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FINANCIAL MARKETS
Asian stocks rise as debt pullback fears boost Wall Street rally
TOKYO (AP) – Asian stocks are higher, following a rally on Wall Street after signs of progress in resolving the congressional deadlock over the debt ceiling.
Benchmarks in Japan, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong rose. Shanghai trade is closed for a Chinese national holiday.
Analysts say the rollout of vaccination in the region will accelerate the lifting of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 restrictions and lead to a gradual recovery. But the risk of decline remains. Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as investors recovered from nearly a week of volatility.
DEBT CONGRESS
Congress plans short-term debt relief at perilous stalemate
WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican and Democratic senators have moved away from a perilous impasse over lifting the country’s borrowing ceiling.
Democrats are signaling they are receptive to an offer from Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that would allow an emergency extension of the debt limit until December.
McConnell made the offer Wednesday night. It was shortly before Republicans were ready to block legislation to suspend the limit much further – until December of next year – and as President Joe Biden and business leaders stepped up their efforts. concerns about what an unprecedented federal default would mean for the country’s economy.
JUSTICE-CYBERSECURITY DEPARTMENT
US set to prosecute entrepreneurs who fail to report cyber breaches
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is set to prosecute government contractors and other businesses who receive US government grants if they fail to report breaches to their cybersystems. This is according to the head n ° 2 of the Ministry of Justice.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the department was prepared to take legal action under a law called the False Claims Act against contractors who misuse federal money by not disclosing hacks or by having standards for deficient cybersecurity. The ministry will also protect whistleblowers who report these issues.
IMF-PROBE
IMF Director Meets Executive Board to Investigate Data-rigging Allegations
WASHINGTON (AP) – The president of the International Monetary Fund has met with the board of directors of her agency.
The board is investigating allegations of data rigging at the World Bank, the sister global lender of which IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva was previously a senior executive.
The IMF is investigating allegations that in 2018 World Bank employees were forced to change data affecting its ranking of the business climate of China and other countries.
The IMF board heard from Georgieva, who denied any wrongdoing in the matter. She was Managing Director of the World Bank from January 2017 to September 2019, before taking over as head of the IMF in October 2019.
KELLOGG STRIKE
Fed up with pandemic, US food workers launch rare strikes
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A summer of social unrest among U.S. food manufacturers has dragged on into the fall, as workers tired by the pandemic continue to strike for better wages.
About 1,400 workers at Kellogg Co.’s US grain plants left work this week, saying negotiations with the company over wages and benefits have stalled. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, a strike of 420 workers against Heaven Hill Distillery is in its fourth week.
The actions come on top of strikes earlier this summer by 600 workers at one Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, and 1,000 workers at five Nabisco plants in the United States. In June, Smithfield Foods narrowly avoided a strike by thousands of factory workers. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
AUSTRALIA-FRENCH-SUBMARINES
Exec Facebook: We don’t prioritize commitment to security
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australia welcomes France’s decision to return its ambassador to Australia and says it hopes the two countries can make good the damage caused by a canceled submarine contract. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he hopes countries “can get past our recent disappointments.”
France recalled its ambassadors in Washington and Canberra last month after Australia canceled a contract with Naval Group, majority owned by the French state, to build 12 diesel-electric submarines. Instead, it will get nuclear-powered submarines built with American technology.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the ambassador would return to Australia to “redefine the terms” of the bilateral relationship and defend French interests in concluding the deal. ‘
CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL
A ship anchored near an oil pipeline made unusual movements
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) – A huge freighter made a series of unusual movements while anchored at the closest spot to a Southern California pipeline that ruptured and sent crude stranded on the beaches.
The Coast Guard is investigating whether a ship anchor got caught and bent the pipeline off Huntington Beach. The Associated Press reviewed more than two weeks of data from MarineTraffic, a navigation service that tracks ships. The PA discovered that the Rotterdam Express, a German-flagged vessel, had made three unusual movements in two days that appear to put it above the pipeline.
A US official told the AP that the ship was at the center of the spill investigation. Hapag-Lloyd, the company that operates the Rotterdam Express, has denied any role in the leak.
CONDEMNATION OF A UTILITY FRAMEWORK
The ex-CEO who oversaw a doomed nuclear project
COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – An executive who lied to regulators about two South Carolina nuclear power plants that never generated a watt of electricity is facing conviction.
The former CEO of SCANA Corp. Kevin Marsh has agreed with prosecutors that he should spend two years in prison. He is appearing today before a federal judge who will decide whether or not to accept this agreement.
Marsh’s lawyers have said in court documents that his wife of 46 years has incurable breast cancer and that he wants to serve his sentence now so that he can care for her later. Marsh is expected to be the first executive to be sentenced to jail for the nuclear project debacle.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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