Thursday, April 18

Tag: USA

Twitter fact check controversy: President Trump threatens new regulation or shutdown
USA

Twitter fact check controversy: President Trump threatens new regulation or shutdown

Washington, May 28 (AP): President Donald Trump, the historically prolific tweeter of political barbs and blasts, threatened social media companies with new regulation or even shuttering after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets. He turned to his Twitter account to tweet his threats. The president can''t unilaterally regulate or close the companies, and any effort would likely require action by Congress. His administration has shelved a proposed executive order empowering the Federal Communications Commission to regulate technology companies, citing concerns it wouldn''t pass legal muster. But that didn''t stop Trump from angrily issuing strong warnings. Tech giants “silence conservative voices," he claimed on Twitter early Wednesday. “We will strongly regulate, or clo...
Twitter adds fact check warnings to President Trump’s tweets
USA

Twitter adds fact check warnings to President Trump’s tweets

Washington, May 27th, 2020: For the first time, Twitter has flagged some of President Donald Trump's tweets with a fact-check warning. On Tuesday, Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots "fraudulent” and predicted that "mail boxes will be robbed,” among other things. Under the tweets, there is now a link reading “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” that guides users to a Twitter “moments” page with fact checks and news stories about Trump''s unsubstantiated claims. Until now, the president has simply blown past Twitter's half-hearted attempts to enforce rules intended to promote civility and “healthy” conversation on its most prominent user. Trump frequently amplifies misinformation, spreads abuse, and uses his pulpit to personally attac...
Chinese Tech Company criticize US Government
CHINA

Chinese Tech Company criticize US Government

One of China's biggest tech companies has criticised the Trump administration for "politicising business" after it slapped export sanctions on 33 more Chinese enterprises and government entities. The new measures announced on Friday expanded a US campaign against Chinese companies Washington says might be security threats or involved in human rights abuses. Beijing criticised curbs imposed earlier on tech giant Huawei and other Chinese companies but has yet to say whether it will retaliate. The most prominent name on the latest blacklist is Qihoo 360, a major supplier of anti-virus software and a web browser. The decision to add the companies to the Commerce Department's Entity List limits their access to US components and technology by requiring government permission for exports...
How Coronavirus Hit Jobs Globally
ANALYSIS

How Coronavirus Hit Jobs Globally

Since the pandemic hit, claims for unemployment benefits have soared in some countries notably the US and by far less in others, for example, Japan. According to the UN’s International Labour Organization, as job losses escalate, nearly half of the global workforce at risk of losing livelihoods. As a result of the economic crisis created by the pandemic, almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers (representing the most vulnerable in the labour market), out of a worldwide total of two billion and a global workforce of 3.3 billion, have suffered massive damage to their capacity to earn a living. This is due to lockdown measures and/or because they work in the hardest-hit sectors. The first month of the crisis is estimated to have resulted in a drop of 60 per cent in the income of ...
US government sees record monthly deficit of $737.9 billion
USA

US government sees record monthly deficit of $737.9 billion

The federal government piled up a record deficit in April, traditionally a month of big budget surpluses. The sea of red ink is being created by a drop in revenue and a massive increase in spending to fund efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury Department said Tuesday that the government racked up a shortfall of $737.9 billion last month. That was more than three times larger than the previous record monthly deficit of $235 billion set in February. The deficit so far for the fiscal year that began Sept. 1 climbed to $1.48 trillion. Treasury normally runs surpluses in April as the government revenues swell because of the annual April filing deadline for tax payments. But this year, among the many measures the government has taken to try to cushion the blow ...
Chinese investment lowest in US since 2009 But Coronavirus is not the reason
CHINA

Chinese investment lowest in US since 2009 But Coronavirus is not the reason

China's direct investment in the United States fell last year to its lowest level since the Great Recession, even before the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of global commerce. The decline in Beijing's investment in the United States reflected tensions between the world's two biggest economies and Chinese government restrictions on overseas investment. A report out Monday from the National Committee on US-China Relations and the Rhodium Group consultancy found that China's direct investment in the US dropped from USD 5.4 billion in 2018 to USD 5 billion last year, the lowest level since the recession year of 2009. Direct investment includes mergers, acquisitions and investments in things like offices and factories but not financial investments like purchases of stocks and bon...
Trump admin working to temporarily ban work-based Visas
USA

Trump admin working to temporarily ban work-based Visas

The US is working to temporarily ban the issuance of some work-based visas like H-1B, popular among highly-skilled IT professionals, as well as students visas and work authorization that accompanies them, amidst the high level of unemployment due to the coronavirus, according to a media report on Friday. The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers from countries like India and China in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Nearly 500,000 migrant workers are employed in the US in the H-1B status. "The president's immigration advisers are drawing up plans for a coming executive order, expected this month, that would ban the issuance of some new temporary, work-based visas," The Wall Street Journal reported Fri...
More than 20 million US Jobs vanish in April
USA

More than 20 million US Jobs vanish in April

US businesses cut an unprecedented 20.2 million jobs in April, an epic collapse as the coronavirus outbreak closed of offices, factories, schools, construction sites and stores that propel the US economy. The Wednesday report from payroll company ADP showed the tragic depth and scale of job losses that left no part of the world's largest economy unscathed. The leisure and hospitality sector shed 8.6 million workers last month. Trade, transportation and utilities let 3.4 million people go. Construction firms cut nearly 2.5 million jobs, while manufacturers let go of roughly 1.7 million employees. This private industry report comes two days ahead of the official monthly figures from the U.S. Labor Department. Economists expect that report will show 21 million job losses, accor...
US Trade Gap rises to USD 44.4 billion as Virus slams Commerce
USA

US Trade Gap rises to USD 44.4 billion as Virus slams Commerce

The US trade deficit rose in March as the coronavirus outbreak battered America's trade with the world. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the gap between what the United States sells and what it buys abroad widened 11.6 percent in March to USD 44.4 billion from USD 39.8 billion in February. US exports fell 9.6 percent to USD 187.7 billion on plunging orders for cars, auto parts, and industrial machines. Imports fell by 6.2 percent to USD 232.2 billion. Total trade exports plus imports came in at USD 419.9 billion in March, down 7.8 per cent from February and 11.4 per cent from March 2019. The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China fell 21.3 per cent to USD 15.5 billion in March as exports rose slightly and imports plummeted. The coronavirus...
Bloomberg would sell Media business if elected US President
USA

Bloomberg would sell Media business if elected US President

Mike Bloomberg would sell the media and other businesses he created in the 1980s which bears his name and made him a multibillionaire if he is elected US president, a top adviser has said. Bloomberg would put Bloomberg LP into a blind trust, and the trustee would then sell the company, adviser Tim O'Brien said Tuesday. Proceeds from the sale would go to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable giving arm that funds causes from climate change to public health and grants for American cities. The only restriction Bloomberg would put on the sale is that it not be sold to a foreign buyer or a private equity company, O'Brien said. Bloomberg, a Democrat, is currently chief executive of the company. "We want to be 180 degrees apart from Donald Trump around financial conflicts of interest...
US Online Sales Set to Hit New Record on ‘Cyber Monday’
USA

US Online Sales Set to Hit New Record on ‘Cyber Monday’

US online sales are set to hit a new record on this week's 'Cyber Monday', Adobe Analytics said, as e-commerce outlets gear up to lure shoppers in the opening days of the holiday season. Internet purchases are expected to reach USD 9.4 billion, a jump of nearly 19 percent over last year's record-setting USD 7.9 billion take, according to a Sunday estimate from the company, which measures transactions from 80 of the 100 largest US online retailers. US merchants have long viewed the days after the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday as a prime time to part shoppers from their money, particularly during the 'Black Friday' sales following the holiday. This year's expected record-setting shopping comes as Price Waterhouse Cooper found for the first time that a majority of people surveyed sa...
Spending on U.S. Credit, Debit, and Prepaid Cards to Top $10 trillion
USA

Spending on U.S. Credit, Debit, and Prepaid Cards to Top $10 trillion

CARPINTERIA, Calif., Nov. 11, 2019- Spending for goods and services initiated by credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the United States, which totaled $7.266 trillion in 2018, is projected to reach $10.086 trillion in 2023 according to statistics released this week from The Nilson Report, the leading card, and mobile payment industry trade publication.  At the end of 2018, there were 6.96 billion credit, debit, and prepaid cards in circulation in the U.S. That total is expected to reach 8.02 billion at the end of 2023. "When nearly 7 billion payment cards generate more than $7 trillion in purchases of goods and services…you have to conclude the state of the card business is very good," said David Robertson, Publisher of The Nilson Report. Credit cards accounted for 54.17% o...