -- or more for larger banks. This could happen if the shadow banks -- or non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFI) in the regulators' jargon -- were themselves hit by outflows or lost confidence in a bank. Other spillover channels included forced sales of assets by shadow banks, which would cause losses at traditional banks because their portfolios often overlap or are correlated, the ECB said. It added that distress at systemically important lenders would also spell trouble for shadow banks.

☆ Ukraine peace plan is only way to end Russia's war, says Zelenskiy aide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

He pushed back on a flurry of peace initiatives from China, Brazil, the Vatican and South Africa in recent months. "There cannot be a Brazilian peace plan, a Chinese peace plan, a South African peace plan when you are talking about the war in Ukraine," Zhovkva said in an interview late on Friday. Zelenskiy made a major push to court the Global South this month in response to peace moves from some of its members. Moscow has bolstered ties with Global South powers during the war in Ukraine, including by selling more of its energy to India and China. 'PEACE SUMMIT'Zhovkva said the reaction to Ukraine's 10-point peace plan had been extremely positive at the G7 summit.

☆ Biden, McCarthy debt deal would speed up Mountain Valley gas pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisWASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. energy company Equitrans Midstream Corp's (ETRN.N) long-delayed $6.6 billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline could win federal approval as part of Washington's debt limit deal. The pipeline is backed by Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, whose vote is often needed since the Democrats hold a thin majority in that body. The pipeline, which would unlock gas supplies from Appalachia, the country's biggest shale gas basin, still needs review and permitting including in West Virginia. Mountain Valley is owned by units of Equitrans, NextEra Energy Inc (NEE.N), Consolidated Edison Inc (ED.N), AltaGas Ltd (ALA.TO) and RGC Resources Inc (RGCO.O).

☆ Top Indian wrestlers detained as protest against federation chief intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, May 28 (Reuters) - Several of India's top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, were detained by police on Sunday as they intensified their protest demanding the arrest of their federation chief over sexual harassment allegations. The wrestlers originally hit the street in January demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has denied allegations of sexually harassing several female athletes. The wrestlers resumed their protest on April 23 demanding Singh's arrest and have since been camping near the new parliament building which Modi inaugurated on Sunday. "They broke the barricades and didn't follow police directions," senior Delhi Police officer Dependra Pathak told local media. Malik, who won the women's 58kg freestyle bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, shared photos and video of the wrestlers being dragged away by the police.

[1/5] Digell Huang, 34, one of the two reserved customers tries the giant isopod ramen in Taipei, Taiwan May 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, May 28 (Reuters) - A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people queuing up - both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. "It is so attractive because of its appearance - it looks very cute," said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be identified only as Mr. Hu, as he held up a giant isopod while customers took pictures. "As for the cooking method, we use the simplest way, steam, so there is no difficulty to process it." The restaurant steams the isopod for 10 minutes before adding it to the top of a bowl of ramen with thick chicken and fish broth.

☆ How Americans plan to travel this Memorial Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 26 (Reuters) - The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is expected to see millions of Americans travel despite tight budgets, kicking off the busy summer travel in the U.S on a high note. Here's how the Memorial Day travel might look like:ROADTRIPS** Cheaper gas is pushing more Americans to consider road travel as an alternative. ** About 37.1 million Americans are expected to drive down to their destinations this Memorial Day, a 6% increase compared to 2022, according to data from travel group AAA. ** Car rental prices are down 17% compared to Memorial Day Weekend last year, travel booking website Hopper says. FLIGHTS** 3.4 million travelers are expected to take a flight for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, an 11% increase year-over-year - AAA.

☆ JPMorgan Chase says Jeffrey Epstein paid tuition for kids of U.S. Virgin Islands governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Those charges were dropped in early 2016 by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice. The filing is part of the bank's defense of a civil lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands alleging JPMorgan facilitated Epstein's sex trafficking of young women. CNBC has reached out to the de Jonghs for comment through an asset management firm in the Virgin Islands where the former governor is a director. Bryan also asked $30,000 go to the Virgin Islands Little League, according to the document. "In addition to visas, some of the young women Epstein brought to the island also neededemployment," the filing noted.

☆ Michael Jordan Olympic jersey fetches over $3 million at auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 25 (Reuters) - A jersey worn by basketball star Michael Jordan while representing the United States during the 1992 Summer Olympics was sold at auction for $3.03 million on Thursday. The auction was run by Goldin, an online collectibles marketplace. The particular jersey worn by Jordan in the semi-final round against Lithuania was included in an auction featuring signed jerseys from all 12 members of the team. Another jersey worn by Jordan during the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold at an auction in September for over $10 million, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia in history. (This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of Michael in headline)Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israel aims to be 'AI superpower', advance autonomous warfare
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"There are those who see AI as the next revolution in changing the face of warfare in the battlefield," Zamir told the Herzliya Conference, an annual international security forum. He named GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) as deep-learning realms being addressed by civilian AI industries which could eventually have military applications. The ministry declined to provide figures on AI funding. This month, state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled an autonmous intelligence-gathering submarine which, it said, had already completed "thousands of hours" of operations. Similary, he said, "our mission is to turn the State of Israel into an AI superpower and to be at the head of a very limited number of world powers that are in this club".

May 19 (Reuters) - Auction house Sotheby's announced Friday seven non-fungible tokens from bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital sold for about $2.5 million. The auction was part of liquidating Three Arrows, according to a February memo from Teneo, one of the court-appointed liquidators. Singapore-based Three Arrows was the first major crypto firm to go bankrupt in 2022, brought down by the collapse of cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a blockchain-based asset that represents ownership of a digital item, such as an image, video or piece of text. The market for NFTs exploded in 2021, and auction houses including Sotheby’s and Christie’s joined the craze.

☆ Asian stocks inch up on US debt ceiling hopes, Nikkei hits 33-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) rose 0.66%, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) continued its ascent, rising to its highest since August 1990, during the country's so-called bubble era. Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.44%, German DAX futures up 0.41% and FTSE futures up 0.23%. China's blue-chip CSI300 Index (.CSI300) rose 0.20%, while the Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) was up 0.13%, having reversed from earlier losses. Hawkish rhetoric from Fed speakers continued with Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying inflation was not cooling fast enough to allow the Fed to pause its interest-rate hike campaign. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.029% and was wedged near a two-month high.

☆ India's forex reserves edge towards $600 billion, hit near 1-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Changes in forex reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses. For the week to which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee fell by 0.4%, dragged down by a broader strength in the dollar index. The local unit had traded in a range of 81.6900 to 82.2250. The rupee fell further by 0.6% this week, its worst fall in two months. The local unit ended at 82.66 against the dollar on Friday.

He said there are no statistics available showing more people are committing violent offences while on bail. The bill introduced this week comes after multiple high-profile violent crimes that police allege were committed by people on bail, including the killing of a police officer late last year. The bill needs to be passed in Parliament, where the governing Liberals have a minority and require support of another party. People jailed awaiting trial may feel pressured to plead guilty to get out of jail sooner, Brown said. "We just need to hold those accountable when they fail to do their jobs as bail supervisors or when people fail to abide by their bail terms."

[1/6] Firefighters work next to a flooded car, after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Faenza, Italy, May 18, 2023. "We are facing a new earthquake," Emilia-Romagna President Stefano Bonaccini told reporters, recalling the seismic events that struck the region in 2012, destroying thousands of homes. The government has promised an extra 20 million euros ($22 million) in emergency aid, on top of the 10 million euros allocated in response to previous floods two weeks ago, which killed at least two people. At least 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes, and many of those who remained in flooded areas were left with no electricity. Heavy rains followed months of drought which had dried out the land, reducing its capacity to absorb water, meteorologists said.

☆ Vietnam rebukes China, Philippines over South China Sea conduct
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, May 18 (Reuters) - Vietnam criticised on Thursday the recent conduct in the South China Sea of a Chinese research ship and the Philippines coast guard, accusing its neighbours of separate actions that were violating its sovereign rights. Tensions are currently high in contested parts of the South China Sea, one of the world's most important trade routes and a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce. China had said that scientific research was a normal activity in areas under Chinese jurisdiction. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, based on what it says are old maps, including waters that lie within the EEZ of Vietnam and four other Southeast Asian countries. Asked about the Philippines' move, Hang said: "Vietnam strongly opposes all acts violating Vietnam's sovereign rights."

☆ Broadcom offers VMware interoperability remedies to address EU concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) has offered interoperability remedies in an effort to address European Union antitrust concerns over its $61 billion VMware (VMW.N) bid, people familiar with the matter said. Broadcom submitted its proposal on Tuesday, a European Commission filing showed. The EU competition enforcer, which did not provide details in line with its policy, extended its deadline for a decision to July 17. Broadcom may restrict competition in some hardware components which interoperate with VMware's virtualisation software, the Commission warned the company last month as it laid out its concerns. "While we maintain that this deal does not present any competition issues, we have made a proposal to address fully the concerns expressed by the European Commission," said Broadcom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's calculations at work in dealing with Hamas in Gaza. "The gap between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is rooted in the fact that Hamas has a political programme and governing authority, whereas the Jihad has neither," he said. However, Israeli officials say Islamic Jihad would not be able to fire rockets without approval from Hamas. An Islamic Jihad official offered a similar line. "That's why they (Hamas) focus their attacks in the West Bank," the regional diplomat said.

☆ Chinese authorities slap comedy firm with $2 mln fine after military joke
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The incident has strongly divided the Chinese public over what sort of jokes are inappropriate as performances such as stand-up comedy become increasingly popular and also highlighted the limits of appropriate content in China where authorities say it must promote core socialist values. In response to the fine, Xiaoguo Culture blamed the incident on "major loopholes in management" and said it had terminated Li's contract. Reuters could not immediately reach Li for comment and Weibo appears to have banned him from posting to his account there. Founded in Shanghai in 2015, Xiaoguo Culture's popularity has grown in sync with China's embrace of stand-up comedy and had known for raising the profile of hundreds of local comedians. (This story has been refiled to add a dropped word in the headline and fix a typo in paragraph 1)($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Republican allies form Super PAC to back Pence presidential bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Allies of Mike Pence launched a Super PAC on Tuesday to garner support for the former vice president as he moves toward an expected run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The political action committee will be led by former U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling and longtime Republican strategist Scott Reed, the group said in a statement. Super PACS are allowed to raise unlimited sums for political purposes, provided they do not coordinate directly with campaigns. Standing up to Trump has not won him broad support among the Republicans who remain loyal to the former president. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, an expected candidate, drew 21% support, while Pence was backed by 5% of Republicans.

☆ How TikTok sensation Squishmallows found Warren Buffett
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 13 (Reuters) - Squishmallows joined Warren Buffett's business empire two years after Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and others helped make the plush stuffed toys a viral sensation on TikTok. They married in 1993 and embarked on law careers, but Judd Zebersky soon realized that wasn't his destiny. Laura Zebersky, a litigator, sold her practice in 2005 and joined him, becoming Jazwares' president. "This was a brand that needed a lot of love," Judd Zebersky said. "Greg is exactly what we have all learned about the Berkshire model," Laura Zebersky said.

☆ Poland says object likely to be observation balloon entered airspace from east
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, May 13 (Reuters) - An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, Poland's defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. NATO-member Poland is on alert for infractions of its airspace as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine after incidents in November and December in which missiles landed on its territory. Captain Ewa Zlotnicka, press officer of the Armed Forces Operational Command, told broadcaster TVN 24 the object entered Polish airspace on Friday evening. The ministry said radar contact with it was lost near Rypin, a town in north-central Poland. (This story has been refiled to clarify that the missile found in April was not the one fired in November, in paragraph 6.)

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