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Median 2023 price forecasts for all the core LME base metals are lower than both last year's price and current trading levels. The LME copper cash settlement price was $9,075 per tonne on Tuesday, up 10% on the start of January. A median forecast of $8,625 for the full year is 2.1% lower than last year's average of $8,814 per tonne. Aluminium is viewed as more finely balanced, with a median forecast supply surplus of 80,535 tonnes this year and 92,100 tonnes in 2024. That said, last January's median forecast proved surprisingly close to the mark at $34,880 in what was a year of extraordinary volatility.

☆ Workers at Facebook, Snap fear second round of layoffs is on the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Recent comments by CEOs at Meta and Snap have workers bracing for yet another round of cuts. For tech workers who in 2022 saw tens of thousands of colleagues lose their jobs amid a wave of layoffs, this year has brought little besides déjà vu. Fear is spreading among many tech employees that even more layoffs will happen in the coming weeks. Performance reviews are more severe. Snap is another company where employees are starting to suspect another round of layoffs is being considered, if not already on the way.

That has rendered a community that experts estimate to be 7 million to 8 million people invisible, underrepresented and unnoticed. There's power in numbers, Berry said, and as it is now, much of the research on the American MENA community is anecdotal because of the lack of an identifier. "Small-business owners in the community would be able to take advantage of grants that we're not entitled to, because we're factored into the white category." 'It's like déjà vu'It isn't the first time the U.S. has concluded that a MENA category is necessary. It's a processThe recommendation for the OMB to adopt a MENA category is just that — a recommendation.

☆ Tyre Nichols' death has reignited the debate around police brutality. Here are 5 proven ways to reduce it - and 2 strategies that don't work.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michelle Mark | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Here are five proven, data-based changes that could make a difference, and two approaches that don't seem to work, according to Campaign Zero. Track complaints about officers' use of forceMost complaints against officers aren't public, making them hard to track. These changes, along with requiring departments to report and publish online data on all uses of force, could reduce police violence. Body cameras are another method that haven't been proven effective when it comes to excessive force instances. Research has shown that 93% of prosecutors' offices have used body cameras mostly in cases against citizens, not against police.

☆ U.S. again asks Mexico to review labor rights issues at VU Manufacturing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Monday asked Mexico under a regional trade pact to again probe whether workers at a VU Manufacturing facility in Piedras Negras are being denied labor rights. In September, Mexico and the United States said they had resolved an earlier complaint under USMCA, saying workers at auto-parts plant VU Manufacturing in northern Mexico were able to elect the union of their choice. "Despite this facility taking positive actions in 2022, some of the failures we identified previously appear to be recurring," said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Monday. Michigan-based VU Manufacturing, who produces interior car parts including arm rests and door upholstery, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ An Apple a day could keep the layoffs away
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For many tech workers, however, this Lunar New Year was tainted with layoff anxiety. Apple is the only Big Tech company that hasn't conducted sweeping layoffs recently. Apple has long been a lone wolf among its Big Tech peers. The chart above shows how more tech workers were laid off in January 2023 than during the first half of 2022 combined. Read four of the memos in full here, from Google Chrome, Google Cloud, Google UK, and its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa offices.

Jan 19 (Reuters) - David Crosby, one of the most influential rock singers of the 1960s and '70s with the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) has died at the age of 81, Variety reported on Thursday, citing a statement from Crosby's wife. "I don’t know what to say other than I’m heartbroken to hear about David Crosby. He fell "as low as a human being can go," Crosby told the Times. In the 2019 documentary "David Crosby: Remember My Name," he made clear he hoped they could work together again but conceded the others "really dislike me, strongly." After his release, Crosby told People magazine he had beaten his addictions.

Summary Phuc blamed for conduct of officials under himPresident highest-profile casualty of graft crackdownPhuc's replacement unclearHundreds of officials hit by 'blazing furnace' campaignHANOI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned after the ruling Communist Party blamed him for "violations and wrongdoing" by officials under his control while prime minister, the government said on Tuesday. Phuc, 68, who was premier from 2016-2021, has held the largely ceremonial position of president for less than two years and is the highest-ranking official targeted by the party's sweeping corruption crackdown. Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by four "pillars": the powerful party's secretary, the president, the prime minister and the chair of the legislature. Phuc was chosen in April 2021 to be president, and was widely tipped to succeed the party's General Secretary, the state's most prestigious job. "As prime minister for the 2016-2021 term, he has made great efforts in leading, directing and administering the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, achieving important results," it said.

☆ Photos and video of chaos in Brazil show an eerily familiar sight for Americans as supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, storm the country's Congress 2 years after the US Capitol riot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazil's Congress Sunday with complaints of a stolen election. Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, sit in front of police after inside Planalto Palace after storming it, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, clash with police as they storm the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.

☆ Manhattan judge wants Trump to stop calling NY attorney general's $250 million fraud case a witch hunt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Letitia James' $250 million fraud lawsuit against Trump and his business remains on track for an Oct. 2, 2023 trial. In a nine-page decision, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron kept Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit on track for an early October trial. Ivanka Trump claimed she couldn't be held legally liable in the attorney general's lawsuit, but that is not the case, Engoron also wrote. "Once again, Donald Trump's attempts to evade the law have been rejected," James said in a statement. "We look forward to receiving a full and proper review of our arguments on appeal," said Trump attorney Alina Habba.

☆ With few entry tests, Southeast Asia may gain most from China's travel revival
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Xinghui Kok | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Except for airplane wastewater testing by Malaysia and Thailand for the virus, the region's 11 nations will treat Chinese travellers like any others. As many as 76% of Chinese travel agencies ranked Southeast Asia as the top destination when outbound travel resumed, according to a survey released in December by trade show ITB China. Thailand already expects to welcome 5 million Chinese travellers this year, or about half of the 10.99 million of 2019. Neighbouring Malaysia projects 1.5 million to 2 million Chinese tourists this year versus 3 million before the pandemic. "But for Cambodia, it’s an invitation to Chinese people: Chinese tourists, come to Cambodia."

☆ Vietnam's largest refinery's RFCC unit shut for troubleshooting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HANOI, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Vietnam's largest refinery, Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical (NSRP), has shut a residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit for "troubleshooting", two sources familiar with the matter said. "The issue was detected earlier this week and the refinery has been fixing it," one of the sources said, adding that "the unit is expected to resume normal operations soon." Calls to the refinery seeking comment were not immediately answered. The 200,000 barrels-per-day refinery is 35.1% owned by Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Co (5019.T), 35.1% by Kuwait Petroleum, 25.1% by Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam and 4.7% by Mitsui Chemicals Inc (4183.T). Reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi and Trixie Yap in Singapore: Editing by Neil FullickOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Vietnam's largest refinery's RFCC unit shut for troubleshooting - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Vietnam 2022 GDP growth quickens to 8.02%, fastest since 1997
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HANOI, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Vietnam's gross domestic product grew 8.02% in 2022, the fastest pace annually since 1997, backed by strong domestic retail sales and exports. The reading is higher than an official growth target of 6.0%-6.5% and growth last year of just 2.58%, when COVID-19 lockdowns left a dent on the economy and impacted factory activity. "The economic performance is worth noting amid global economic and political uncertainty and challenges," the General Statistics Office (GSO) said in a report. GDP growth in the fourth quarter was 5.92%, slowing from a growth of 13.71% in the third quarter, the GSO said. Exports in 2022 were up 10.6% to $371.85 billion, while retail sales rose 19.8%, the GSO said.

"It's not a question of if it will happen, it's now just a matter of how many and how fast." As the Lunar New Year holiday - typically a peak travel period for Chinese tourists - starts on Jan. 21, some businesses are already gearing up. Japan, however, is being cautious about Chinese tourism due to the rapid spread of the virus in China. Australia, Germany, Thailand and others, however, said they would not impose additional rules on Chinese travel for now, with France taking to social media platform Sina Weibo to emphasise it welcomed Chinese friends "with open arms". "I suspect any meaningful rebound will have to wait until the travel boom in June or July next year."

☆ Vietnam central bank buys dollars to shore up foreign reserves
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Khanh Vu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) also said it will manage monetary policy in a flexible way to keep inflation at 4.5% next year, aiming to "stabilise the monetary and foreign exchange markets to ensure the safety of the banking system". Lending by Vietnamese banks rose 12.87% as of Dec. 21 from the end of last year, the SBV said in a statement. Tu said the SBV was buying dollars to boost its foreign exchange reserves, but provided no details. Vietnam does not provide regular disclosure on the size of its foreign exchange reserves. The central bank early this month raised its 14% cap on credit growth for the banking system this year by 1.5 to 2.0 percentage points, following a credit crunch in the property sector and its financial markets.

☆ Tesla stock 'holiday coal' will turn into 'diamond' over long term, Canaccord Genuity says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla sentiment is "cosmically bad" and its shareholder base is "distraught," but this too shall pass, according to Canaccord Genuity. "We are adjusting our estimates and price target to $275 (from $304) but — with the current pressure and some patience — trust this holiday coal will turn into a long-term performance diamond," Canaccord analyst George Gianarikas said in a note Wednesday. In addition, improvements in the inflation backdrop could create a margin tailwind, and in improving supply of battery cells could help with fundamentals, Gianarikas said. "Remarkably, the current performance drawdown is the worst in Tesla's stock history — even with a head-spinning decade of volatility," he said. "While current fundamentals appear fairly uncertain, we look to potential green shoots in 2023 and sustained extraordinary growth beyond to help improve equity performance."

☆ Thailand hosts Myanmar junta figures in talks, key ASEAN nations skip
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Foreign ministers of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and Vietnam's deputy foreign minister joined the talks hosted by Thailand's foreign minister, according to Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke. "The consultation was a non-ASEAN meeting but intended to complement ASEAN’s ongoing collective efforts to find a peaceful political resolution," Kanchana said in a statement. Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin attended along with Kan Zaw, minister for investment and foreign economic relations, and Ko Ko Hlaing, minister for international cooperation, Myanmar's foreign ministry said in a statement. The Philippines said its foreign minister would also not join, without elaborating. "Any meeting convened under ASEAN, formal or informal, should not divert from this decision," it said, according to the source.

☆ The pink-slip parties of the dot-com bust helped laid-off tech workers get new jobs. They need to make a comeback.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Allison Hemming started "pink-slip parties" in the early aughts after the dotcom bust. Back then, like now, tech workers lost their jobs en masse. Hemming began running regular meetups for laid-off tech workers — misery loves company, after all — giving them an opportunity to network and meet prospective hiring managers. Will the latest tech layoffs spur a return of pink-slip parties? The tech workers losing their jobs today have a nice runway because a lot of big nontech companies are still hiring.

☆ Vietnam holds first international arms expo in Hanoi
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Military arms are displayed at the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022, in Hanoi, Vietnam, December 8, 2022. REUTERS/Khanh VuHANOI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Vietnam on Thursday opened its first large-scale international defence exhibition, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to diversify its arms sources and also to export equipment. The three-day event held at an airport in the capital Hanoi attracted 174 exhibitors from 30 countries, including the United States, Russia and European nations. Officials and analysts said Vietnam is also eyeing a major defence shift as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian, which was for decades Vietnam's main supplier of weapons and defence systems. Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarancio Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

That made Vietnam one of the top buyers of Russian arms, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks global military expenditures. Starting Thursday, the country will host its first large-scale international arms trade fair, for which more than 170 companies from 30 countries have registered, the defence ministry said. The Defence Ministry referred questions about the country's defence industry to the Foreign Ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment. A half-dozen Russian defence firms are registered for the Hanoi fair, including Rosoboronexport, the state agency that imports and exports weapons. That year, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced Vietnam's military imports to only $32 million, of which $9 million worth were Russian arms.

☆ G7 makes new $15 billion offer to Vietnam to cut coal use -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HANOI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations has made a new $15 billion offer to Vietnam to agree during a summit next week on funding to speed up its transition away from coal, three people familiar with the talks told Reuters. The offer has gradually expanded from an initial pledge of just $2 billion in public funds with undefined additional private support. It remains unclear whether Vietnam would be prepared to accept the increased offer, because its main concerns do not appear to have been addressed. One of the sources said there was a "50/50" chance of a deal next week. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Samsung, LG plan multi-billion-dollar additional investment in Vietnam
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NO ARCHIVES/File PhotoHANOI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - South Korean electronics giants Samsung (005930.KS) and LG (066570.KS) plan to pour billions of dollars of additional investment into Vietnam, state media reports and the Vietnamese government said on Tuesday. The announcement comes after Samsung cut smartphone production in Vietnam twice this year in response to weaker global demand. Samsung Electronics, the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, will invest $2 billion more in the Southeast Asian country, raising its total to $20 billion, Vietnamese state media said. The additional investment will further firm up Vietnam as Samsung's key production site, reported Vietnam News Agency, following a meeting on Tuesday in Seoul between Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the company's chief executive Han Jong-hee. The state media report and the government statement did not provide further details on the investment by the two companies.

☆ Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage could allow LGBTQ discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Caroline Mala Corbin | Caroline Mala Corbin Is A Professor Of Law | Dean S Distinguished Scholar At The University Of Miami School Of Law. She Is A First Amendment Expert Who Has | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Does a website design company have a First Amendment right to discriminate against same-sex couples? But the Supreme Court reached no conclusion on the free speech claim and instead ruled in favor of the bakery on narrow religious grounds. The challenge here is how to classify 303 Creative’s making or refusing to make a website for same-sex couples. If so, it does not trigger, never mind violate, the free speech clause. It would extend to companies that oppose it for nonreligious reasons but can argue that providing their speech-based services to same-sex couples compelled them to express a message of support for that marriage.

☆ Uruguay beats Ghana in grudge rematch but is eliminated from World Cup after South Korea shocks Portugal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

However, the breakthrough never came and Uruguay exits the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 2002. No love lostMake no mistake, this fixture was one of the biggest grudge matches at the Qatar World Cup. Then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, it was 2-0 and Ghana’s World Cup hopes were once again evaporating against Uruguay. The Black Stars did at least begin the second half with more energy, as Osman Bukari flashed a shot across the goal inside the opening 60 seconds. Luis Suárez made himself a villain in Ghana for his role in their epic clash at the 2010 World Cup.

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