DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

REUTERS/Andrew Winning/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - Engineering company Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) will announce on Tuesday it is investing over $220 million to build a rail car manufacturing facility in North Carolina, the White House and Siemens said. Busch said Siemens has a "strong foothold" in the market and sees longer term growth opportunities in high-speed rail. Siemens' rail unit will be receiving a jobs development grant from the state of North Carolina, the company said. Funding comes in part from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed in 2021, the White House said. The $1 trillion infrastructure law provides $66 billion for rail, an unprecedented boost in federal aid for trains.

☆ Biden aims billions in taxpayer money at companies' labor, supply practices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"What Biden and his advisers are doing is solving problems that exist in the economy. They are pushing forward an agenda aimed at building things in America again ... and taking on corporate power," he said. A Department of Energy provision in the act requires companies to focus on workforce training, ensure diversity and engage "environmental justice" communities in planning. Key provisions on universal child care and better working conditions for child care workers were stripped out of bills last year. Julie Su, just tapped to be labor secretary, launched a campaign against "wage theft" by employers as a labor activist.

☆ U.S. needs to learn all of Black history, Biden says, as some Republicans push curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Monday praised the contribution of African Americans in the United States at an event to celebrate "Black History Month," something presidents from both parties have done for decades. "History matters and Black history matters," Biden said to an audience of Black Congress members and government officials. Americans "can't just choose to learn what we want to know," Biden said. His remarks from the White House's East Room come as some conservative Republicans, most notably Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are pushing for changes to the way Black history is taught in U.S. schools. Presidents in the past have often used the occasion of Black History Month to note the unfulfilled promises made to Black Americans.

[1/2] Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden addresses the International Association of Fire Fighters in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Jill Biden wants Americans to know that her husband, President Joe Biden, does plan to run for a second four-year term, and she's all for it - even as a formal declaration of his intentions has yet to be made. Cedric Richmond, a former Biden White House adviser, said Biden would announce "whenever he's ready" when asked if an announcement was coming in March or April. Some 71% of respondents, including 52% of Democrats, said they did not believe that Biden should run for re-election in 2024. Democratic strategist Bud Jackson said the issue of whether Biden should run again is a topic of great debate in Democratic circles.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in an uptick of similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws. It has created an interagency task force on child labor, and plans to target industries where violations are most likely to occur for investigations. The Hearthside investigation is the latest in a rise in similar probes. Reuters last year published a series of stories on child labor including revelations about the use of child labor among suppliers to Hyundai, including a direct subsidiary of the Korean auto giant, in the U.S. state of Alabama.

☆ Explainer: Biden's EV highway takes shape
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A electric vehicle charger is seen as a vehicle charges in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 7, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyFeb 27 (Reuters) - Armed with billions of dollars, the Biden administration is embarking on the biggest transformation of the U.S. consumer driving landscape in generations, hoping to blanket the nation's highways with electric vehicle chargers. The federally-funded chargers must be placed within a mile of state-designated electric vehicle corridors. Ready and pending electric vehicle corridors — designations that determine if a highway has a sufficient number of charging stations for EV travel. The state received 167 site proposals from 30 different teams, officials told Reuters.

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S. diplomatic communications with China remain open after the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon this month, but contact between the countries' militaries "unfortunately" remains shut down, the White House said on Friday. Kirby told a White House news briefing that U.S. and Chinese diplomats can still communicate despite tensions over the balloon incident. "I recognize that there are tensions, but Secretary Blinken still has an open line of communication with the foreign minister. "The president will want to have a conversation with President Xi at the appropriate time." "It needed to be shot down because we were confident that it was used by China to spy on American people," she told MSNBC.

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - U.S. diplomatic communications with China remain open after the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon this month, but contact between the countries' militaries "unfortunately" remains shut down, the White House said on Friday. Kirby told a White House news briefing that U.S. and Chinese diplomats can still communicate despite tensions over the balloon incident. "I recognize that there are tensions, but Secretary Blinken still has an open line of communication with the foreign minister. He said he expected to speak with Chinese leader Xi about it and hoped to get to the bottom of the affair. "The president will want to have a conversation with President Xi at the appropriate time."

☆ Exclusive: World Bank may loosen loan ratio to free up $4 billion a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The World Bank, under pressure to do more to help developing countries cope with climate change, may change its internal lending guidelines to free up $4 billion in lending capacity each year, World Bank President David Malpass told Reuters on Thursday. Lowering the equity-to-lending ratio would free up more resources at a time of mounting global challenges such as the Ukraine war, he said. The board was expected to decide on the issue by the April meetings of the bank and the International Monetary Fund. Malpass announced his resignation from the bank on Wednesday amid mounting pressure from the U.S. Treasury to move faster on reforming the bank. The World Bank had long argued against changing its capital adequacy rules, worried that doing so would undermine its AAA credit ratings, but two of the three main agencies last year said some changes were possible without tarnishing the ratings.

☆ Exclusive: World Bank's Malpass on surprise exit: Four years is a long time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - World Bank President David Malpass on Thursday told Reuters he decided to leave before his five-year contract ended because he felt work was well underway on reforms aimed at expanding the bank's lending. Malpass, who was nominated by former President Donald Trump, said the end of the bank's fiscal year was a good time for a transition. Malpass will leave the bank by the end of June. Asked about suggestions he had been urged to leave, Malpass said he was leaving on his own terms and it made sense for him at this time. Malpass would not comment on whether it was time to end a longstanding tradition of having the bank's leader come from the United States.

☆ Biden, 80, to have closely watched physical exam
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the IBEW Local 26 in Lanham, Maryland, U.S., February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden, 80, will undergo a closely watched physical examination on Thursday, ahead of an expected announcement that he is seeking a second four-year term. His last physical and colonoscopy, in November 2021, showed the president to be a "healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male," his doctors said. At his last exam, Biden's White House physician, Kevin O'Connor, declared him fit for duty and able to execute his responsibilities. Biden told Judy Woodruff in a PBS interview last week that any Americans concerned about his age should "watch me" perform the duties of the presidency.

The decision, announced after financial markets closed, gives Biden a pair of trusted Washington insiders to steer economic policy as the risk of recession fades but inflation lingers. Big fights also loom with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over raising the debt ceiling. The shakeup comes as the White House tries to tackle what officials view as a frustrating disconnect between relatively strong economic data and weak public sentiment. The White House has refused to discuss spending cuts without a debt ceiling vote first. Bernstein last week conceded that the White House's early description of inflation as "transitory" had missed the mark.

[1/5] David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group, arrives for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not in picture) at Kishida's official residence in Tokyo, Japan September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Issei Kato/PoolWASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - David Malpass, president of the World Bank, unexpectedly said he would resign in June on Wednesday, leaving open a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding and has a direct impact on poverty, climate change preparation, emergency aid and other issues in developing countries around the globe. RAJIV SHAShah is the former USAID administrator under Obama and currently president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic group that says it aims to "promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world." The foundation recently partnered with the U.S. State Department on a carbon offset program at COP27, the international climate conference. MINOUCHE SHAFIKShafik is an Egypt-born, British American economist who is currently president of the London School of Economics and has served as deputy governor of the Bank of England and deputy managing director of the IMF.

It seeks to give consumers unfettered access to a growing coast-to-coast network of EV charging stations, including Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) SuperChargers. Tesla, the nation's largest EV maker and charging company, plans to adopt the CCS standard and expand beyond its proprietary connectors, the administration said. The United States and its allies Mexico and the European Union (EU) have clashed over protectionist policies implemented by Biden. The United States and the EU set up a task force last year to look at American laws that Europeans fear will discriminate against foreign electric car makers. EV chargers require iron and steel for some of their most crucial parts, including the internal structural frame, heating and cooling fans and the power transformer.

☆ Who is Jared Bernstein, new chief White House economist?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Americans remain unimpressed by Biden's economic performance, with prices of many basic goods and mortgage rates high. Bernstein, who played the double bass in jazz bands and worked as a social worker in New York City, has long been a voice for progressive economic policy. He served in the Labor Department under former President Bill Clinton and then as Biden's chief economist when he was vice president. At the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, he wrote and testified to Congress extensively on the shrinking U.S. middle class, a bedrock Biden theme. U.S. business groups worry that Bernstein's labor ties and anti-free trade stance could hamper efforts to bolster trade ties with other countries.

"I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no, again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. On Sunday, a U.S. Air Force general said he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to U.S. intelligence experts. John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, answers questions during the daily press briefing with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMultiple White House officials ruled out the possibility that the objects came from extraterrestrials on Monday. "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts, period," White House spokesperson John Kirby said during a White House briefing with reporters on Monday.

[1/3] A Tesla is charged at an electric car supercharger station in Los Angeles, California, U.S. August 2, 2018. A dearth of chargers on U.S. roads has slowed the growth of EV sales and the positive environmental impact, advocates say. In January of last year, Tesla wrote the Federal Highway Administration, offering the Biden administration suggestions on how to shape the charging program. In Ohio, the company responded to a recent request that companies submit charging proposals, state officials told Reuters. The Department of Transportation next week will detail final requirements that all electric vehicle chargers must meet to be eligible for funding under the $7.5 billion effort to electrify highways and interstates across the nation.

☆ Factbox: CCS? CHAdeMO? EV charger terms you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are the terms and acronyms you need to know to understand the booming EV charger market. LEVEL UPEV chargers are classified in three categories: Level 1, Level 2 and DC fast chargers. CCS AND CHAdeMOThere are three types of DC fast charging systems - Tesla, SAE Combined Charging System (CCS) and CHAdeMO, which all use different plugs. THE U.S. NETWORKThe United States currently has a total of 50,821 public EV charging stations and 130,563 charging ports, DOE data showed. Chargers are distributed very unevenly across the country, with California accounting for nearly 30% of the total charging stations in the country.

☆ FBI searching Pence's home in classified documents probe -Justice Dept official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The FBI on Friday conducted a consensual search at the Indianapolis residence of former Vice President Mike Pence, after classified documents were discovered at his house last month, a Justice Department official told Reuters. The search comes just a few weeks after Pence's attorney Greg Jacobs notified the National Archives in a Jan. 18 letter about the discovery of records with classified markings. The search of Pence's home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election. A third search of Biden's Delaware beach home earlier this month did not find any additional documents.

☆ Biden's Super Bowl: Home alone, with ice cream and guacamole
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - With first lady Jill Biden attending the big game, President Joe Biden says he plans to watch this coming Sunday's Super Bowl at home on television, with a bowl of ice cream. The first lady's beloved Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, and she is planning to attend with her grandson. The Super Bowl, played every year since 1967, decides who is the best team in the U.S.'s National Football League, and draws tens of millions of viewers. When the interviewer suggested he have some guacamole to eat during the game, Biden said "exactly right," and added:"Ice cream. A little chocolate chip ice cream afterwards."

☆ Biden says Chinese spy balloon not a major security breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FBI/Handout via ReutersWASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden, under fire from some lawmakers, said on Thursday he did not view a Chinese spy balloon that transited the United States before it was shot down in the Atlantic Ocean to have been a major security breach. "It's not a major breach," Biden said. Biden on Feb. 2 ordered the balloon shot down once it crossed into the northwestern United States, but acquiesced to the U.S. military's request to not act until it was over water. The 200-foot-tall (61-meter) balloon, along with its undercarriage of electronic gadgetry, was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. Some Republicans and Democrats have complained that Biden should have had the balloon downed sooner.

In addition to locating one page with classified markings, the FBI also recovered "six additional pages without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice president's counsel," he added. The search of Pence's home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records. The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Trump's Florida estate on Aug. 8, where they collected about 13,000 records, about 100 of which contained classified markings. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election. Since then, additional records were also found at Biden's residence in Wilmington.

☆ Analysis: Biden team shrugs off polls, targets key voters ahead of 2024 run
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Recent polls show aging leaders are a concern for Americans in general, and Biden's age in particular worries Democratic voters. Biden's public approval rating was just 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that closed on Sunday. They're targeting key subsets of voters, such as those who flipped from supporting Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020. Overall, Biden's approval rating among the group rose from 31% to 52% during the speech, and six in ten liked the speech. Attacking Republicans for threatening Social Security and Medicare is expected to be particularly salient in competitive states like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida with large proportions of elderly voters.

In Wisconsin, the Democratic president told workers at a union training facility "it looks like we negotiated a deal last night" on Social Security. Deal or no, Biden reasserted that Republicans want to cut the popular old-age and healthcare programs in Wisconsin, pointing to statements by some Republican lawmakers. Democrats hope Biden can turn the economy - a perceived weakness among some independent voters despite record-setting job creation - into a selling point during his expected re-election campaign. Wisconsin is a closely contested state that flipped from supporting Republican former President Donald Trump in 2016 to favoring Biden in 2020. Biden is expected to address Social Security and Medicare in Florida, a state where more than 20% of the population is 65 years and older.

Search resuls for: "Heather Timmons"

25 mentions found