DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Yellen sees 'progress' in rocky U.S.-China ties, expects more communication
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"But President (Joe) Biden and I do not see the relationship between the U.S. and China through the frame of great power conflict. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month, the first visit by the top U.S. diplomat of the Biden presidency, while climate envoy John Kerry is expected to visit China this month. Yellen met with senior Chinese officials during her visit, including Premier Li Qiang, as well as U.S. companies doing business in China, climate finance experts and women economists. But I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication," Yellen said. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Andrea Shalal and John Geddie; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen, Joe, Biden, Antony Blinken, John Kerry, Xi, they're, Washington, Li Qiang, Andrea Shalal, John Geddie, William Mallard Organizations: . Treasury, U.S ., U.S, Biden, Economic Cooperation, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, United States, China, U.S, Taiwan, New Delhi, Asia, San Francisco, Washington, Brazil, India, Russia, Ukraine

That initiative follows a visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in January when he said the lessons China was learning from Ukraine could influence its decisions. NATO documents have begun to reflect concern about China, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, but Japan needs to deepen its awareness of those issues, a Japanese official involved in discussions about NATO ties said. Diplomats from two European NATO countries who spoke to Reuters said unease in the alliance about a Tokyo office went beyond France. Another Japanese official involved in preparations for Kishida's NATO visit said the idea of a NATO office in Japan had nothing to do with China, but that is how it became framed, and each NATO country has its own relations with China. Under Yoon, South Korea has set up a liaison office with NATO in Brussels and has embraced a call for unity among like-minded countries.

Persons: Fumio Kishida, ”, Michito Tsuruoka, Kishida, Jens Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron's, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Anthony Albanese, We’ll, Albanese, Sakura Murakami, Tim Kelly, John Irish, Josh Smith, Praveen Menon Organizations: NATO, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Keio University, NATO's, Diplomats, Reuters, Japanese, SYDNEY South, Australian, Asia Pacific, Ukraine, Sky News, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Lithuania, Ukraine, Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, U.S, Europe, Russia, NATO, East Asia, China, Taiwan, North Korea, Lithuania's, Vilnius, Tokyo, France, Brussels, Danish, SEOUL, Poland, Paris, Seoul, Sydney

☆ Why the US ‘does not get to assume that it lasts forever’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

“We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene said in a tweet on President’s Day this year. Blue state governors, legislatures and mayors might respond to such an offensive in forceful ways difficult to predict today. The Republican-appointed majority on the US Supreme Court has encouraged the red state social offensive with decisions that stripped away national rights – most prominently on abortion and voting. “Given the make-up of the courts, it’s difficult for blue states to be hopeful about this,” says Kettl. “The United States does not get to assume that it lasts forever.”

Persons: we’ve, ”, Donald Kettl, Donald Trump, I’ve, ’ “, Trump, Daniel Cox, Alan Wolfe, Wolfe, ” Wolfe, “, Joe Biden, Trump –, Abraham Lincoln, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy, ” Greene, Susan Stokes, Stokes, he’s, Biden, Jim Crow, Cox, Michael Podhorzer, what’s, MAGA, Eric Liu, Liu, Richard Nixon’s, Liu’s, ” Liu Organizations: CNN, America, University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, Republican “, American Enterprise Institute, Boston University, Republican, Democratic, Chicago Center, Democracy, University of Chicago, CBS, Trump, National Guard, Fugitive, “, US, GOP, White House, AFL, Citizen University Locations: United States, States, America, Black, Confederate States, Georgia, Midwest, Heartland, Great, New York, Memphis, Austin, Blue, Michigan , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona

☆ Weaker China offers opportunities to US and allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It is also a setback for his most important ally, Chinese President Xi Jinping. So the United States and its allies can’t let their guard down. In 2021 the United States chaotically pulled out of Afghanistan and its alliance of rich democracies was in disarray. It seemed only a matter of time before China would overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy. At some point, the Chinese president may conclude that the Russian president is such a loser that he should do just that.

Persons: Vladimir Putin hasn’t, Xi Jinping, can’t, United States chaotically, Xi’s, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, George Magnus, Antony Blinken, Biden can’t, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, PUTIN, Russia, U.S, Shanghai Stock, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Russian, China, Taiwan, United States, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Pacific, India, America, U.S, Kyiv

June 20 (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs banker Brijesh Goel's trial on insider trading charges drew to a close on Tuesday, with his attorney saying he was framed by his friend and a prosecutor saying Goel had lied to a New York jury. Prosecutors agreed not to charge him in exchange for cooperation in the case, including secretly recording his conversations with Goel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Naftalis said recordings of Goel urging Niranjan to delete messages about the trades prove his guilt. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson has called Goel's alleged conduct "egregious" and said the bank is cooperating with authorities. The case was one of several U.S. Attorney Damien Williams announced last summer as part of an insider trading crackdown.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Brijesh Goel's, Goel, Akshay Niranjan, drugmaker, Goldman, Joshua Naftalis, Niranjan, Reed Brodsky, Brodsky, Apollo, Damien Williams, Jody Godoy, Sonali Paul Organizations: Spirit Airlines Inc, Barclays, Prosecutors, Goel ., U.S, Apollo Global Management, Court, Southern District of, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Southern District, Southern District of New York

But beneath those positive signals, the two-day visit to Beijing from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted another reality: a wide and dangerous gulf between the two powers. The timing of the visit, which followed two close encounters between Chinese and American armed forces in Asia in recent weeks, underscored the urgency of talking. In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China’s legitimate rights and interests,” he said. We don’t want to look up to the United States, at the very least we should look at each other at eye level,” he said. Baby stepsIn the lead-up to and during Blinken’s visit, China made clear who it thinks is responsible for the problems in the relationship.

Persons: Antony Blinken, –, Xi Jinping, Blinken, Xi, ”, “, Bonnie Glaser, China …, Nancy Pelosi’s, Yang Tao, ” Yang, Li Shangfu, Shen Dingli, Wang Yi, Joe Biden, ” Blinken, Dexter, Roberts Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Washington, China, China’s Communist Party, German Marshall Fund of, United, Pacific, Military, US, Chinese Defense, Minister of Defense, Beijing, Economic Cooperation, Atlantic Council Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, Asia, ”, United States, Washington, Taiwan, American, South China, America, Shanghai, “ China, Bali, “

I think neither side wants to look as if they’re accepting or acquiescing to the other’s actions,” she said. But hope might not turn into reality, and relations might become worse after the visit,” he added. “We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”Blinken would not predict whether his visit would pave the way for continued high-level engagements between the US and China. “As to what comes next, let’s see how the visit goes,” the top US diplomat said Friday, referencing comments from his Singaporean counterpart. “This is an important but, in a sense, insufficient step because there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Persons: Antony Blinken, Joe, Biden, Xi, ” Blinken, Vivian Balakrishnan, Blinken, “, Daniel Kritenbrink, “ we’re, ” Patricia Kim, ”, ’ Blinken, Kai Li, Mark Swidan, David Lin, Jake Sullivan, Wang Yi, Shen Dingli, Defense Lloyd Austin, Li Shangfu, Shen, ” Shen Organizations: CNN, senior State Department, Singaporean, State, East Asian, Pacific Affairs, Brookings Institution, Saturday, Defense, Chinese Defense, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Locations: Beijing, United States, China, Bali, Taiwan, Ukraine, Vienna, Washington, Shanghai, Singapore

Asked on June 2 about Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it "would be a potential problem for many, many years." Hanging over the deliberations is the question of whether alliance members can show unity by forging agreements ahead of the July 11-12 summit in the Lithuanian capital. But all agree on the need to further boost Ukraine's security between now and the day it joins NATO. Gabrielle Tarini, co-author of a new RAND Corporation report on Ukraine reconstruction, said that until Ukraine can join NATO the alliance needs to explore such measures. NATO will bolster a program of non-lethal aid for Ukraine's security forces to help them transition from Soviet-era to NATO standards, he said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, NATO Julianne Smith, Smith, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine's, Putin, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron, Gabrielle Tarini, Jonathan Landay, Andrew Gray, Humeyra Pamuk, Andrea Shalal, John Irish, Don Durfee, Grant McCool Organizations: NATO, Russian, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kyiv, Kremlin, Ukraine, U.S . National Security, Diplomats, RAND Corporation, Ukraine Council, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Vilnius, U.S, Germany, Russia, Europe, Lithuanian, Eastern, Poland, United States, Israel, Russian, Kyiv, Washington, Paris

Dorsey questioned the value of a Bahamian court ruling during a Thursday court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying that he would retain authority over the $7 billion in assets recovered by the U.S. debtors no matter what the Bahamian court rules. "It doesn't go to FTX Digital until I say it goes to FTX Digital," Dorsey said. The sides offered very different descriptions of how important FTX Digital was to the crypto exchange's operations. A court ruling in their favor could place the Bahamian company, and not the U.S. debtors, in charge of collecting assets and deciding how to distribute them to FTX customers. The case is FTX Trading, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, No.

Persons: John Dorsey, Dorsey, Chris Shore, Sam Bankman, Bankman, Fried's, Andy Dietderich, Brian Glueckstein, James Bromley of Sullivan, Cromwell, Chris Shore of, FTX, Dietrich Knauth Organizations: U.S, FTX's U.S, FTX Digital, FTX, Bahamian, Bankruptcy, District of, Chris Shore of White, Thomson, & & $ Locations: Delaware, Bahamas, Wilmington , Delaware, U.S, Hong Kong, District of Delaware

☆ Ukraine says it's working with BAE to set up weapons production facility
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Zelenskiy spoke after talks with senior officials from BAE, including Chief Executive Charles Woodburn. "It is indeed a massive manufacturer of weaponry, the kind of weaponry that we need now and will continue to need," Zelenskiy said in an evening video address. "We are working on establishing a suitable base in Ukraine for production and repair. This encompasses a wide range of weaponry, from tanks to artillery," he added. Earlier in the day, Zelenskiy said the two sides had agreed to start work on opening a BAE office in Ukraine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Charles Woodburn, Gabby Costigan, Ukraine Christian Seear, Read, Zelenskiy, David Ljunggren, Bill Berkrot Organizations: BAE Systems, Ukraine Christian, BAE, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ Opinion | If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably ‘WEIRD’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +83 min

You’re probably very weird, and not just for all the obvious reasons you’re thinking of. Because, obviously, there’s going to be some overlap in the curve here. How you’re going to behave with your professor is quite different than how you’re going to behave with your friends. But it’s really kind of faceless, and you’re not really helping anybody you know. I think things are dynamic, and directions are changing, and that sort of thing.

☆ APEC trade chiefs agree on more inclusive trade, but no joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DETROIT, May 26 (Reuters) - Trade ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries agreed on Friday to promote more inclusive and sustainable trade, but failed to produce a joint statement due to Russia and China's objections to language on Ukraine. Closing out two days of talks in Detroit, the APEC host, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, instead issued a chair's statement summarizing the discussions, with an emphasis on inclusiveness, fighting climate change and sustainability. "We reaffirm our determination to deliver a free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive and predictable trade and investment environment," the statement read. The group reaffirmed its commitment to the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core. Tai told a news conference that she hoped APEC leaders at a November summit in San Francisco would be able to produce a joint statement.

☆ The one crucial industry where China is crushing America in the Tech Cold War
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

As of now, CATL has 13 factories worldwide that supply batteries for Tesla, Toyota, and Daimler. And thanks to its ownership of its battery supply chain, it's able to make cars cheaply. Stevenson-Yang sees parts of China's battery supply chain as the next glut it will need to dump. But the potential of a battery supply glut tomorrow doesn't help carmakers meet their needs today. "But if we're looking at evolutionary improvements, China Battery Inc. will still dominate.

Tokyo CNN —Japan is in talks to open a NATO liaison office, the first of its kind in Asia, the country’s foreign minister told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made the world less stable. “We are already in discussions, but no details (have been) finalized yet,” Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday. The Nikkei Asia first reported plans to open the office in Japan last Wednesday, citing unnamed Japanese and NATO officials. China, which has previously warned against NATO expanding its reach into Asia or a similar bloc emerging in the region, has already responded angrily to previous reports on the possible Japan office. Hayashi played down concerns that opening a Tokyo NATO office could further inflame tensions, saying: “I don’t feel that’s the case.”The country has had a pacifist constitution since World War II – which he argued is reflected in this move.

The discord between Russia and the other Arctic Council members means that an effective response to these changes is far less likely. Recently, it has taken steps to expand cooperation in the Arctic with non-Arctic states. On April 24, Russia and China signed a memorandum establishing cooperation between the countries' coast guards in the Arctic. "We need to safeguard the Arctic Council as the most important international forum for Arctic cooperation and make sure it survives," Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Eivind Vad Petersson told Reuters. "I don't see an Arctic Council without Russia in the future," said Larsen, a Greenland lawmaker at the Danish Parliament and the Chair of Arctic Parliamentarians, a body including MPs from across the Arctic countries.

☆ Texas tragedy: One weekend spotlights two distinctly American political fissures
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —The national season of violence deepened with a weekend of tragedy in Texas that hit two of the rawest political divides, guns and immigration. It was the latest in a string of mass shootings in Texas and across the country that have killed many innocent people but have brought no action to end the cycle of loss. Then, on Sunday, a driver slammed into a group of migrants waiting at a bus stop outside a shelter in the Texas border town of Brownsville. But as in the case of mass shootings, there is little chance that the nation’s polarized politics will ease in order to offer the space for meaningful resolution. The latest mass shooting in Texas came after a spree of such killings in schools, supermarkets, at community parades, a bank and places of worship nationwide.

☆ The US and China are on a collision course that will worsen the geopolitical economic depression, 'Dr. Doom' economist Nouriel Roubini warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US and China are on a collision course that's set to worsen a "geopolitical depression," Nouriel Roubini said. Roubini previously said a geopolitical depression will have far-reaching economic and financial consequences. "Fragmentation and decoupling are becoming the new normal, the two countries remain on a collision course, and a dangerous deepening of the ongoing 'geopolitical depression' is all but inevitable." In a column in February, Roubini warned the world has entered a geopolitical depression that will have far-reaching economic and financial consequences. "In particular, a hot war between major powers is now more likely within the next decade," Roubini wrote in February.

☆ China urges 'high vigilance' over NATO expansion in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 4 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday "high vigilance" was needed in the face of NATO's "eastward expansion" following a media report the alliance is planning to set up an office in Japan to facilitate consultations with allies in the region. NATO is planning to open its first liaison office in Asia, in Japan, to facilitate talks with security partners such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, with geopolitical challenges from China and Russia in mind, the Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday, citing Japanese and NATO officials. The Nikkei Asia said the proposed office was due to open next year in Tokyo. Asked about the Nikkei Asia report, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said earlier the alliance would not go into details of NATO allies' deliberations. Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday it is necessary to speed up trilateral cooperation with Japan and the United States to counter increasing North Korean nuclear threats, and said the world must not "shy away" from promoting freedom for the North. "Korea will never forget the great American heroes who fought with us to defend freedom," he said. On Wednesday, Yoon met President Joe Biden at the White House and the United States pledged to give South Korea more insight into its nuclear planning over any conflict with North Korea, amid anxiety over Pyongyang's growing arsenal of missiles and bombs. Yoon became the seventh South Korea leader to address Congress, underscoring the close relationship between Seoul and Washington. "We will actively work to safeguard the freedom of the people of Ukraine and support their efforts in reconstruction," he said.

☆ US government’s proposal to boost EV sales is challenging but not impossible
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

By 2032, electric vehicles would need to make up about two-thirds of all the new cars sold in America. And even as EV market share rises to two-thirds, it’s not like EVs will flood America’s roads overnight, he said. Reaching two-thirds EV market share mark by 2032 isn’t a sure thing, said Cantor, but it should be manageable. The increasing number of automakers entering the EV market will also help, said Ivan Drury, an industry analyst with Edmunds.com. General Motors also has a number of EV models coming in the next year or two.

[1/4] Chinese President Xi Jinping and France's President Emmanuel Macron meet at the Guandong province governor's residence, in Guangzhou, China, Friday, April 7, 2023. Macron's comments came in an interview on a trip to China that was meant to showcase European unity on China policy, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also taking part, but highlighted differences within the European Union. A senior diplomat from Central and Eastern Europe, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "President Macron is not speaking for Europe or the European Union. The French foreign ministry cancelled a planned debrief on the trip for foreign diplomats in Paris on Tuesday as officials scrambled to make sure they had a consistent message and to limit any fallout with Washington. But even some of those broadly supportive of Macron's agenda lamented the handling of the China trip, in which von der Leyen received a much more muted welcome than the French president.

☆ China seeks climate change, new energy cooperation with Australia's BHP - foreign ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 4 (Reuters) - China hopes Australian miner BHP (BHP.AX) will tap potential for cooperation in emerging areas such as climate change and new energy, while carrying out more mutually beneficial projects, according to a foreign ministry statement on Tuesday. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng made the remarks during a meeting with BHP CEO Mike Henry on March 27, the ministry said. Xie also expressed hope that BHP will contribute more to the improvement of China-Australia relations, according to the statement. BHP announced last month that it signed memorandums of understanding with two Chinese copper producers to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency in the smelting and refining processes. Reporting by Ethan Wang and Liz Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK diplomat criticizes Russia for 'astounding levels of incompetence' in Ukraine, labeling it a 'so-called superpower'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A British diplomat has described a series of catastrophic failings by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has threatened to respond to the UK arming Ukraine with armor-piercing weapons. "With support from their partners, Ukraine has shown that agility and ingenuity can have a devastating effect against a so-called superpower," Stubbs said. "Try as they might to present an alternate reality to the ground truth with an increasingly ridiculous carpet of disinformation, the astounding levels of incompetence in Russia's military leadership that have eroded Russia's military reputation are clear for all to see," he said. Russia's President Vladimir Putin recently said Russia would "respond accordingly" if UK plans to deliver armor-piercing shells to Ukraine go ahead.

☆ Saudi Arabia could start investing in Iran 'very quickly,' finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowSaudi Arabia may soon be investing in its longtime regional foe Iran following a breakthrough agreement reached between the two countries to re-establish diplomatic relations, the kingdom's Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said Wednesday. Asked by CNBC's Hadley Gamble in Riyadh how soon the world might see the wealthy Saudi kingdom making significant investments into Iran and vice versa, Al-Jadaan replied: "I would say very quickly." "When people really stick to the principles of what was agreed, I think that that could happen very quickly. Some regional analysts and Western policymakers are skeptical as to whether the countries — Iran in particular — will stick to the pledges, which has yet to be seen. Still, the Saudi finance minister appeared optimistic.

Samsung said it will make a 300 trillion Korean won investment in a new semiconductor facility in South Korea over the next two decades. It is part of a broader tech investment plan by the South Korean government. The South Korean government is looking to join together its biggest technology companies to spur development in key areas. The new 300 trillion won chip complex Samsung is building will be just outside of the South Korean capital of Seoul. The South Korean government said that companies will build five chip manufacturing facilities in the cluster.

Search resuls for: "for Cooperation"

25 mentions found