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REUTERS/Bing GuanNEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday blocked 10 companies from selling certain gun components in New York while the state pursues a lawsuit against them aimed at ending sales of illegal, untraceable "ghost guns." The preliminary order by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan adopts an agreement reached between New York Attorney General Letitia James and the companies last month, court records show. "Today's court order will help protect New York communities and save New Yorkers' lives," James said in a statement. The lawsuits claimed that the companies were creating a public nuisance by selling gun frames and receivers without serial numbers to consumers. Three defendants have settled with New York City, agreeing to stop selling guns there.

☆ China's Li Keqiang announces lowest GDP target in decades amid major economic leadership overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s outgoing Premier Li Keqiang has announced the country’s lowest GDP growth target in decades, highlighting the domestic and global challenges the world’s second largest economy still faces despite its decision late last year to ditch draconian anti-Covid measures. It fell well short of the official growth target of “around 5.5%.”“Having declared the end of pandemic, the leaders are sticking to the slowing GDP growth path in the long term by lowering annual GDP target gradually,” said Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank. “Moreover, China has been downplaying the numeric GDP target and shifted to balance the quality since President Xi’s era,” he said. Premier Li also said the government would only raise fiscal spending by 5.6% this year, which is lower than the growth of 6.1% in fiscal spending in 2022. “After three years of pandemic [measures], it could be more than desirable for governments, especially the local governments, to restore fiscal resilience,” said Citi analysts.

Hong Kong CNN —China has set an official economic growth target of “around 5%” for 2023, as it seeks to revive the world’s second largest economy after a year of tepid growth because of pandemic measures. The new figure was released Sunday alongside the opening of the annual gathering of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s rubber-stamp legislature, in a government work report. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, March 5. Ng Han Guan/APMoody’s Investors Service has since raised its China growth forecast to 5% for both 2023 and 2024, up from 4% previously, citing a stronger than expected rebound in the short term. Global growth will likely slow from 3.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023.

☆ Meet the 4 men tipped to run China’s economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —The team of Communist Party officials running China’s economy is about to get a major makeover. They include the four men tipped to manage the world’s second biggest economy: Li Qiang as premier, Ding Xuexiang as executive vice premier, He Lifeng as vice premier and Zhu Hexin as the new central bank chief. That puts the 63-year-old in line to succeed Premier Li Keqiang when he steps down during the upcoming congress. Li would be the first premier since the Mao era not to have previously worked at the State Council, China’s cabinet, as vice premier, analysts say. Stringer/ICHPL Imaginechina/AP/FileThe 68-year-old would succeed Vice Premier Liu He, who led China’s negotiations with the United States during trade talks in 2018 and 2019.

October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. Zhang Guocheng, 91 Zhao Zisen, 90, developed China’s first practical optical fiber Tang Hongxiao, 91 The obituaries began accumulating. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years. October 2022 Wang Linfang,92, molecular biologist Four members of China’s two most prestigious academic institutions died in October – in line with the average in recent years.

One man carried out his attack with a gun banned by the state, while the other used a gun he legally owned, police said. Even in California, a state with some of the country's strictest gun laws, the limits can be sidestepped. The prospects for new federal gun laws are dim. The majority of guns used in mass shootings were obtained legally, according to the nonprofit Violence Project, which maintains a database of attacks. Chunli Zhao legally owned the gun used in the Half Moon Bay attack on Monday, police said.

☆ Netflix set for slowest revenue growth as ad plan struggles to gain traction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Eva Mathews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 17 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) is expected to report its slowest quarterly revenue growth on Thursday as its ad-supported plan struggles to attract customers in the saturating U.S. market, which could pressure the company to pull back on content spending this year. "Given current interest rates, Netflix will have to be very selective about green-lighting content and how they would finance it." It returned to subscriber growth in the third quarter, but its stock, an investor favorite during its years of rapid growth, still ended the year with a drop of more than 50%. "As overall streaming growth flattens out, most of the more mature streaming platforms have leveled off as well," MoffettNathanson said, adding that Netflix's reach fell by 200 basis points in the quarter. Reuters GraphicsStill, some analysts believe that the ad-supported plan will pay off in the long run, especially in developing markets, where spending power is weaker.

HONG KONG — On the first day of unimpeded travel between mainland China and Hong Kong, Olivia Gai was one of the first in line. On Tuesday, the Chinese embassies in South Korea and Japan said they would stop issuing short-term visas for travelers to China. The South Korean Foreign Ministry says its restrictions on travelers from China are based on science. According to some estimates, China’s Covid death toll could reach 1 million or more in the coming months. Nonetheless, more countries have begun requiring negative Covid tests for travelers from China, and at least one country, Morocco, has banned arrivals entirely.

☆ Netflix to live-stream Screen Actors Guild Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 11 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) will live-stream the annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards beginning in 2024, as it explores bringing live programming to its service. The streaming giant stepped in to carry the SAG Awards, which had lost its broadcast home on cable networks TNT and TBS. Netflix will stream this year's ceremony on its YouTube Channel and, next year, stream the awards show to subscribers via Netflix's service. Nominees will be announced at 7 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday and the 29th Annual SAG awards take place on Feb. 26. Netflix is in the early days of testing live broadcasts, as it contemplates bringing live sports to the platform.

Wuhan resident Xie Zhicong said he and everyone in his family, aside from his grandmother, had been infected. Xie, a 25-year-old salesman, said it was difficult to see a doctor when he went to a hospital for an examination last week. The hospital that Xie visited did not respond to requests for comment on his claims. People who have recovered, Xie said, are looking ahead to life after three years of “zero-Covid” restrictions. Though China is experiencing a massive outbreak much as it did at the start of the pandemic, once it’s over the virus won’t have many places left to go, Sridhar said.

☆ The U.S. passed a historic climate deal this year — here's a recap of what's in the bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The IRA's provisions have major implications for clean energy and manufacturing businesses, climate startups and consumers in the coming years. As 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back at the key elements in the legislation that climate and clean energy advocates will be monitoring in 2023. Taking aim at methane gas emissionsSome pumpjacks operate while others stand idle in the Belridge oil field near McKittrick, California. Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe package imposes a tax on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane gas emissions. And the bill has a hydrogen production tax credit, which provides hydrogen producers with a credit based on the climate attributes of their production methods.

China reported 2,157 new symptomatic infections Thursday, but officials have stopped counting asymptomatic cases and halted mandatory testing. James Zimmermann, a lawyer, posted on Twitter earlier this week that 90% of his office was sickened. Meanwhile, Beijing has tried to maintain its policy of imposing harsh limits on people’s daily lives whenever an outbreak flared. Although direct comparisons are difficult, officially China has suffered just more than 5,200 deaths — compared with nearly 1.1 million in the United States. It also recently caused social unrest in the form of widespread demonstrations, which appeared to be the catalyst for the abrupt policy change.

☆ Theranos Ex-President Sunny Balwani Sentenced to Almost 13 Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China Announces Nationwide Loosening of Covid-19 Rules Some movie theaters in China reopened and Covid-testing booths were dismantled ahead of an announcement by authorities on Wednesday to scrap most testing and quarantine requirements. The changes come after nationwide protests against Beijing’s zero-Covid policy. Photo: Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

Paid sick leave was one of the outstanding issues in the negotiations. Rail workers get zero paid sick days. Paid sick leave is a basic human right. The measure to provide seven paid sick days did not win the required 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and was not endorsed by the White House. Senator Bernie Sanders and others denounced railroad companies for refusing to offer paid sick leave.

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday to block a potential a U.S. rail strike after President Joe Biden warned of the dire economic consequences of a rail disruption that could happen as early as Dec. 9. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September. At a White House meeting Tuesday with congressional leaders, the Democratic president was asked if he was confident he could avert a rail strike, and responded, "I am confident." Labor unions have criticized the railroads’ sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal.

In Beijing, hundreds of mostly young people demonstrated in the commercial heart of the city well into the small hours of Monday. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of arts, freedom of movement, personal freedoms. A security guard tries to cover a protest slogan against zero-Covid on the campus of Peking University in Beijing. “Open your eyes and look at the world, dynamic zero-Covid is a lie,” the protest slogan at Peking University read. At Tsinghua University, another elite university in Beijing, hundreds of students gathered on a square to protest against zero-Covid and censorship.

The factory’s iPhone 14 production has been slowed by a labor shortage that began last month, when a Covid outbreak and an accompanying lockdown sent workers fleeing back to their hometowns. China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” measures make it an outlier among the world’s major economies, causing growing public frustration and economic pain. Though officials announced new “optimized” measures this month, they are struggling to ease the burden without setting off a major exit wave. Despite the purported easing of measures in China, a single case can still bring targeted lockdowns and sudden quarantines. Covid measures were further tightened on Thursday in the capital, Beijing, which is already in near-lockdown with schools, parks and shopping malls closed and a negative Covid test required every 48 hours to enter public places anywhere in the city.

☆ U.S. Chamber urges Congress to avert rail strike, extend Boeing 737 MAX deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Bing Guan/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday urged Congress to take action on a number of issues before ending work for the year, including preventing a potential rail strike and extending a deadline for the Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX 7 and 10 to get certified. The largest U.S. business group noted that three rail unions have rejected a rail contract. "A rail strike would be catastrophic for our economy, costing $2 billion per day and imposing enormous challenges to businesses, local communities, and commuters," the Chamber letter said. The Chamber also backed Boeing efforts to seek a waiver of a December deadline imposing a new safety standard for modern cockpit alerts for the MAX 7 and MAX 10. Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. oil refiners to keep running at breakneck speeds in fourth quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Erwin Seba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanHOUSTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil refiners this quarter will run their plants at breakneck rates, near or above 90% of capacity, as tight fuel supplies spur high profits and operating rates, according to company forecasts and analysts surveyed by Reuters. The refining industry has minted huge profits this year on buoyant demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. PBF restarted units idled during the pandemic at its Paulsboro, N.J., plant to produce more diesel and jet fuel, with the company's refineries running at a record-high 980,000 barrels per day last quarter, Young said. Overall, refiners are forecasting production will remain close to third quarter levels, which averaged 92.75%, said Matthew Blair, refining analyst at researcher Tudor Pickering & Holt. Diesel stocks in particular “are well below typical levels and are running at some 20% below the seasonal average,” Paisie said.

☆ Warehouses and employers like Amazon bring new jobs and higher wages for some blue-collar workers, but they can be hard on cities — and on the human body
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Matt Turner | Jordan Parker Erb | Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. On the agenda today:But first: This week, Insider launched an ambitious new package, Warehouse Nation, which investigates how the warehousing boom has shaped the US. Deputy editor Jake Swearingen is here to take us inside the project. Kathy Willens/AP PhotoThe US economy's post-pandemic party is over, so get ready to endure the mother of all hangovers. We outlined the winners and losers in Solomon's latest reorg, and what that might mean for the bank's future performance.

☆ Elon Musk says Tesla could buy back up to $10 billion in shares next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said Wednesday that Tesla could repurchase up to $10 billion of its shares this year. Some investors have called for a stock buyback as the EV maker's stock has been declining. Tesla stock fell 5% Thursday after it missed on earnings and warned it wouldn't meet delivery targets. "Even in the downside scenario next year, even given if next year is a very difficult year, we still have the ability to do a $5 billion to $10 billion buyback." Tesla shares fell over 5% to $209.30 in premarket trading after the company said it expects to undershoot its delivery growth target for this year.

From July through September, Netflix attracted 2.4 million new subscribers worldwide, more than double the 1.07 million consensus forecast of analysts polled by Refinitiv. Netflix now has a total of 223.1 million subscribers around the world. For the third quarter, Netflix topped Wall Street projections with revenue of $7.9 billion, up 6% from a year earlier. The company's forecast of 4.5 million customer pickups by the end of 2022 came in slightly ahead of Wall Street estimates, which had averaged 4.2 million. For the fourth quarter, Netflix is projecting revenue of $7.8 billion -- a sequential decline it blamed on the strong value of the U.S. dollar.

☆ Freight Operators’ Peak Shipping Season Is Crumbling
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul Berger | Paul Page | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The peak shipping season is fizzling as overstocked retailers cancel overseas orders and freight companies scale back expectations for heavy freight volumes heading into the holidays. Many retailers pulled peak season orders in early this year to avoid a repeat of 2021 when supply-chain congestion caused delays and product shortages during the holidays. Container shipping rates that hit record highs last year have also pulled back sharply, although they still remain above 2019 levels. The peak shipping season cascades down into package transport, as United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and others typically handle growing volumes as the calendar counts down to Christmas. Citi analysts say they expect a “weaker peak season and a large amount of uncertainty in terms of the magnitude of demand.”—Esther Fung and Liz Young contributed to this article.

☆ Freight Operators’ Peak Shipping Season is Crumbling
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul Berger | Paul Page | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The peak shipping season is fizzling as overstocked retailers cancel overseas orders and freight companies scale back expectations for heavy freight volumes heading into the holidays. But a range of measures of shipping demand across the U.S. are sliding, freight rates are falling as a result, leading carriers to pull back capacity amid concerns a deeper downturn is coming. Many retailers pulled peak season orders in early this year to avoid a repeat of 2021 when supply-chain congestion caused delays and product shortages during the holidays. Container shipping rates that hit record highs last year have also pulled back sharply, although they still remain above 2019 levels. The peak shipping season cascades down into package transport, as United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and others typically handle growing volumes as the calendar counts down to Christmas.

☆ Iran toughens crackdown as some oil workers reported to join protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Human rights group Hengaw reported a heavy presence of armed security forces in the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqez and Divandareh on Monday. Activists said on social media that several people, including two teenagers, were killed by security forces in the province. Blaming the protests on Iran's foreign foes, authorities said "rioters" have killed at least 20 members of the security forces. In spite of a harsh crackdown by security forces, protesters across Iran have burned pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the downfall of the clerical establishment and chanted "Death to the Dictator". "Instead of dying every minute under this regime's repression, I prefer to die with their (security forces) bullets in protests for freedom."

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