Page 821 - World News

UK consumer confidence touches 4-month high in December: GfK survey

Monthly consumer confidence index from market research firm GfK rose to -17 in December from -18 in November, the highest reading since August

China leads global EV sales as it hits third consecutive record high

China continued to lead sales growth, accounting for almost 70 per cent of total EV sales in the month, while registrations in Europe showed a marginal decline

Moldova declares emergency for 60 days as risk of Russian gas cutoff looms

56 members in 101-seat chamber backed measure in the vote just after midnight following Prime Minister Dorin Recean's call for approval to ensure Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region secured gas

Trump's trade adviser warns against China's attempt to manipulate currency

Peter Navarro, Trump's new senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, said White House would not interfere with the Treasury's review to see foreign trade partners are not manipulating currencies

Venture Global's Plaquemines plant to produce first LNG in few days

Having sales contracts in place for the LNG plant aided Venture Global's financing efforts for the new facility

Cantor Fitzgerald pays $6.75 mn to settle 'misleading' SPAC disclosures

According to the SEC, in 2020 and 2021 a team of Cantor Fitzgerald executives managed and controlled two SPACs that raised $750 million from investors through IPOs ahead of the SPACs' eventual mergers

Amazon donates $1 mn to Donald Trump's inaugural fund as Bezos plans visit

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also meeting with Trump next week, the president-elect said Thursday, highlighting his contacts with tech titans

Venezuela President releases 103 imprisoned since disputed July election

After Presidential election, thousands of protesters flooded the streets in cities like the capital Caracas, and the opposition released data it said showed Gonzalez won handily against Maduro

Israeli airstrikes disrupt Hamas plot to hijack humanitarian convoys

IDF stressed that no delivery trucks were struck and that the humanitarian corridor remains open for aid deliveries

French President Emmanuel Macron to announce new prime minister today

Barnier stepped down after just three months in office, marking the shortest tenure of any prime minister in modern French history

Chanel appoints designer Matthieu Blazy as its new artistic director

Critics have noted that Blazy's relatively young age suggests Chanel may be positioning him for a long tenure, akin to the 36 years Karl Lagerfeld spent at the helm

Elon Musk wants to turn SpaceX's Starbase site into a new Texas city

SpaceX's rapid expansion in the region has drawn pushback from some locals

China look forward to $1 billion investment in Pakistan's healthcare sector

President Zardari met with a delegation led by the Chinese Consul General Yang Yundong at Bilawal House in Karachi, where he called for greater Chinese investment in Pakistan's various sectors

White House releases first-ever national strategy to combat Islamophobia

Biden administration said that 'Over the past year, this initiative has become even more important as threats against American Muslim and Arab communities have spiked'

China's President Xi Jinping likely to skip Trump's inauguration ceremony

However, China's ambassador to the US and his spouse are expected to attend the event

Canadian ministers urge Trudeau for robust reply to Trump's tariff threats

Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who was at the meeting, says some premiers are in favour of robust response to threatened US tariffs

North Koreans indicted for using IT workers to fund weapons programmes

Scheme involving thousands of IT workers generated more than $88 million for the North Korean government, Ashley T Johnson, special agent in charge of the St. Louis FBI office, said

Israeli strike in Gaza kills 25 people as US makes new push for ceasefire

Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals

FBI should have collected more intelligence before Capitol riot: Report

Report from the Justice Department inspector general's office knocks down a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating events that day

Federal Aviation head to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor

Mike Whitaker announced his pending resignation in a message to employees of the FAA