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☆ GPU tech supplier Imagination Technologies lays off 20% of staff -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Max A. Cherney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The headquarters of technology company Imagination Technologies is seen on the outskirts of London, Britain, June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 13 (Reuters) - Chip technology design maker Imagination Technologies plans to lay off 20% of the company’s staff, according to sources familiar with the matter. The cuts are company-wide and every unit will be affected, according to one of the sources. Imagination Tech is owned by the private equity firm Canyon Bridge, which is backed by the Chinese state-owned China Reform holdings. For last year, Imagination reported profit before tax of £17 million ($20.9 million) on revenue of £120.3 million, according to filings.

Persons: Hannah McKay, Imagination, Max A, Chris Reese, Stephen Coates Organizations: Imagination Technologies, REUTERS, Apple, Reuters, Arm Holdings, Imagination Tech, China Reform, Imagination, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, China, San Francisco

☆ APEC's growth to slow as persistent inflation, US-China tensions weigh-report
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The APEC GDP growth rate will average 2.9% in 2025 and 2026, below the global average of 3.2% and 3.5-3.6% in the rest of the world. Taming inflation could require more monetary policy tightening, slowing growth further. Trade volume growth for goods is set to rebound next year among APEC countries after a largely flat 2023 due to China's sluggish growth, rising to 4.3% for goods exports and 3.5% for goods imports. The data shows "how important it is to re-engage, de-risk and avoid decoupling" of the U.S. and Chinese economies. "I think a stable relationship within U.S. and China is a win-win situation for everyone," Kuriyama said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Mark Schiefelbein, Carlos Kuriyama, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kuriyama, David Lawder, Stephen Coates Organizations: Treasury, Lifeng, FRANCISCO, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, Unit, U.S, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Asia, San Francisco, U.S

☆ Greek state bank bailout fund sells 9% of Alpha bank to Unicredit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF said on Monday it sold its 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) to UniCredit after an improved bid by the Italian bank. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) announced last month it would become Alpha Bank's biggest investor by buying a 9% stake owned by Greece's HFSF and also agreed to acquire most of Alpha's Romanian business. Greece has been attracting significant investment as its economy strengthened after the crisis, prompting S&P Global to upgrade the country to investment grade in October. HFSF sold last month its 1.4% stake in Eurobank and is expected to proceed with the sale of about 20% of National Bank in next coming days. Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: HFSF, Greece's HFSF, UniCredit, Lefteris Papadimas, Tom Hogue, Stephen Coates Organizations: Alpha Bank, Alpha, Athens Stock Exchange, Global, National Bank, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Italian, Romanian, Greece, Eurobank

LOS ANGELES, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Investigators have determined arson caused the weekend fire that heavily damaged an elevated stretch of a downtown Los Angeles freeway, forcing its indefinite closure and setting the stage for prolonged traffic turmoil, state officials said on Monday. [1/7]Crew members work in the area, where a fire erupted over the weekend, shutting down a heavily trafficked corridor in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 13, 2023. Newsom identified the leaseholder for state-owned property beneath the freeway that burned as Apex Development Inc, based in Calabasas, California, north of Los Angeles. Newsom on Sunday proclaimed a state of emergency in Los Angeles County in order to expedite repairs to the freeway. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; additional reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen Coates and Miral FahmyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Newsom, Daniel Berlant, Berlant, Karen Bass, Laura Rubio, Rubio, Cornejo, Jorge Garcia, Bass, Steve Gorman, Daniel Trotta, Rich McKay, Lisa Baertlein, Jonathan Oatis, Stephen Coates, Miral Organizations: ANGELES, downtown, Transportation Department, REUTERS, Engineers, Apex Development Inc, Apex, Sunday, Los Angeles Times, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles, California, Santa Monica, downtown L.A, Los Angeles , California, U.S, Calabasas , California, Los Angeles County, Carlsbad , California, Atlanta

That pushed net profit from the bank's institutional unit up 53% to overtake its retail unit, by dollar value, in the year to September, and helped the Melbourne-listed company grow overall profit 14% to A$7.4 billion ($4.7 billion), just missing a Visible Alpha consensus forecast of A$7.56 billion. But analysts expressed concern about a faster-than-expected narrowing of profit margin from the bank's retail unit, the only one of Australia's so-called big four lenders that has persisted with offering cash handouts to lure mortgage customers looking for a cheaper deal. The logo of the ANZ Bank is seen at Lambton Quay, in Wellington, New Zealand November 10, 2022. ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott denied forgoing margin to grow mortgages faster than the market, and challenged comments from other banks that have said they were intentionally slowing mortgage growth while competition eroded profit. ANZ declared a final dividend of 94 Australian cents per share, up from 74 cents a year ago.

Persons: NIM, Lucy Craymer, Shayne Elliott, we've, Byron Kaye, Rishav Chatterjee, Roushni Nair, Lisa Shumaker, Stephen Coates Organizations: ANZ, Westpac, National Australia Bank, midsession, ANZ Bank, REUTERS, UBS, Thomson Locations: Melbourne, Lambton Quay, Wellington , New Zealand, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Biden to meet Xi on Wednesday in San Francisco Bay area, US says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. The closely watched interaction, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the San Francisco Bay area, could last hours and involve teams of officials from Beijing and Washington. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that Xi would visit the United States Nov. 14-17, attend the APEC summit and meet with Biden. Biden and Xi will speak across oceans of ideological difference for the first time since November 2022. Biden is expected to tell Xi that U.S. commitments in the Indo-Pacific are unchanged.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Xi, Biden, Mao Zedong, Trevor Hunnicutt, Heather Timmons, Stephen Coates, Chizu Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Economic Cooperation, Biden, White House, APEC, NATO, Diplomats, U.S, Thomson Locations: Bali , Indonesia, Asia, San Francisco Bay, Beijing, Washington, Israel, Ukraine, North, Russia, Taiwan, China, United, U.S, Northern California, Europe, United States, Taiwan Strait, South China, East China, Philippines, Iran

[1/4] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen poses for a photo with Taiwan's APEC representative and TSMC founder Morris Chang at a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan November 10, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang Acquire Licensing RightsTAIPEI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan will stress the importance of peace in the region at next week's APEC summit, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday, one of the few international bodies both Taiwan and China are members of and where their officials meet. The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will meet in San Francisco for the 30th APEC summit, the first hosted by the United States since 2011. Neither the president nor Chang, representing Tsai for the sixth time at an APEC summit, took questions. Chang, 92, had a brief chat with Xi at last year's APEC summit in Bangkok, a rare high-level interaction.

Persons: Tsai Ing, Morris Chang, Ann Wang, Tsai, Chang, Xi, Sarah Wu, Ben Blanchard, Stephen Coates Organizations: Taiwan's APEC, REUTERS, Rights, APEC, Economic Cooperation, TSMC, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, China, Asia, San Francisco, United States, Beijing, pleasantries, Chang, Bangkok

Casino resort operators have been earning record profits from a steady post-pandemic recovery in Las Vegas tourism. Caesars Entertainment (CZR.O), the second-biggest Las Vegas casino operator by number of employees, said the deal provides "meaningful wage increases" and aligns with plans to bring more union jobs to the Strip. Visits to the city in September were 4% lower than in the same period in 2019, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The city is gearing up for events including the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix this month, which is expected to draw thousands of tourists. TALKS WITH MGM, WYNN CONTINUETalks with casino operators MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN.O) are yet to yield an agreement ahead of Friday's deadline for a strike.

Persons: Steve Marcus, Ted Pappageorge, we've, Pappageorge, Erik Gordon, Daniel Busby, WYNN, William Hornbuckle, Wynn, Barry Jonas, Jonas, Shivansh Tiwary, Ananta Agarwal, Rod Nickel, Stephen Coates Organizations: Caesars Entertainment Corp, REUTERS, Las Vegas Sun, Caesars Entertainment, Culinary Workers, Bartenders Unions, Culinary Union, Las, housekeepers, Las Vegas Convention, Visitors Authority, Las Vegas, Companies, University of Michigan, Paris Las Vegas, Caesars, MGM, MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, Wynn, Vegas . Caesars, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, Las Vegas, Vegas, United States, Vegas ., Bengaluru, Doyinsola, New York

☆ US Senate votes to reject 'Buy America' EV charging waiver
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The White House argued the Republican bill would eliminate entirely the domestic manufacturing requirement for government-funded electric vehicle (EV) chargers "thereby harming domestic manufacturing and American jobs." Congress has set aside $7.5 billion to fund electric vehicle charging stations. The White House said the bill to rescind the waiver would also overturn the FHWA decision to extend Buy America rules to EV chargers. As a result, the 1983 Reagan administration decision to exempt manufactured products from Buy America requirements would again apply, meaning EV chargers would not be covered by any Buy America requirements, the White House said. Rubio said the waiver would allow government funds to "go into the hands of Chinese companies to build electric vehicle charging stations."

Persons: Joe Biden, Leah Millis, Joe Biden's, White, Sherrod Brown, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Kyrsten Sinema, Biden, Reagan, Marco Rubio, Rubio, David Shepardson, Marguerita Choy, Stephen Coates Organizations: Amtrak, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Senate, Federal Highway Administration, Republican, EV, Thomson Locations: Bear , Delaware, U.S, America

The 118-day work stoppage will end officially just after midnight, the SAG-AFTRA union said in a statement after its negotiating committee voted unanimously to support the deal. "We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers," the union said. George Clooney and other A-list stars voiced solidarity with lower-level actors and had urged union leadership to reach a resolution. While WGA members returned to writing scripts in late September, the ongoing SAG-AFTRA work stoppage left many productions dark. It also led movie studios to delay big releases such as "Dune: Part 2" because striking actors could not promote them.

Persons: Jim Kulick, Mario Anzuoni, Fran Drescher, Walt Disney, I'm, Fanny Grande, It's, Jessica Payne, Rati Gupta, Anu, George Clooney, Lisa Richwine, Stephen Coates Organizations: SAG, Paramount Studios, REUTERS, Alliance, Television Producers, Walt, Netflix, Hollywood, CBS, Writers Guild of America, WGA, Milken, United Auto Workers, Detroit carmakers, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, New York, Los Angeles, Los Angeles and New York, California

China's foreign ministry said on Friday the lender is striving to minimise risk impact and losses after the attack. "We don't often see a bank this large get hit with this disruptive of a ransomware attack," said Allan Liska, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. TRADES CLEAREDICBC said it had successfully cleared Treasury trades executed on Wednesday and repurchase agreements (repo) financing trades done on Thursday. Some market participants said trades going through ICBC were not settled due to the attack and affected market liquidity. The Treasury market appeared to be functioning normally on Thursday, according to LSEG data.

Persons: Kim Kyung, ICBC, Wang Wenbin, Wang, Lockbit, Allan Liska, Scott Skrym, Michael Gladchun, Loomis Sayles, SIFMA, Urvi, Pete Schroder, Gertrude Chavez, Davide Barbuscia, Carolina Mandl, Paritosh Bansal, Joe Cash, Stephen Coates, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Commercial Bank of China Ltd, REUTERS, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, Commercial Bank of China's, U.S . Treasury, ICBC Financial Services, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, Boeing, U.S . Treasury Department, Treasury, Securities, Financial Times, U.S . Securities Industry, Financial Markets Association, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, U.S, Bengaluru, Washington, Carolina

☆ Chaos as Optus outage disconnects half of Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Because of the outage it won't load," Rogers told Reuters while he was waiting at the pharmacist for the internet to return. Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, (STEL.SI) gave no explanation for the outage except to say it was investigating it. Until then, even taking a walk became more difficult, at least for people who needed directions. An office worker from Sydney told Reuters he could not get into his building because the door required an internet-connected smartphone application to unlock. ($1 = 1.5538 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye with additional reporting by Kirsty Needham and Sam Holmes; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Chris Rogers, Rogers, I've, Michael Clements, Angela Ican, we've, Roderick Geddes, Byron Kaye, Kirsty Needham, Sam Holmes, Stephen Coates Organizations: SYDNEY, Optus, Reuters, Reserve Bank of Australia, Royal Australian College of General, Singapore Telecommunications, Sydney, Thomson Locations: Sydney

☆ Occidental Petroleum beats Q3 estimates on higher production
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Sabrina Valle | Thomson Reuters | U.S. Energy Correspondent Focused In Covering Global Operations Of Oil Majors Out Of Houston. | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo for Occidental Petroleum is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 30, 2019. The oil and gas company reported a $1.18 a share profit compared to average Wall Street analyst forecasts for an 84 cent a share profit, according to LSEG. Its chemical and midstream unit earnings fell compared to a year ago. Midstream swung to a loss of $130 million from a $104 million profit. Its chemicals business profit fell to $373 million from $580 million a year ago.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Warren Buffett's, Midstream, Sabrina Valle, Sourasis Bose, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Stephen Coates, Jamie Freed Organizations: Occidental Petroleum, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Rights, Tuesday, Occidental, Berkshire Hathaway's, Anadarko Petroleum, BlackRock, Devon Energy, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Berkshire, Occidental, Texas, Devon, Houston, Bengaluru

☆ South Korea Metro Workers Launch Strike; Disruption Limited
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Hyonhee ShinSEOUL (Reuters) - More than 10,000 unionised South Korean metro workers launched a two-day strike on Thursday in protest against the subway operator's push for job cuts to stem snowballing debt, causing disruptions for some commuters in the greater Seoul area. The strike came hours after negotiations between Seoul Metro and its two major unions fell apart due to differences over the operator's plan to scale back its workforce by some 13%, or more than 2,200, by 2026. Seoul's metro operators have grappled for years with debt, partly from free rides for senior citizens, as Asia's fourth-largest economy faces a rapidly aging population and surging welfare costs. But city authorities warned of some delays in the evening, and pledged to mobilise emergency trains, buses and substitute workers. Lee called for efforts to curb the metro operator's debt, which topped 1.7 trillion won ($1.3 billion) last year.

Persons: Shin, Lee Jung, sik, Lee, 1,307.2600, Hyonhee Shin, Stephen Coates Organizations: Korean, Seoul Metro, Employment, Labour, Facebook Locations: Shin SEOUL, Seoul, Seoul's

Renamed Scyne Advisory, roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia's more than 9,000 staff have moved over to the new advisory firm. It said it would tender for a new external auditor as part of "best practice for audit firm rotation". PwC has audited Westpac since 2002, before which PwC partners and their ancestor firms had audited the bank since 1968. However, PwC's lead Westpac audit partner assumed the role less than two years ago, in December 2021, according to a Westpac governance statement this month. A PwC Australia spokesperson said the firm understood the board's decision and was proud of its time as Westpac's auditor.

Persons: Lewis Jackson, PwC, Robert Birsel, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Wednesday, Scyne Advisory, Scyne, Google, Uber Technologies, Facebook, Meta, WESTPAC, Westpac Group, Westpac, PwC's, Thomson Locations: Barangaroo, Australia

☆ Shares of Spirit Aero down 16% as company looks to raise cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Shares of Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N) dropped 16% in extended trade after the company announced new measures meant to raise capital for the embattled aerospace supplier. The company announced a proposed public sale of $200 million of its Class A common stock. It also plans to issue $200 million in convertible debt set to mature in 2028. Chief Financial Officer Mark Suchinski said then that the company "continue(s) to evaluate all refinancing options to address debt," including $1.2 billion of debt set to mature in 2025, "as well as our overall liquidity." Reporting by Valerie Insinna; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, planemaker, Patrick Shanahan, Mark Suchinski, Valerie Insinna, Chris Reese, Stephen Coates Organizations: Boeing, International Paris Air, Le, REUTERS, Rights, Airbus, Thomson Locations: Le Bourget, Paris, France

☆ As shutdown looms, US House Republicans search for stopgap solution
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in Congress, described the closed-door debate as "positive." House Republicans are focused on passing full-year appropriations bills for transportation, housing, urban development and financial services. The chamber has passed seven partisan Republican bills of the 12 spending measures needed. "What we need is bipartisan solutions," Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic conference, told reporters. Another option on the House Republican table would be to negotiate with the Democratic-led Senate on a "clean" CR that can pass both chambers quickly.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Nathan Howard, Everybody's, Brian Babin, Johnson, Dusty Johnson, Pete Aguilar, Eli Crane, Crane, Mike Garcia, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Stephen Coates, Leslie Adler Organizations: Republican, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, . House, Democratic, Republicans, Democrats, Internal Revenue Service, House Democratic, Social Security, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Israel, Ukraine, Mexico

☆ US Republicans expect no votes on stopgap this week as shutdown looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

One lawmaker said a Republican policy of waiting three days before voting on legislation left little time to act this week. House Republicans are due to focus the agenda for the week on passing their own partisan appropriations bills for 2024. The Senate has passed three appropriations bills in a package known as a minibus. While the Senate legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support, the House has passed only partisan Republican measures opposed by Democrats. Only one category of appropriations legislation, covering military construction and veterans benefits, has passed both chambers in markedly different forms.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Nathan Howard, Joe Biden, David Morgan, Stephen Coates Organizations: Republican, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, . House, Representatives, Republicans, Democratic, Democrats, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Israel, Ukraine

☆ Chaos as Optus Outage Disconnects Half of Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

"Because of the outage it won't load," Rogers told Reuters while he was waiting at the pharmacist for the internet to return. Optus, which is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, gave no explanation for the outage except to say it was investigating it. Until then, even taking a walk became more difficult, at least for people who needed directions. An office worker from Sydney told Reuters he could not get into his building because the door required an internet-connected smartphone application to unlock. ($1 = 1.5538 Australian dollars)(Reporting by Byron Kaye with additional reporting by Kirsty Needham and Sam Holmes; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Persons: Byron Kaye SYDNEY, Chris Rogers, Rogers, I've, Michael Clements, Angela Ican, we've, Roderick Geddes, Byron Kaye, Kirsty Needham, Sam Holmes, Stephen Coates Organizations: Optus, Reuters, Reserve Bank of Australia, Royal Australian College of General, Singapore Telecommunications, Sydney Locations: Sydney

SYDNEY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Millions of Australians were left without a phone or internet connection on Wednesday after the country's second-largest telecommunications provider experienced an unexplained nationwide outage. "Our teams are working urgently to restore services. The government had sought further information from Optus including when they expected to restore services. Melbourne's train networks were forced to shut down for about 30 minutes due to the outage, resulting in delays during the morning rush, media reported. A cyber breach last year hit Optus, exposing personal details of millions of its customers, including their home addresses, driver licence and passport numbers.

Persons: telco, Michelle Rowland, Rowland, Renju Jose, Praveen Menon, Stephen Coates Organizations: SYDNEY, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications, Commonwealth Bank, CBA, Reuters, Federal Communications, ABC Radio, Thomson Locations: Sydney

OpenAI is calling the customized AI apps "GPTs", which the company said are early versions of AI assistants that perform real-world tasks, such as booking flights, on behalf of a user. In addition to GPTs, OpenAI also released a slew of developer-focused updates, including significant cost slashing, an announcement met with loud cheers from the audience. For its 2 million developers, OpenAI announced a new GPT-4 Turbo model, which compared to its predecessor GPT-4 is several orders of magnitude cheaper and processes much more data. It also launched a beta program for developers to fine-tune GPT-4 models. To address the concerns of big enterprises, OpenAI launched its Custom Models program, offering to create custom GPT-4 models at an "expensive" price.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, It's, you'll, Flo Crivello, Crivello, Lindy, Satya Nadella, Krystal Hu, Anna Tong, Paul Simao, Stephen Coates Organizations: FRANCISCO, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, OpenAI

☆ Senators urge US to take steps to boost battery production, citing China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Workers are seen at the production line of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV) at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China August 28, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/ File photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Two influential Democratic U.S. senators urged the Energy Department to take steps to boost U.S. battery manufacturing and next-generation battery research, citing China's dominance and export controls, according to a letter seen by Reuters. China dominates the global EV battery supply chain including production of graphite - the single largest component. The letter wants a committee briefing by Dec. 1 "on ongoing research and development of next-generation battery technologies." China accounts for 70% of the global production of lithium-ion batteries, the letter said, noting of five critical minerals required for most lithium-ion batteries, China "controls between 60-100% of the mining or refining for these minerals."

Persons: Stringer, Mark Warner, Joe Manchin, China's, Jennifer Granholm, David Shepardson, Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Democratic U.S, Energy Department, Reuters, Senate, Energy, Pentagon, Department of Defense, Thomson Locations: Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China, United States, Asia, U.S

Israel said Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages. The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 7. TWO HAMAS COMMANDERS KILLED, SAYS ISRAELIsrael said its strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza's biggest refugee camp. U.N. human rights officials said strikes on the camp could be a war crime. [1/5]Palestinians search for casualties a day after Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2023.

Persons: Jordan, Gazans, Israel, ISRAEL Israel, Mohammed Al, Masri, Fathi Abu, Hassan, Ashraf Al, Antony Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken, Wednesday Jordan, Joe Biden, Nidal al, Emily Rose, Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates, Grant McCool, Robert Birsel Organizations: Friday, Hamas, Palestinian, Gaza's Hamas, Human Rights, REUTERS, Hospitals, Indonesian Hospital, FOR, Wednesday, U.S . House, Democratic, White, Israel, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Friday GAZA, JERUSALEM, Egypt, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, United Kingdom, United States, Quds, Gaza City, Jabalia, Gaza's, U.S, Tel Aviv, Qatar, Ukraine

Dozens of Hamas combatants were in the same underground tunnel complex as Biari and were also killed when it collapsed in the attack, an IDF spokesperson said. That is the war (for) the future of Israel - nothing less," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters on Wednesday. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem denied any senior commander was in the camp, and called the claim an Israeli pretext for killing civilians. Israel repeatedly warned Gaza residents to evacuate northern areas and while many have gone south, many have stayed. [1/12]Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023.

Persons: Israel, Ibrahim Biari, Yoav Gallant, Hazem Qassem, Mahmoud Al, Saadi, Fadi, Ashraf Al, Abu Ubaida, Matthew Miller, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Nidal al, Emily Rose, Grant McCool, Stephen Coates, Miral Fahmy Organizations: West Bank Israel, Israel's Army Radio, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Israeli, Paltel, West Bank, REUTERS, Capitol, Al, Indonesian, Reuters, International, U.S . State Department, Israel, Thomson Locations: Gaza, US, GAZA, JERUSALEM, Israel, Iran, Gaza's, Jabalia, GAZA In Washington, Al Shifa, Hague, United States, U.S, Qatar, Egypt, Lincoln

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement said the strike by fighter jets on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, had killed Ibrahim Biari. Dozens of Hamas combatants were in the same underground tunnel complex as Biari and were also killed when it collapsed in the attack, Conricus said. Palestinian health officials said at least 50 Palestinians were killed in the refugee camp and 150 wounded. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem denied any senior commander was there and called the claim an Israeli pretext for killing civilians. He has vowed to press ahead with plans to annihilate Hamas after several inconclusive wars dating back to the militant group's 2007 takeover of Gaza.

Persons: Blinken, Ibrahim Biari, Jonathan Conricus, Conricus, Hazem Qassem, Ashraf Al, we've, Dr, Mohammed al, Abu Ubaida, Matthew Miller, Antony Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Nidal al, Emily Rose, Grant McCool, Stephen Coates Organizations: Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Reuters, Indonesian, Capitol, International, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Gaza, US, GAZA, JERUSALEM, Palestinian, Gaza's, Israel, Jabalia, Shifa, Washington, Iran, Hague, United States, U.S, Qatar, Egypt

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