China's house prices fall further
A fresh fall in China's house prices leave many wondering what actions the government will take to prop up a key sector in the world's number two economy. Jane Lanhee Lee reports.
A fresh fall in China's house prices leave many wondering what actions the government will take to prop up a key sector in the world's number two economy. Jane Lanhee Lee reports.
The standards unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are part of President Joe Biden's broader effort to combat diet-related disease such as childhood obesity. "We all share the goal of helping children reach their full potential," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in announcing the new standards. The plan will, for the first time, require schools to limit added sugars in meals nationwide by 2027, as well as slightly reduce sodium content, according to the USDA.
A sell-or-ban TikTok bill has created kitchen table debates for many families. Lawmakers aren't excluded.
The nation's school meals will get a makeover under new nutrition standards that limit added sugars for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. The final rule also trims sodium in kids' meals, although not by the 30% first proposed in 2023. And it continues to allow flavored milks — such as chocolate milk — with less sugar, rather than adopting an option that would have offered only unflavored milk to the youngest kids. The aim is to improve nutrition and align with U.S. dietary guidelines in the program that provides breakfasts to more than 15 million students and lunches to nearly 30 million students every day at a cost of about $22.6 billion per year.
EVERETT, Wash. — Two framed documents from a long career at Boeing hang side by side in Merle Meyers’ home: A certificate from 2022 that thanks him for three decades of service. And a letter he received months later reprimanding him for his performance. The documents reflect his conflicting emotions about the company. Meyers, who worked as a Boeing quality manager until last year, holds deep affection for the aircraft manufacturer, where both he and his mother worked. But he is also saddened and
German email service Tuta Mail has complained to European Union tech regulators about what it described as a sudden drop in Google search results on the day the bloc's new tech rules kicked in. The European Commission last month launched investigations into Alphabet unit Google, Apple and Meta Platforms over potential breaches of the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), with Google's case partly focused on whether search results discriminate against third-party services. Tuta Mail, which says it is the second-largest encrypted email service in the world with more than 10 million users, filed a complaint to the DMA taskforce on Tuesday.
South Sudanese authorities are holding up United Nations fuel tankers over a tax dispute, jeopardising the delivery of millions of dollars of aid during a humanitarian crisis, the U.N. mission there said. The trucks were held up at depots and the Ugandan border on Wednesday despite assurances from the minister of humanitarian affairs a day earlier that a new tax on trucks carrying fuel and other supplies did not apply to U.N. humanitarian operations, a spokesperson for the mission said. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Albino Akok Atak and Information Minister Michael Makuei were not immediately available for comment.
Extreme heat scorched parts of South and Southeast Asia Wednesday, prompting schools across the Philippines to suspend classes, heat warnings in the Thai capital and worshippers in Bangladesh to pray for rain.The Philippine Department of Education, which oversees more than 47,600 schools, said nearly 6,700 schools suspended in-person classes on Wednesday.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is facing unprecedented scrutiny this year and fighting to put out multiple fires that are denting its support ahead of European and local elections that threaten to upend German politics. The latest allegation was that Jian Guo, a staffer working for the AfD's top EU election candidate Maximilian Krah, was passing information to the Chinese secret service. Police arrested Guo a week after media reports that the FBI had also questioned Krah when he travelled to the United States about suspected payments from a pro-Russian activist.
BERLIN — After weeks of delays, negotiations and distractions, Israel appeared to hint this week that its assault of Rafah — a city in the Gaza Strip teeming with displaced persons above ground and riddled with Hamas tunnels below — was all but inevitable. In what some analysts and residents of the city saw as a sign of preparations for an invasion, an Israeli military official on Tuesday gave some details that include relocating civilians to a safe zone a few miles away along the Mediterranean
Ukraine received a new 1.5-billion-euro ($1.6 billion) tranche of financial support from the European Union on Wednesday and hopes to get another 10 billion euros later this year, officials said. Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said the EU, which has provided Ukraine with 31 billion euros, had become the biggest donor of budget financing to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022. The United States, which has approved billions of dollars in a new aid package to Ukraine, is also an important donor.
Upcoming quarterly reports from U.S. tech giants may show Microsoft is closing the gap on cloud-computing market leader Amazon.com as more businesses switch to its services, attracted by a clutch of generative AI features that are powered by OpenAI's technology. The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has beaten rivals Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet to the market with AI services including the Copilot, a set of genAI tools that work in Microsoft's business apps, that was rolled out in November for $30 a month. Its earnings on Thursday will be an indicator of AI adoption and could influence the movement of technology stocks as a rally in the sector eases this month amid worries that interest rates in the U.S. could stay high for longer.
A ship near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait saw an explosion in the distance Wednesday, marking what may be a new attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels through the crucial waterway for international trade. The explosion, reported by the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, comes after a relative lull from the Houthis after they launched dozens of attacks on shipping in the region over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the blast, but suspicion fell on the group as they've repeatedly targeted ships in the same area.
A federal rule announced Wednesday will require airlines to quickly give cash refunds — without lengthy arguments — to passengers whose flights have been canceled or seriously delayed, the Biden administration said.
Two runaway military horses bolted through central London, leaving at least 4 people and the animals injured, officials said.
The European Parliament on Wednesday backed the EU's withdrawal from an international energy treaty over concerns it offers too much protection to fossil fuel companies.But the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in July it was necessary to withdraw from the treaty in a coordinated manner since it is "no longer compatible" with the bloc's "enhanced climate ambition".
Boeing is expected to report first quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday, following a quarter that could be called rocky to say the least.
Slovakia’s government on Wednesday approved a controversial overhaul of the country's public radio and television services, a move that critics say would result in the government taking full control of the media. Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said the changes are needed because the public broadcaster, known as RTVS, is politically biased and “is in conflict with the Slovak government.” The Parliament, where the Fico’s coalition government has a majority, is expected to approve the changes in June.
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers. Boeing's CEO said the company is in “a tough moment,” and its focus is on fixing its manufacturing issues, not the financial results. Company executives have been forced to talk more about safety and less about finances since a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden scored overwhelming primary victories in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, facing opponents who had long since dropped out of the race. Trump appeared to take 83% of the vote against Nikki Haley, his former rival in the Republican primaries. Still, Haley won the votes of more than 155,000 Pennsylvanians across the state that is considered essential to victory in November, although she ended her campaign more than a month ago.
The British army has recovered several horses after they broke free from the Household Cavalry and bolted through London on Wednesday morning.