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☆ FDIC Faces Internal Reckoning Over Toxic-Culture Allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ballhaus | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg appearing before a House committee last month. Photo: saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is facing an internal reckoning over allegations of widespread harassment and discrimination, with many employees left skeptical about the agency’s commitment to overhaul its culture. In the weeks since a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that a toxic culture at the FDIC had prompted many female bank examiners to quit over the years, there have been internal debates over who should oversee an external investigation and blowback from employees on multiple division-wide calls.

Persons: Martin Gruenberg, saul loeb Organizations: Agence France, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Street, FDIC

☆ Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom Debate on ‘Hannity’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Molly Ball | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

California Gov. Ron DeSantis clashed repeatedly on crime, immigration and economic policies. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom , a Democrat, faced off for a more than 90-minute debate, moderated by Fox News’s Sean Hannity and airing live on the cable network. Wall Street Journal parent News Corp and Fox parent Fox Corp.share common ownership.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Ron DeSantis, Fox News’s Sean Hannity Organizations: Florida Gov, Agence France, Republican, California Gov, Democrat, Wall Street, News Corp, Fox Locations: California, Florida

If General Atlantic decided to sell its stake, a deal could now garner more interest from investors, the sources said. A deal could value the company, which assesses global oil prices and provides industry news, at north of 4 billion pounds ($5.08 billion), Reuters previously reported. Deliberations remain at an early stage and General Atlantic and Hg may decide not to proceed with a transaction, two of the people said. Argus Media, Hg and General Atlantic declined to comment. Hg bought half of General Atlantic's 50% stake in Argus in 2019, valuing the business at more than 2 billion pounds then.

Persons: Adrian Binks, Amy, Jo Crowley, Victoria Farr, Mark Porter Organizations: Argus Media, Reuters, Private, Investments, Atlantic, Atlantic's, Argus, Astorg, Thomson Locations: GIC, London, Argus, Frankfurt

☆ Hamas Releases More Hostages as Negotiators Push for Long-Term Truce
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hamas Releases More Hostages as Negotiators Push for Long-Term TruceHamas handed over a fifth group of hostages on Tuesday, including 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals, Israeli officials said. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Organizations: Hamas, Agence France

☆ The Pandemic Blunder Weighing on the Shipping Industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Costas Paris | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nov. 29, 2023 10:00 am ETShipbuilders have orders totaling about 26% of the world’s containership capacity. Photo: roslan rahman/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesContainership operators rushed to order new vessels during the pandemic as booming demand for consumer goods was expected to fuel global trade for years to come. Their timing couldn’t have been worse.

Persons: roslan rahman Organizations: Shipbuilders, Agence France

☆ Biden to Limit Chinese Role in U.S. EV Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Andrew Duehren | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

How the government defines battery materials from a ‘foreign entity of concern’ could have sales implications for Ford Motor and other makers of electric vehicles. Photo: jeff kowalsky/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe Biden administration is expected to release tax-credit rules on Friday that could shape the American market for electric vehicles, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. last year revamped a $7,500 tax subsidy for people who buy new EVs. One of the changes says consumers won’t be able to claim the credit if they purchase cars containing battery materials from a “foreign entity of concern.” Lawmakers included the rule in the Inflation Reduction Act to push automakers to rely less on dominant Chinese suppliers.

Persons: jeff kowalsky, Biden, won’t, ” Organizations: Ford Motor, Agence France, U.S, ” Lawmakers

☆ Prosecutors Charge Indian Man With Trying to Kill Sikh Activist in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hindu nationalists at a recent rally in New Delhi held a banner depicting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the alleged target of an assassination plot. Photo: arun sankar/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesU.S. prosecutors charged an Indian man with trying to assassinate an American citizen on U.S. soil, a dramatic development that threatens to cause new rifts in the deepening relationship between allies Washington and New Delhi. In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, prosecutors said Nikhil Gupta paid someone he thought was a hit man $100,000 to murder the target, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an advocate for carving out an independent Sikh homeland from the north Indian state of Punjab.

Persons: Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, arun sankar, Nikhil Gupta Organizations: Agence France, Getty Locations: New Delhi, American, U.S, Washington, Punjab

☆ China’s Manufacturing PMI Edged Lower, Signaling Continued Weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An employee works on solar photovoltaic modules at a factory in Haian in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: str/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAn official gauge of China’s manufacturing activity indicated contraction for a second consecutive month in November, signaling continued weakness in the economy despite Beijing’s recent efforts to juice up growth amid a protracted housing slump. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index slipped to 49.4 in November from 49.5 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity while a reading below it indicates contraction.

Organizations: Agence France, National Bureau of Statistics Locations: Haian, China’s, Jiangsu

Hindu nationalists at a recent rally in New Delhi held a banner depicting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the alleged target of an assassination plot. Photo: arun sankar/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAn Indian government employee tried to have a vocal Sikh critic of New Delhi assassinated in New York earlier this year, U.S. prosecutors alleged, a dramatic development that threatens to cause new rifts in the deepening relationship between Washington and New Delhi. The allegation, laid out in an indictment unsealed Wednesday, follows on suspicions Canada aired about a similar plot linked to Indian government agents in which masked gunmen murdered a Sikh activist in the parking lot of his British Columbia temple. Canada in part relied on U.S. intelligence to make that assessment, which was met with official outrage in India.

Persons: Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, arun sankar Organizations: Agence France, An, Canada Locations: New Delhi, Delhi, New York, Washington and New Delhi, British Columbia, Canada, India

☆ He Bought a Piece of the Chrysler Building. Now His Empire Is Falling Apart.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Eliot Brown | Margot Patrick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

René Benko’s company Signa is filing for insolvency, casting uncertainty over a property empire that includes a stake in upscale British retailer Selfridges. Photo: georg hochmuth/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe property slump sweeping the globe has claimed a new high-profile victim: René Benko, an Austrian-born retail and department-store magnate who also co-owns New York’s Chrysler Building. Benko’s main holding company, Signa Holding, said Wednesday it is filing for insolvency in Austria. The move, similar to U.S. bankruptcy procedure, puts billions of dollars of company debt at risk and casts uncertainty over a property empire that includes stakes in the largest department store chains in Europe, upscale British retailer Selfridges and a now-stalled Hamburg tower that would have been among the tallest in Germany.

Persons: René, Signa, georg hochmuth Organizations: Selfridges, Agence France, Chrysler, Signa Locations: Austrian, Austria, Europe, Hamburg, Germany

"Many protesters experienced being part of a civic collective for the first time," said Huang, who fled to Germany in March after narrowly avoiding detention during protests in Shanghai. Reuters was unable to confirm the total number of protesters detained last year, although some were since released. This year, on the weekend anniversary of the protests, there were no demonstrations in Beijing and Shanghai. During last year's Beijing protests, some demonstrators also called for press freedom, democracy and human rights. Some of the protesters that Reuters spoke to, as well as observers, said the events helped raise awareness of how much political power Chinese people actually wielded.

Persons: Huang, Xi, It's, Li, Li Keqiang, I'm, Laurie Chen, Jessie Pang, Casey Hall, Nicoco Chan, Brenda Goh, Tian, Miral Organizations: Reuters, Washington DC, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, HONG KONG, China, Germany, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, London, Tiananmen, Italy, Guangzhou, Hong Kong

☆ Trial Opens in Beheading of French Teacher Samuel Paty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Noemie Bisserbe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A poster paying tribute to Samuel Paty was displayed in the city of Montpellier, France, a few days after his killing. Photo: pascal guyot/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesPARIS—Six teenagers went on trial Monday, accused of helping the man who beheaded French schoolteacher Samuel Paty three years ago after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad as part of a class on free speech. The attacker, Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Russian national of Chechen origin, was shot dead by police minutes after the assault.

Persons: Samuel Paty, pascal guyot, Prophet Muhammad, Abdoullakh Organizations: Agence France, PARIS Locations: Montpellier, France

☆ Trial Opens for Beheading of French Teacher Samuel Paty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Noemie Bisserbe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Samuel Paty, pascal guyot, Prophet Muhammad, Abdoullakh Organizations: Agence France, PARIS Locations: Montpellier, France

☆ TikTok’s Owner Wanted to Create a Hit Videogame. It Failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Nuverse booth at a fair in Germany. ByteDance has told the videogame unit to terminate games under development by December and is laying off hundreds of employees Photo: ina fassbender/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSINGAPORE—TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance has bet billions on videogames since 2019, setting up its own creative unit and acquiring buzzy game makers. Now it is winding down those efforts, its latest pullback from experimental forays into education, property brokering and virtual reality as it faces regulatory and economic headwinds at home and abroad.

Persons: ByteDance, ina fassbender Organizations: Agence France, Getty, SINGAPORE Locations: Germany

☆ Will the Profit Motive Fail Us on AI Safety?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

A humanoid AI robot in Geneva, July 5. Photo: fabrice coffrini/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe mission of a for-profit company is, well, profit, the greatest return for investors. That’s the profound ethical crisis at the heart of artificial general intelligence development (“Capitalism Works, Says ChatGPT” by Holman Jenkins, Jr., Business World, Nov. 22). Open AI’s nonprofit mission has been to guard humanity against the possible (and seemingly ever more probable) danger of unleashing artificial general intelligence on the world. If the controlling factor is mere profit, look for the nightmare.

Persons: fabrice coffrini, ChatGPT ”, Holman Jenkins , Jr, “ won’t Organizations: Agence France Locations: Geneva

☆ AI ‘Accelerationists’ Come Out Ahead With Sam Altman’s Return to OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Christopher Mims | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sam Altman is a leading proponent of rapidly developing AI technology, while others want to pump the brakes. Photo: joel saget/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSam Altman ’s triumph in remaining OpenAI’s CEO was also a win for those seeking the swift development of artificial intelligence. OpenAI, and Altman himself, are at the heart of a debate about AI development: how quickly should humanity race toward building “artificial general intelligence”—that is, fully humanlike intelligence, or maybe even superhuman intelligence.

Persons: Sam Altman, joel saget, Sam Altman ’, Altman, ” Organizations: Agence France

☆ Donors Give Over €300,000 for Immigrant Who Intervened in Dublin Stabbing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Christopher F. Schuetze | More About Christopher F. Schuetze | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It was everything by instinct — I remember I took off my helmet, to protect myself and use it as a weapon,” he said. And he fell down.”Image Caio Benicio in Dublin on Saturday. Credit... Peter Murphy/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe police confirmed on Saturday that a 5-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s were being treated for serious injuries and were still in the hospital; two other children were treated for less serious injuries, the police said. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that those behind the violence had brought shame to Ireland. It was not lost on many of those who rushed to buy Mr. Benicio a proverbial beer that an immigrant had intervened in an attack that then inflamed anti-immigrant sentiment.

Persons: —, ”, “, Caio, Peter Murphy, Leo Varadkar, Benicio Organizations: ., Agence France Locations: Dublin, Ireland, GoFundMe

☆ Voters See American Dream Slipping Out of Reach, WSJ/NORC Poll Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Aaron Zitner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Many Americans say it has become harder to achieve the American dream, which often includes the goal of owning a home. Photo: andrew caballero-reynolds/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesThe American dream—the proposition that anyone who works hard can get ahead, regardless of their background—has slipped out of reach in the minds of many Americans. Only 36% of voters in a new Wall Street Journal/NORC survey said the American dream still holds true, substantially fewer than the 53% who said so in 2012 and 48% in 2016 in similar surveys of adults by another pollster. When a Wall Street Journal poll last year asked whether people who work hard were likely to get ahead in this country, some 68% said yes—nearly twice the share as in the new poll.

Persons: andrew caballero, reynolds, — Organizations: Agence France, Wall Street

☆ ECB's Holzmann tells paper he wants cut in PEPP reinvestments from March
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

European Central Bank policymaker and Governor of the Austrian National Bank Robert Holzmann addresses the media in Vienna, Austria, March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVIENNA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymakers should discuss at their meeting next month whether to wind down bond reinvestments under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme early, Austrian Governor Robert Holzmann said in remarks published on Friday. "My suggestion would be to reduce reinvestments step by step as of March," Holzmann told Austrian newspaper Die Presse. Those reinvestments are slated to run until the end of 2024 but some policymakers have made the case for starting to wind them down early. Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Austrian National Bank Robert Holzmann, Leonhard Foeger, Robert Holzmann, Holzmann, Francois Murphy, Christina Fincher Organizations: European Central Bank policymaker, Austrian National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Central Bank, Austrian, Die Presse, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, Austrian

☆ Collusion vs. Stop the Steal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Donald Trump and Joe Biden Photo: morry gash/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesA recent column observed disconcertingly that election denial appears to have been a successful strategy for Donald Trump. Larry Kudlow , his former White House economic adviser, points out that many voters like Trump policies, which is true. How does “stop the steal” advance their cause? One might also ask how and why collusion continues to work for Democrats. My inbox is as revealing about collusion as it is about stop the steal, with some Democrats clinging to whatever they heard first, including the legend of the Moscow hotel room, long since debunked by the U.S. Justice Department.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Larry Kudlow, “ Didn’t Trump, Natalia Veselnitskaya, didn’t Mike Flynn, didn’t Organizations: Agence France, White, U.S . Justice Department, Trump Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russian, Hillary

[1/3] Chinese Premier Li Qiang (R) and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on November 24, 2023. Jade Gao/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING/PARIS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is set to meet the Chinese leadership in Beijing on Friday as she seeks to soothe ties after the launch of a European Union anti-subsidy probe backed by Paris into Chinese-made electric vehicles. France is also concerned about Chinese attempts to force French cosmetics companies to share manufacturing secrets with Chinese parties. Xi insisted that China welcomes investment from French firms in a telephone call on Monday with Macron, who urged fair treatment for foreign companies in China. Macron visited China in April with great fanfare, in an attempt to demonstrate France's strategic autonomy from the United States.

Persons: Li Qiang, Catherine Colonna, Jade Gao, Wang Yi, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron, Xi, Macron, Colonna, Laurie Chen, John Irish, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: French, of, People, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, European, European Commission, EU, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, PARIS, European Union, Paris, France, Ukraine, Iran, Gaza, North Korea, United States

[1/6] A man sings for customers touring the Erhai lake on a sightseeing bus, in Dali, Yunnan province, China November 10, 2023. Many are former city-dwellers in search of an elusive prize in authoritarian China: Space for open discussion and exchange of ideas. POLICE OVERSIGHTThe local government has sought to attract young tech talent and in September asked digital nomads for input on policies, two community organisers told Reuters. Many digital nomads who use co-working spaces are involved with technologies like blockchain, according to organisers, which they say has drawn scrutiny from local authorities. Since digital nomads, unlike university students, "are not subject to structured discipline, they are harder to manage", she said.

Persons: Florence Lo, DALI, Trump, Xi Jinping, Minhua Ling, Dali, Xi's, Bai Yunxi, Xi, Bai, Chen Zhengyun, Chen, Ling, Laurie Chen, Katerina Ang Organizations: REUTERS, Geneva Graduate Institute, Reuters, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Dali, Yunnan province, China, China's, Israel, Gaza, Yunnan, Beijing

☆ Riots in Dublin Bring ‘Shame’ on Ireland, Prime Minister Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A violent clash between rioters and police in central Dublin on Thursday injured several police officers, one seriously, and prompted the arrests of 34 people, according to the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force. Rioters set fire to police vehicles, destroyed public buses and looted or damaged more than a dozen shops, the Gardai said. A mob had gathered in the city center following a knife attack that had seriously injured a female schoolteacher and three young children. The escalating unrest appalled the authorities, who blamed a far-right faction for fueling tensions by spreading misinformation about the knife attack. Unconfirmed speculation about the nationality of the knife-wielding attacker spread online in the hours after the stabbings, with one protester telling the Agence France-Presse news service that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.”

Organizations: Garda, Irish, Agence France, Presse Locations: Dublin

☆ Mining Industry Seeks to Define One Global Standard for Ethical Practices
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Customers and investors are increasingly considering mining companies’ ESG performance. Photo: douglas magno/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMining giant Anglo American is one of the companies that have been involved in developing the new mining standard. Anglo American itself commits to at least nine different mining standards and is part of 17 industry associations, which all have their own requirements. The LME has been consulted on the development of the new mining standard. For now, work continues on the new mining standard, with the four associations still discussing what it should look like and how it would be governed.

Persons: Cynthia Matonhodze, ”, “, Tracey Kerr, douglas magno, Rebecca Campbell, ” Campbell, Campbell, Paul Hackett, Georgina Hallett, Yusuf Khan Organizations: Bloomberg, International Council, Mining, Metals, Gold Council, Mining Association of Canada, Miners, Business, Global Investor Commission, ING, Jubilee Metals Group, Hochschild, ” Mining, Agence France, Getty, White, London Metal Exchange, REUTERS Locations: Umguza, Zimbabwe, Dutch, Brazil, London, Brumadinho, American, ”

Children and their parents wait at an outpatient area at a hospital in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Jade Gao/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesChina provided the World Health Organization with data on a pneumonia outbreak among children in the country after the agency made an unusual public request for the information—a gesture that renewed questions about Beijing’s transparency on public health. In a statement issued Wednesday, the WHO cited reports about “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China,” which prompted the United Nations agency to ask Beijing for “additional epidemiologic and clinical information, as well as laboratory results” related to the infections.

Persons: Jade Gao Organizations: Agence France, Getty, World Health Organization, United Nations, Beijing Locations: Beijing, China

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