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That number includes both rocket launches and capsule reentries, and has been steadily climbing. A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Air space is going to be a critical, critical issue," Isom said, calling on new industries to contribute to the cost of air traffic control. A graph of FAA-licensed or permitted commercial space launches (excludes launches licensed by other U.S. government agencies, such as NASA or the Department of Defense). Together they create a moving target for space launches and the commercial airlines eyeing the same air space.

☆ Ukraine’s Olympic Boycott Threat Ratchets Tension Over Participation of Russian Athletes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Team Ukraine during the athletes parade at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Ukraine is threatening to boycott the 2024 Summer Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to participate, ratcheting up pressure on key decision-makers weighing whether to keep the two countries in a pariah status. The Ukrainian Olympic Committee agreed at an extraordinary general assembly on Friday that a boycott is an option if the International Olympic Committee continues its bid to end the lockout of Russian and Belarusian competitors, which began with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian Olympic officials are set to make their decision in the coming months.

☆ Airbus and Qatar Airways settle bitter A350 jet row
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The "amicable and mutually agreeable settlement" ends a $2 billion row over surface damage on the long-haul jets. The spat led to the withdrawal of billions of dollars' worth of jet deals by Airbus and prompted Qatar to increase purchases from Boeing. The deal heads off what amounted to an unprecedented public divorce trial between heavyweights in the normally tight-knit and secretive $150 billion jet industry. Airbus' decision to revoke that order, separate from the disputed A350 contract, had been criticised by global airlines group IATA. Airbus said it had done its best to avoid pushing Qatar too far back in the queue.

"It's going to take some time" for disinflation to spread through the economy, Powell said in a news conference following the Fed's latest quarter-point interest rate increase. He said he expects a couple more rate hikes still to go, and, "given our outlook, I just I don't see us cutting rates this year." Rate cuts, they expect, will start in September - a view Powell said Wednesday is driven by the expectation of fast-receding inflation. Since the 1990s, the interlude between rate hikes and rate cuts has varied from as long as 18 months in 1997-1998 to as short as five months in 1995. The Fed, Powell said Wednesday, cannot risk doing too little.

☆ Ukraine Denounces Western Executives at Russian Companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alistair Macdonald | Ben Dummett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A street in Moscow. Kyiv says it is asking Western governments to talk to foreign executives about their continued role in Russia. Ukraine is ratcheting up pressure on Western executives who have retained posts at Russian companies, saying their presence is indirectly supporting Moscow’s war effort. Many Western executives cut ties with Russia after it invaded Ukraine last year, sometimes in opposition to the war or to comply with Western sanctions. Others remained for various reasons, including saying they had a fiduciary duty to their investors, a responsibility to local employees or yearslong ties to Russia that were hard to break.

☆ General Motors doesn’t expect significant U.S. production of EVs until second half of year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Barring any supply chain problems, Betts said electric vehicles should be easier and faster to build than traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines for an experienced automaker. Photo by Steve Fecht for General MotorsBut others such as Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor have been ratcheting up production of EVs. Industry leader Tesla also targets to produce 2 million electric vehicles globally this year. Ford, which ranked second in EV sales in the U.S. last year, expects to increase production of its electric Ford F-150 Lightning. GM expects to ramp-up production of the Bolt models, which use older battery technology, to 70,000 vehicles this year, GM has said.

☆ Boeing Boosts Annual Orders and Deliveries, but Still Lags Behind Airbus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Benjamin Katz | Andrew Tangel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Boeing Co. boosted deliveries of jets last year, ratcheting up production after its 737 MAX crisis and the pandemic, but it still fell well short of arch rival Airbus SE, which continued to outdistance Boeing as the world’s biggest jetliner maker. Boeing commercial-airplanes chief Stan Deal said the company worked hard last year to stabilize production of the MAX, its best selling model, which was grounded for almost two years before resuming flights in the U.S. in 2020. Last year, Boeing also resumed deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner, which had faced a series of production and regulatory setbacks. Boeing boosted deliveries by 41% in 2022 over the previous year.

☆ Illumina challenges EU order to keep Grail separate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. life sciences company Illumina (ILMN.O) on Tuesday challenged an EU antitrust order to keep biotech firm Grail (GRAL.O) separate, ratcheting up its fight against EU regulators which blocked a merger deal last year. Following its veto, the European Union competition enforcer renewed an interim measure last October requiring Illumina to keep Grail as a separate entity so the company can unwind a takeover it had completed without waiting for the deal to get EU approval. "Today, we appealed the European Commission's interim measures order to hold separate Illumina and Grail," Illumina said in a statement. The EU executive said in emailed comment it would defend its case in court. Illumina has three appeals pending in the Luxembourg courts, Europe's top courts, against the EU enforcer's ruling that it jumped the gun by closing the deal without securing approval, the EU's subsequent veto and the EU decision to examine the case.

☆ Venator Materials' investor pushes for board change amid plummeting stock price
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

J&T wrote that it has tried to work constructively with the Venator board since May 2022 but has encountered "apparent delay tactics and gamesmanship." "We strongly urge you to immediately add myself and another independent director to be nominated by us to the Board," the letter said. Venator said it has an open dialogue with all shareholders and has worked to engage in "constructive conversations" with J&T. Venator was spun off from chemical company Huntsman Corp (HUN.N) and its share price tumbled 71% in the last 52 weeks. While Venator rivals have directors with broad experience, the Venator board's skills are focused mainly on the chemicals industry and have prevented it from creating "a go-forward strategy to restore confidence among investors," the J&T letter said.

☆ US consumers increased their borrowing by $28 billion in November
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Minneapolis CNN —US consumers’ credit-hungry approach to spending continued in November, with borrowing rising by nearly $28 billion, according to Federal Reserve data released Monday. Revolving credit, which includes mostly credit cards, grew by 16.9%. It’s the largest jump in revolving credit seen in three months and the fifth-largest monthly increase in Fed record-keeping that goes back nearly 55 years. “It’s really revolving credit, mostly credit card debt, that’s carrying the day right now,” Rossman said. That has filtered down to historically high, if not record, interest rates for car loans, credit cards and personal loans.

☆ U.S. authorities probe FTX engineer Singh -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating the chief engineer of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Nishad Singh, ratcheting up pressure on founder Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are also probing Singh, the report said, citing a source. A lawyer for Singh, Andrew D. Goldstein, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The SEC and CFTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ Wall Street mixed, Treasury yields rise as 2023 worries loom
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

With just two weeks remaining in 2022, the S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq are on track to notch their largest annual percentage losses since 2008, the nadir of the global financial crisis. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.43% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) shed 0.23%. U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors considered how high the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates and how long they will remain at restrictive levels in its battle against inflation. U.S. crude rose 0.48% to $74.65 per barrel and Brent was last at $79.57, up 0.67% on the day. Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni in Milan; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.K. Nurses Stage Biggest Ever Strike as Health System Strains
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Max Colchester | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nurses at a picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, on Thursday, during the mass walkout from the National Health Service. LONDON—British nurses Thursday staged their largest mass walkout, stretching the country’s already creaking nationalized healthcare system and ratcheting up pressure on a government grappling with severe economic headwinds. Tens of thousands of nurses went on strike for the day across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, arguing that they are underpaid, as the National Health Service struggles to digest double-digit inflation and a vast backlog of work caused by the pandemic. They plan another day of strikes next week, along with ambulance drivers, who said they would only pick up patients suffering life-or-death emergencies.

☆ Senate passes bill to bar federal employees from using TikTok on government devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate late on Wednesday passed by voice vote a bill to bar federal employees from using Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok on government-owned devices. Stanislav Kogiku / Sipa via AP fileDuring the last Congress, the Senate in August 2020 unanimously approved legislation to bar TikTok from government devices. Many federal agencies including the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments already ban TikTok from government-owned devices. “TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices,” Hawley said previously. At a hearing last month, FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok’s U.S. operations raise national security concerns.

☆ U.S. Places Top Chinese Memory Chip Maker on Export Blacklist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. is ratcheting up restrictions aimed at holding back the development of China’s semiconductor industry. The U.S. said it would add China’s most advanced memory-chip manufacturer to an export blacklist on Thursday, ratcheting up restrictions aimed at holding back the development of the country’s semiconductor industry. The addition of Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. to the Commerce Department’s so-called entity list could further disrupt the company’s business following an earlier round of restrictions in October that led chip-manufacturing equipment companies to pull out staff based at its facilities and pause their activities there. The blacklisting is due to take effect Friday, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

☆ U.S. Senate passes bill to bar federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate late on Wednesday passed by voice vote a bill to bar federal employees from using Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok on government-owned devices. During the last Congress, the Senate in August 2020 unanimously approved legislation to bar TikTok from government devices. Many federal agencies including the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments already ban TikTok from government-owned devices. "TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on government devices," Hawley said previously. At a hearing last month, FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok's U.S. operations raise national security concerns.

☆ U.S. to add over 30 Chinese companies to trade blacklist -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to place Chinese chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) and 35 other Chinese firms on a trade blacklist that would prevent them from buying certain American components, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The U.S Department of Commerce will add the Chinese companies to a so-called Entity List as early as this week, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Once a company is added to the entity list, its U.S. suppliers must seek a special license to ship even low-tech items to it. Dozens of other Chinese entities, including YMTC, were "at risk" of being added to a trade blacklist as soon as Dec. 6, a U.S. Commerce Department official said in prepared remarks seen by Reuters last month. In October, 31 entities, including YMTC, were added to a list of companies that U.S. officials have been unable to inspect, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.

☆ North Dakota, Iowa ban TikTok from state-owned devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - North Dakota and Iowa have joined a growing number of U.S. states in banning the Chinese-owned short-video-sharing app TikTok from state-owned devices, citing national security concerns. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued directives prohibiting executive branch agencies from downloading the app on any government-issued equipment. TikTok has said the concerns are largely fueled by misinformation and are happy to meet with policymakers to discuss the company's practices. "We're disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States," the company said Wednesday. At a hearing last month, FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok's U.S. operations raise national security concerns.

☆ U.S. lawmakers unveil bipartisan bid to ban China's TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced bipartisan legislation to ban China's popular social media app TikTok, ratcheting up pressure on owner ByteDance Ltd amid U.S. fears the app could be used to spy on Americans and censor content. The bill comes as scrutiny of TikTok has grown in Washington in recent weeks, after a failed bid by the Trump administration to ban the video-sharing app. TikTok app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoAlabama and Utah on Monday joined other U.S. states prohibiting the use of TikTok on state government devices and computer networks due to national security concerns. CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for months aiming to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of TikTok's more than 100 million users.

☆ U.S. lawmakers ease planned curbs on Chinese chips amid corporate pushback
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The final version no longer forbids contractors from "using" the targeted chips and pushes the compliance deadline back to five years from the immediate or two-year implementation deadlines included in the first version. Chips made by SMIC are commissioned by companies all over the world and can be found in products as diverse as cell phones and cars. They are difficult to identify because chips are not typically labeled with the names of the companies that manufacture them. Lawmakers released a final version of the NDAA Tuesday night. Schumer's office, SMIC, YMTC, CXMT and the Chamber of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.

☆ Big Pharma’s heartburn win is a valuation salve
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The equity value of GSK (GSK.L), Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Haleon (HLN.L) crashed in August, after analysts warned of a massive thwack linked to claims that heartburn medication Zantac caused cancer. On Tuesday, a Florida judge broadly agreed and threw out roughly 50,000 claims in federal court. Morgan Stanley analysts had estimated the overall Zantac litigation hit could have been as high as $45 billion. The Zantac judge has just proved that courts can be a help as well as a hindrance. Shares in GSK were up 9% to 15.08 pounds as of 0958 GMT on Dec. 7, while Sanofi rose 5% to 90.03 euros.

☆ U.S. lawmakers ease proposed curbs on Chinese chips amid corporate pushback
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Chips made by SMIC are commissioned by companies all over the world and can be found in products as diverse as cell phones and cars. They are difficult to identify because chips are not typically labeled with the names of the companies that manufacture them. Lawmakers are expected to announce final language for the final package later this week, which may include the revised measure. SMIC, YMTC and CXMT, the Chinese Embassy in Washington and the Chamber of Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment. SMIC was blacklisted by the Trump administration over concerns the company aids the Chinese military.

☆ The year in review: What happened -- and what did not
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Simon Robinson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With distant artillery fire booming across the capital, Ukraine's defence ministry urged residents to build petrol bombs to repel the invaders. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy filmed himself with aides on the streets of the city, vowing to defend his country's independence. Many in Moscow had expected Russia's military to sweep to victory, oust Zelenskiy's government and install a Russia-friendly regime. The big exception was China, whose zero-COVID policy has sparked protests and unrest in the past few weeks. Over the coming few weeks we'll recap the biggest, dig into why they mattered, and ask where they may be headed.

☆ Resilient Croatia advance as Japan crumble in shootout
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Three times in the knockout rounds in Russia four years ago the Croatians came from behind to advance after extra time before losing to France in the final. They once again showed their resilience and patience by coming from a goal down to tame a lively Japan team who had beaten Germany and Spain in the group stage. The game was more open than anyone had reason to expect, with Croatia ratcheting up the physicality to gradually take control of midfield and Japan trying to hit them on the break. That brought Japan out of their shells and Wataru Endo was soon firing in a long-range effort which Livakovic tipped over the bar. Japan kept their nerve throughout the match but they crumbled in the penalty shootout as Nikola Vlasic and Marcelo Brozovic put Croatia 2-1 ahead before Pasalic sealed the deal for Croatia.

Blackstone (BX.N) limited withdrawals from its $69 billion unlisted REIT on Thursday after redemption requests hit pre-set limits amid investor concerns it was slow to adjust valuations as interest rate surged, a source close to the fund said. The development is yet another reminder of the risks facing not just sectors that are sensitive to higher interest rates but also broader financial markets, which have rallied sharply on hopes that interest rate hikes will slow. "REITS had a fantastic performance for a couple of months but when you have that outperformance, investors don't react to traditional fundamental signals such as rising rates," she said. But in recent weeks expectations have risen that the Fed will "pivot" from aggressive tightening, prompting investors to price in lower peak interest rates. Blackstone has reported a 9.3% year-to-date net return for the REIT, while the publicly traded Dow Jones U.S.

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