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LONDON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram users in Europe are getting the option to pay for ad-free versions of the social media platforms as a way to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules, parent company Meta said Monday. Starting in November, users on desktop browsers can pay about 10 euros ($10.50) a month while iOS or Android users will pay roughly 13 euros. The fee will cover all linked Facebook and Instagram accounts until March, when Meta will start charging 6 euros for each additional account. Political Cartoons View All 1223 ImagesThe paid option “balances the requirements of European regulators while giving users choice and allowing Meta to continue serving all people,” Meta said. Meta said it's looking into how how to “provide teens with a useful and responsible ad experience” given the Europan privacy ruling.

Persons: Meta, ” Meta Organizations: Facebook, Apple, Google, Meta, Street Locations: Europe, U.S, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein

☆ How the Fed is using its multi-trillion-dollar balance sheet to fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Washington, DC CNN —The Fed’s fight against inflation is about to enter a new phase, but the central bank’s enormous balance sheet will continue to play a key role. The Fed also manages a multi-trillion-dollar balance sheet that accounts for trillions in government securities and lists how much currency is in circulation. For over a year now, the Fed has been steadily shrinking its balance sheet to help cool the economy. The Fed’s balance sheet is currently at around $7.9 trillion, down from its peak of $9 trillion in early 2022 right before the runoff. They also see alternative scenarios for the end of the balance sheet runoff if there isn’t a recession.

Persons: that’s, Lael Brainard, What’s, Wells, Jerome Powell, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Jamie Dimon, Krystal Hur, Dimon —, Mr, Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, what’s, Estee Lauder, Kraft Heinz, Yum, Bausch, Eli Lilly, Molson Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN, Congress, Fed, Wall Street, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, CNN, HSBC, McDonald’s, China’s National Bureau of Statistics, Bank of Japan, Pfizer, Caterpillar, Marathon Petroleum, Sirius XM, Anheuser, Busch, BP, Chesapeake Energy, US Labor Department, Global, Board, CVS, GSK, Humana, Reuters, Apollo Global Management, Brands, Garmin, Cruise Line Holdings, Qualcomm, Airbnb, PayPal, MetLife, Aflac, AIG, Allstate, Prudential, P Global, Institute for Supply Management, Federal Reserve, ConocoPhillips, Starbucks, Duke Energy, Shopify, Ferrari, Marriott International, Moderna, Fox, Molson Coors, Hyatt, Apple, Motorola, Bank of England, Dominion Energy, Gartner, Restaurant Brands Locations: Washington, Treasuries, China’s, Mondelez, DoorDash, Avis, Shell, Cigna

The Consequences of Elon Musk’s Ownership of XNow rebranded as X, the site has experienced a surge in racist, antisemitic and other hateful speech. Research conducted in part by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue concluded that anti-Semitic tweets in English more than doubled after Mr. Musk’s takeover. Keeping X at the center of public debate is exactly Mr. Musk’s goal, which he describes at times with a messianic zeal. Even worse, the article argued, Mr. Musk’s changes appear to be boosting the engagements of the most contentious users. A month into Mr. Musk’s ownership, the platform stopped enforcing its policy against Covid-19 misinformation.

Persons: Elon Musk, ”, “, Musk’s, —, Musk, Tim Chambers, ” Mr, Chambers, Tesla, lockdowns, Thierry Breton, Mr Organizations: Elon, Twitter, “ Twitter, Hamas, Dewey, Group, Defamation, Research, Institute for Strategic, Commission, Kremlin, Pentagon, Tufts, Rutgers, Montclair, 4chan, Harvard Kennedy School, Covid, Media, Mr, Commission's Digital Services, Services, Defamation League, European Union Locations: Musk’s, Russia, China, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, guardrails

☆ Green Steel Is Coming. Europe Is Leading the Charge Thanks to New Carbon Taxes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The need for conversion to low-carbon steel production is greater in Europe, where 57% of steel is produced in coal-fired blast furnaces. Swedish-based startup H2 Green Steel has signed deals to supply low-carbon steel to IKEA, Mercedes-Benz , BMW and Scania. Customers of H2 Green Steel have been willing to support the project based on their own green targets and their end-customers’ willingness to pay a green premium, he said. H2 Green Steel said it would charge a €150 premium, while Swedish steelmaker SSAB expects to charge double that. Research from the Rocky Mountain Institute suggests the IRA will encourage green steel investments that would, by 2030, produce about eight million tons of low-carbon steel, or nearly 10% of U.S. steel demand.

Persons: fabian strauch, ”, Colin Richardson, incentivizing, CBAM, Nicola Davidson, Davidson, Henrik Henriksson, Mikael Sjoberg, ” Henriksson, Gunnar Güthenke, SSAB, Europe ”, Simone Tagliapietra, Paul Lim, ” Lim, Yusuf Khan Organizations: Leadership Group, Industry, Argus Media, Rocky Mountain Institute, U.S ., Business, International Energy Agency, Investments, Steel, IKEA, Mercedes, Benz, BMW, Scania, H2, Bloomberg, Research, Europe, Bruegel, U.S Locations: Europe, U.S, Brussels, London, European, Lakes , Texas, Pacific, China, Asia

☆ IEA: 'Unstoppable' energy transition means demand for oil, gas, and coal to peak by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Global demand for oil, natural gas and coal — and the carbon pollution they generate — are expected to peak later this decade, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. Driving the shift will be the “phenomenal rise” of clean sources of energy, the Paris-based agency said in its annual World Energy Outlook report, published Tuesday. The world’s second biggest economy — and largest energy consumer — has reached an “inflection point,” the IEA said, with its total energy demand set to peak around the middle of the decade. “We are today facing a major geopolitical crisis in the Middle East that could shock oil markets once again and deeply, because many oil producing countries are in that region,” Birol told reporters. “This comes on top of the insecurity that we had in the natural gas markets… after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” he added.

Persons: it’s, ’ —, Fatih Birol, —, Hess, Brent, Birol, ” Birol, ” Organizations: London CNN — Global, International Energy Agency, Energy, ”, Organization of, Petroleum, —, ExxonMobil, Chevron, IEA Locations: Paris, China, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Northern Hemisphere

☆ SpaceX Signs Deal to Launch Key European Satellites
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Matthew Dalton | Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The rise of SpaceX as the dominant force for U.S. rocket launches has meant that NASA’s role is now evolving. To find out what this means for the future of the space agency, WSJ’s George Downs sat down with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. Photo Illustration: George DownsPARIS—SpaceX has signed a deal to launch up to four of Europe’s flagship navigation satellites into orbit, reinforcing the Elon Musk-led company’s growing foothold in the region as local rivals struggle to get rockets off the ground. SpaceX and the European Space Agency recently signed an agreement for two launches next year, each carrying two Galileo satellites, said Javier Benedicto, the agency’s director of navigation. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, along with EU member states, must still give final approval for the deal.

Persons: George Downs, Pam Melroy, George, Javier Benedicto Organizations: SpaceX, U.S ., George Downs, Elon, European Space Agency, European Commission Locations: U.S

☆ Dutch Consumer Group Sues Amazon Over Data Tracking
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The class-action lawsuit represents around five million Amazon account holders residing in the Netherlands, SDBN said. Photo: PASCAL ROSSIGNOL/REUTERSA consumer-rights group in the Netherlands sued Amazon on Wednesday over its alleged practice of tracking website visitors’ online activity, using recently expanded legal provisions allowing class actions. The lawsuit, filed in a Dutch court by Stichting Data Bescherming Nederland, or SDBN, said Amazon is violating the European Union’s privacy law by monitoring visitors to popular websites through cookies—the pieces of code that identify individual browsers to create targeted advertisements—without their permission.

Persons: SDBN, PASCAL ROSSIGNOL Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon, Stichting Data Bescherming Locations: Netherlands

☆ ECB starts preparation for digital euro in multi-year project
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Francesco Canepa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A number of Caribbean countries and Nigeria have already launched digital currencies while China and Sweden are among those that have rolled out pilot projects. The ECB says a digital euro will create competition in the market for payments, dominated by U.S. credit card companies. The digital euro will distributed by the ECB as well as commercial banks and digital wallet providers. Many of these projects surged around 2019, when Facebook announced plans to introduce a digital currency, which were then ditched. But the rise of stablecoins – crypto tokens backed to some degree by traditional currencies – gave central bank’s digital currencies, or CBDC in financial jargon, new impetus.

Persons: Markus Ferber, Francesco Canepa, Alex Richardson, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: European Central Bank, ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, European People's Party, U.S, Monetary Fund, Commission, Bank for International, Facebook, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Nigeria, China, Sweden

☆ The Siege of Hamas Is No War Crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Eugene Kontorovich | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Journal Editorial Report: A deep Republican divide paralyzes the government. Image: Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated PressMost victims of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel weren’t yet buried when some prominent international voices—including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders , the nonprofit Human Rights Watch, and Josep Borell , the European Union’s top diplomat—suggested that Israel’s first efforts to defend itself are war crimes. This raises an important question: Does international law require a nation to choose between committing war crimes and having war crimes committed against it?

Persons: Israel weren’t, . Sen, Bernie Sanders, Josep Borell, — Organizations: Associated Press, ., Human Rights Watch Locations: Israel

☆ EU Leaders Warn That Kremlin Seeking to Exploit Israel-Gaza Crisis to Its Advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The European Union’s two top officials warned that Russia is seeking to take advantage of the conflict between Israel and Gaza, using it to claim double standards in the West about respect for international law. European Council President Charles Michel said that underscored why it was important for European governments to urge Israel to act carefully in its military response to the Hamas attack, just as they have pointed to Russia’s breach of international law in attacking Ukraine.

Persons: Charles Michel, Israel Locations: Russia, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine

☆ Putin and Xi’s strengthening bond has a weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The $190 billion two-way trade relationship is up 29% since 2021, and has roughly doubled since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. A warm meeting between Putin and Xi will reaffirm China’s intention to carry on this robust business. Yet Russia’s lack of viable trade avenues makes its leader look more like a vassal than a peer to the Chinese president. Follow @LJucca on XCONTEXT NEWSRussian President Vladimir Putin is attending the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Oct. 17-18 where he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 during a previous Putin visit to Beijing, just days before Moscow troops launched an invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Xi Jinping, Brent, Putin, Xi, Vladimir Putin, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, People’s, Reuters Graphics, Bank of France, Centre for Research, Energy, Clean, HK, Forum, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Ukraine, People’s Republic, Crimea, Reuters Graphics Moscow, Russia, Europe, U.S, Republic, China, Hague, Moscow

The mass evacuation order applies to all of Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. “We will destroy Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday night. In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported 16 Palestinians were killed Friday, bringing the total of Palestinians killed there to 51. ISRAEL URGES MASS EVACUATION OF GAZA CIVILIANSThe U.N. said the Israeli military's call for civilians to move south affects 1.1 million people. An Israeli military spokesperson, Jonathan Conricus, said the evacuation was aimed at keeping civilians safe and preventing Hamas from using them as human shields.

Persons: Israel, Howeida, Beit Hanoun, “, —, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Jonathan Conricus, ” Conricus, Josep Borrell, Fayza Hamoudi, Hamoudi, Tarek Mraish, Ashraf al, Qidra, Al Awda, Juliette Touma, Philippe Lazzarini, ___ Krauss, Isabel DeBre, Samya, Samy Magdy, Kareem Chehayeb Organizations: Gaza Health Ministry, West Bank, Palestinian Health Ministry, Hamas, Health Ministry, Al, Associated Press Locations: DEIR, Gaza, Israel, Gaza City, Deir al, Beit, Egypt, ISRAEL, Israeli, U.S, China, GAZA, Deir el, Jerusalem, Samya Kullab, Baghdad, Cairo, Beirut

☆ Europe-Musk spat carries risks for both sides
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Oct 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The European Commission has made social-media site X, formerly known as Twitter, the test case for its fight against disinformation. The Commission on Oct. 12 sent a formal request to X, owned by Elon Musk, for information about possible illegal content and disinformation. X pushed back, with Musk exchanging combative posts with Breton on the website. While the process drags on, any problematic posts can just keep proliferating on X and other sites. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Gonzalo Fuentes, Thierry Breton, X, Breton, Rebecca Christie, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, European Commission, Twitter, Elon, Digital Services, DSA, Big Tech, X, Infosys, Ericsson, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Rights BRUSSELS, Israel, Breton, Europe, Brussels

☆ EU officials warn Google and YouTube about Hamas-Israel disinformation and graphic content
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —The European Commission sent a warning letter Friday to Google and its subsidiary YouTube over disinformation and graphic content linked to the Hamas-Israel conflict, in the European Union’s latest effort to scrutinize Big Tech’s handling of the war. The letter from European Commissioner Thierry Breton, addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and also sent to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, reminded the company about its content moderation obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Breton shared the letter on X.Breton highlighted legal requirements for Google to keep graphic content such as hostage videos away from underage users; to act swiftly when authorities flag content that violates European laws; and to mitigate disinformation. It also warned of possible penalties if a future investigation were to find Google (GOOGL) is not complying with the DSA. Unlike some of those previous letters, however, Breton’s letter to Google does not directly suggest the company has spread misleading or illegal content.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Sundar Pichai, Neal Mohan, Breton, ” Breton, Ivy Choi, ” Choi, “, CNN’s Organizations: Washington CNN, European Commission, Google, YouTube, EU’s Digital Services, DSA, CNN Locations: Israel, Brussels, Gaza

But the Israel-Hamas war has underscored how the platform now transformed into X has become not only unreliable but is actively promoting falsehoods. “People are desperate for information and social media context may actively interfere with people’s ability to distinguish fact from fiction,” said Gordon Pennycook, an associate professor of psychology at Cornell University who studies misinformation. But unlike X, TikTok has never been known as the No. Meanwhile, in Europe, major social media platforms are facing stricter scrutiny over the war. “Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports,” Musk wrote on X.

Persons: Ian Bremmer, “, algorithmically, ”, Gordon Pennycook, TikTok, Kolina Koltai, Koltai, we’ve, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Pennycook, Michelle Donelan, Thierry Breton, Musk, ” Musk, ” Breton, ___ Kelvin Chan Organizations: Twitter, Elon, YouTube, Facebook, Cornell University, Media, Press, Israel, Reuters, Britain’s, Google, Digital Services, EU Locations: Israel, Europe, London

As a platform subject to Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA), X could face billions in fines if regulators conclude that violations have occurred. Much of the problematic content appears to stem from platform changes made under Musk’s supervision, Breton suggested in the letter, which he shared on X. “We have, from qualified sources, reports about potentially illegal content circulating on your service despite flags from relevant authorities,” Breton wrote. The EU letter comes as misinformation about the conflict continues to spread widely across X. On Tuesday, the investigative journalism group Bellingcat said a fake video designed to look like a BBC News report was circulating on social media.

Persons: Elon Musk, Thierry Breton, X didn’t, Breton, X, ” Breton, Porte, Gonzalo Fuentes, ”, Bellingcat, Elliot Higgins, Shayan, “, Musk Organizations: CNN, Europe’s Digital Services, White, DSA, SpaceX, Tesla, Viva Technology, Porte de, Reuters, BBC, BBC News, Pentagon Locations: Israel, Paris, France, EU, Ukraine

☆ The EU is stuck with its one-trick refugee policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Barring an influx of younger people from Africa and Asia, the EU will become increasingly old, weak and irrelevant. Instead, the EU is focussing on stopping irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean. To be fair, each EU country has procedures for dealing with migrants who arrive through legal routes. That’s a long way short of the height of the Syrian crisis in 2015, when about 1.8 million refugees crossed EU borders. The hope is that the Mediterranean countries will then process asylum seekers when they arrive - and the EU’s internal borders will stay open.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le, Italy don’t, Martinez, Peter Thal Larsen, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Eurostat, EU, Reuters Graphics, Italian, Centre, European, Bank, Thomson Locations: Africa, Asia, EU, Spain, Europe, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Lampedusa, Tunis, West Balkan, United Kingdom, That’s, Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Saharan Africa, Latin America

☆ Poland will vote in a pivotal election next week. Its outcome will reverberate in Europe, Ukraine and the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nonetheless, Poland remains in a powerful position in Europe, and this month’s vote could dramatically flip those dynamics. “Poland is a major player in Europe; it borders Ukraine, it has a major land army, substantial military spending, and is the key hub for supporting Ukraine,” Stola said. Poland pushed European partners to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine earlier this year. “One likely outcome is a coalition between PiS and Confederation, and that would be very bad news for Polish-Ukrainian relations,” Kucharczyk said. “Poland has very deep interests in supporting Ukraine,” Kucharczyk added.

Persons: White, Donald Tusk, Poland’s, –, ”, Tusk, ” Jacek Kucharczyk, ” Kucharczyk, Mateusz Morawiecki, Kacper Pempel, Piotr Buras, PiS, ” Buras, ” Dariusz Stola, Poland's, Omar Marques, ” Stola, “, Wojtek Radwanski Organizations: CNN, Justice, European, Tusk’s Civic Coalition, stoke, Public, Warsaw’s Institute of Public Affairs, European Council, Foreign Relations, Communist, EU, Warsaw, Institute of Political, Polish Academy of Sciences, Getty, ”, NATO, PiS, “ Locations: Poland, Ukraine, Brussels, Berlin, Polish, Warsaw, Hungary, Europe, Germany, Russia, ” Kyiv, Washington, Kyiv, AFP, “, Ukrainian, “ Poland

☆ 2023 on track to be the hottest year as September shatters heat records
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The Northern Hemisphere may be transitioning into fall, but there has been no let up from extreme heat. New data shows last month was the hottest September – the fourth consecutive month of such unprecedented heat – putting 2023 firmly on track to be the hottest year in recorded history. That’s well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold to which countries aim to limit global warming under the Paris Climate Agreement. The extreme September “has pushed 2023 into the dubious honor of first place – on track to be the warmest year and around 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial average temperatures,” Burgess said. The significant margin by which heat records are being broken matters, she told CNN.

Persons: Copernicus, ”, Samantha Burgess, Paulo Amorim, Zeke Hausfather, Maximiliano Herrera, ” Herrera, Chris Ratcliffe, ” Burgess, El Niño, Friederike Otto, ” Otto Organizations: CNN, Bloomberg, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Grantham Institute, Climate, “, United Locations: Paris, Libya, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Canada, South America, York, Brazil, Spain, Poland, Austria, France, Europe, London, Dubai, United Nations, COP28

☆ Germany risks letting a good crisis go to waste
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Germany, the European Union’s largest economy and its traditional growth engine, is headed towards a contraction this year. Exports account for more than half of Germany’s GDP, compared to just a third in France and 37% in Italy, according to the World Bank. Germany’s growth potential is estimated at an annual 0.7% over the medium term by the Scope rating agency, about half the euro zone average. Exempting net public investment from the debt brake rule would help to reverse years of underspending. Unless they do, Europe’s leading economy risks letting a good crisis go to waste.

Persons: –, Hubertus Bardt, Germany’s, Carsten Brzeski, Oliver Rakau, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Christian Lindner’s, Sebastian Dullien, Scholz, Destatis, Francesco Guerrera, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, World Bank, EU, International Monetary Fund, Reuters Graphics Reuters, German Economic Institute, ING, Oxford Economics, BASF, Finance, Christian Democrats, Thomson Locations: Germany, Berlin, France, Italy, China –, Spain, Weimar Republic, China, Ukraine

But recently higher oil prices are casting a shadow over prospects for quickly beating inflation down to the central bank’s target of 2%. The fall in core inflation “reinforces our view that the ECB has finished raising interest rates,” said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics. He predicted that the overall inflation rate would tumble to 3.5% by the end of the year. But higher rates also can weigh on economic growth, leaving the central bank facing a balancing act over how far to go. Many economists think the ECB has finished raising rates unless something drastic happens to keep inflation from falling further.

Persons: —, ”, Jack Allen, Reynolds, Christine Lagarde, paychecks don’t Organizations: European Central Bank, Eurostat, ECB, Capital Economics, Federal Reserve Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, U.S, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Russia

☆ Defeating inflation without high unemployment is still unlikely
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And the US economy’s surprising resilience, despite 11 rate hikes, has raised hopes of a soft landing becoming a reality. “I’ve always thought that the soft landing was a plausible outcome, that there was a path to a soft landing,” he said. But historical records show that a soft landing has only occurred once in the 1990s, or perhaps even a handful of times. The US Commerce Department releases its final estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product. The US Commerce Department releases August data on household income, spending, and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

Persons: it’s, Jerome Powell, Powell, “ I’ve, ”, “, Powell’s, ” “ Jerome Powell, ” Quincy Krosby, Krosby, ” Krosby, Matt Egan, ” Neil Bradley, “ We’ve, Read, Christine Lagarde, Michelle Bowman, Austan Goolsbee, Lisa Cook, John Williams Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN, Fed, LPL, CNN, Corporate, US Chamber of Commerce, European Central Bank, Costco, Global, Board, Survey, US Commerce Department, Micron, Nike, US Labor Department, National Association of Realtors, Carnival Corp, University of Michigan, New York Fed, China’s National Bureau of Statistics Locations: Washington

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan launches operation against Armenian forces in disputed region
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Tim Lister Gianluca Mezzofiore Christian Edwards Anna Chernova Nick Paton Walsh | Tim Lister | Gianluca Mezzofiore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Tuesday it had begun an “anti-terrorist” campaign in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Armenian media and local authorities reported heavy bombardment of the regional capital of Stepanakert. At least five people were killed, including a child, and 80 people were injured, amid artillery, missile and drone strikes by the Azerbaijan military, according to Armenian state news. But Armenia’s foreign ministry rejected claims that the Armenian army was in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s defense ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny Azerbaijan’s claims that Armenian forces had opened fire on Azeri combat outposts. People run as gunfire and explosions are heard in Stepanakert, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video.

Persons: CNN —, ”, “, Armenpress, Nikol Pashinyan, Karabakh –, Pashinyan, ” Pashinyan, Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, ” Pashinyan’s, Antony Blinken, Emmanuel Macron, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, haven’t Organizations: CNN, Azerbaijan Army, Armenian Security Council, Foreign Ministry, Union’s, Foreign Affairs, French Foreign Ministry, UN Security, Russian Foreign Ministry, UN Security Council Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russian, Moscow, Republic of Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Russia

“People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ahead of the annual gathering of presidents and premiers, ministers and monarchs at the General Assembly. “Yet in the face of all this and more,” Guterres said, “geopolitical divisions are undermining our capacity to respond.”This year’s week-long session, the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, has 145 leaders scheduled to speak. The G77, the major U.N. group of developing countries that now has 134 members including China, lobbied hard to make this year’s global gathering focus on the 17 U.N. goals adopted by world leaders in 2015. At a two-day summit to kick-start action to achieve the goals, Guterres pointed to grim findings in a U.N. report in July. At the summit, leaders were then supposed to make pledges to meet the SDGs.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, ” Guterres, Joe Biden, Xi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden, Guterres, “, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Josep Borrell, ” Borrell Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, —, General, . Security Council, Nepal’s, EU, Arab League Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Brussels

☆ Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to defy EU and extend ban on Ukrainian grain imports
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia will defy the European Union and extend a temporary ban placed on Ukrainian grain imports, in a move likely to anger the bloc’s leadership. On Friday, the EU announced plans to suspend a temporary ban placed on the export of Ukrainian grain to a select number of countries in Eastern Europe. The temporary measure adopted in May saw a ban placed on the imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia to counter the risk of farmers in these countries being undercut by a bottleneck of cheap Ukrainian grain. “We will extend this ban despite the European Union’s disagreement,” Prime Minister Morawiecki said, according to Polish state news agency PAP. Earlier Friday, European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis called on countries to “work along the lines” of the new agreement and “refrain from unilateral measures” on Ukrainian grain imports.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Mateusz Morawiecki, “, Morawiecki, der Leyen, Tusk, Weber, ” Morawiecki, Alexander Ermochenko, Piotr Muller, Viktor Orban, ”, ” Orban, Valdis Dombrovskis Organizations: CNN —, European Union, EU, ”, country’s, Twitter, Slovakia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Facebook Locations: CNN — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Berlin, Zaporizhzhia, Russian, Africa, Brussels

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