Cincunri Sakia

Jumat, 08 Juli 2022

Biden signs executive order aimed at protecting abortion access - Financial Times

US president Joe Biden on Friday announced a range of measures designed to maintain access to abortion and urged women to vote in November’s midterm elections, as his administration looks to limit the fallout of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade.

Biden spoke from the White House about how he intends to make sure Americans can still get abortions even after the country’s highest court struck down the decades-long precedent that guaranteed a right to an abortion, paving the way for multiple states to ban or restrict the procedure.

He has not backed more drastic steps being proposed by progressive activists, such as increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court in an effort to rebalance it away from the conservative majority.

The president on Friday said Roe’s fall “wasn’t a constitutional judgment. It was an exercise in raw political power”.

Biden added: “We cannot allow an out of control Supreme Court working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican party to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy.”

Vice-president Kamala Harris, who was present at the event, will later on Friday meet state legislative leaders who are advocating for abortion rights in states where tighter restrictions are looming.

Biden has pledged to push for a national law protecting abortion rights, but it is unclear whether he has the votes in Congress to pass such a bill.

On Friday, he urged Americans to vote in November’s midterm elections, where Democrats are expected to suffer significant defeats, to help boost the number of pro-choice members of Congress in order to have sufficient backing to codify Roe into federal law.

“This is the fastest route available [to restore Roe],” Biden said. “The court now practically dares the women of America to go to the ballot box and restore the very rights they’ve just taken away.”

Passing a federal law would require sidestepping the Senate filibuster, which usually requires a supermajority of 60 votes to overcome.

Biden, who has in the past been reluctant to overhaul Senate rules to pass legislation along party lines, said he would back over-ruling the filibuster in this case. Doing so would still require the votes of Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have previously opposed any such attempt.

Friday’s order, which will largely have to be carried out by Xavier Becerra, the health secretary, includes expanding access to abortion pills, demand for which has jumped since the ruling last month. Some Republican states have limited their use by requiring a doctor to be present when they are taken, which prohibits them being prescribed via telehealth.

Biden also said his administration would convene panels of volunteer lawyers to help fight legal cases on behalf of people seeking reproductive healthcare. The administration has previously threatened to sue any state that attempts to block a woman travelling across their borders to get an abortion.

He has asked the Federal Trade Commission to look at ways to protect the privacy of people who research abortion services online, amid concerns that online data could be used against abortion seekers in any prosecution.

Many in the Democratic party want Biden to be more combative. Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, this week asked the administration for clarity on whether people in her state would be allowed to bring abortion pills over the border from Canada.

Polls suggest the Supreme Court’s decision has galvanised Democrats ahead of November’s midterms. “It is my hope and strong belief that women will in fact turn out in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken from them by the court,” Biden said on Friday.

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2022-07-08 18:00:36Z
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Live news updates from July 7: Boris Johnson resigns, makes appointments despite impending departure - Financial Times

Levi Strauss reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year after a forecast-beating second quarter, but remained wary of potential risks including supply chain disruptions and a strong dollar.

The jeans maker continued to benefit from actions over recent quarters to raise prices on its products and reported strong year-on-year growth in several of its apparel categories.

That helped offset foreign exchange effects, the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in China and its suspension of business in Russia earlier this year, financial chief Harmit Singh told the Financial Times.

“The state of the consumer, generally, in the US continues to be healthy,” Singh said of the company’s biggest market, but they had observed some “softness . . . in the lower-end consumer.”

Singh said the strength of the Levi’s brand allowed the company to selectively increase prices “without materially impacting demand”. In the second half of the year, “we’ve taken pricing up about mid-single digits to offset cost pressures, including commodities. This will vary around the world, depending on our competitive position, and we’ll evaluate as needed if the consumer situation generally deteriorates.”

Still, Levi’s stuck with its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings of $1.50 to $1.56 a share on revenue of $6.4bn to $6.5bn. Given concerns about a potential recession, which Singh was confident Levi’s could “weather better than a lot of others”, the “right call, right now” was to reaffirm guidance.

The company is “generally feeling optimistic” about supply chain disruptions easing, but Singh warned they would have to continue using air freight until 2023 in order to meet demand. The relatively high cost of that method took about 80 basis points off of gross margin in the second quarter, which was about flat year on year, he added. In the first quarter of this year, air freight costs took about 20 basis points off of margins.

Part of the caution is also due to the appreciation of the US dollar, which is now around 20-year-highs against the euro. Levi’s generates at least 40 per cent of its revenue outside the US. Singh conceded “foreign exchange is hurting us”, but was optimistic the company would be able to offset those costs.

For the second quarter that ended May 29, Levi’s reported a 15 per cent jump in revenue to $1.47bn, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.43bn, while adjusted earnings of 29 cents a share topped forecasts by 6 cents.

Investors welcomed the result and the reaffirmed outlook and pushed Levi’s shares about 4 per cent higher in after-hours trading on Thursday.

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2022-07-07 23:17:08Z
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Kamis, 07 Juli 2022

Ukraine war: Western weapons 'working very powerfully' against Russian forces, Zelenskyy says - Sky News

Weapons supplied by the West are starting to have an impact on the war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Ukrainian fighters are making "tangible strikes" on Russian logistical targets, the president revealed in his nightly video message, adding that strikes were affecting Moscow's offensive potential.

He said: "The Western artillery - the weapons we received from our partners - started working very powerfully.

"Its accuracy is exactly as needed. Our defenders inflict very noticeable strikes on depots and other spots that are important for the logistics of the occupiers, and this significantly reduces the offensive potential of the Russian army.

"The losses of the occupiers will only increase every week, as will the difficulty of supplying them."

Key developments:

• Ukrainian flag flies again over Snake Island
• Western artillery working 'very powerfully', President Zelenskyy says
• Representatives from G20 countries including Russia gathering in Bali
• Heavy shelling along the front line in Donetsk but no advances by either side, UK MoD says
• Ukraine feels 'betrayal' as giving up territory 'not an option', Kyiv mayor says

It comes after Sky News reported how Ukrainian military social media was increasingly reporting the use of the HIMAR System, a US made and supplied multiple rocket launcher that analysts said had been used over the weekend to target Russian forces.

Kyiv has repeatedly pleaded with the West to send more weapons to repel the Russian invasion.

Mr Zelenskyy said that his forces were advancing in several tactical directions - in particular in the south, in the Kherson region, in the Zaporizhzhia region - and that Ukrainians "will not give up our land".

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian flag has been raised on Snake Island in the Black Sea after defence forces liberated it from Russian troops.

The blue and yellow colours flutter once more over the strategic island, which has been in the spotlight many times during the war - not least when a Russian warship was told to "go f*** yourself" when it demanded that Ukrainian troops surrender early in the conflict.

In a reference to that episode (now a feature on Ukrainian stamps) the flag had a message to the Russian warship written on it, saying that the island is Ukrainian and signed by the head of Odesa region Maxim Marchenko.

The UK Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday heavy shelling continued along the front line in Donetsk but that no advances were made by either side.

The intelligence update said it was believed that Russian forces involved in last week's gains were "reconstituting".

It comes as foreign ministers from the G20 gather on the Indonesian island of Bali for talks set to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine, despite an agenda focused on global cooperation and food and energy security.

It is understood to be the first time that Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov has met many of the G20 leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

The G20 includes Western countries that have accused Moscow of war crimes in Ukraine, and countries like China, India and South Africa that either support Russia or have abstained in UN votes calling for moves to oppose Russian aggression.

Many of its members oppose sanctions imposed by the West.

Germany's foreign minister said G7 countries would coordinate their response to Mr Lavrov in Bali.

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2022-07-07 09:06:11Z
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Rabu, 06 Juli 2022

Nadhim Zahawi denies threatening Boris Johnson with his resignation - Metro.co.uk

Nadhim Zahawi’s first day as chancellor got off to the worst start imaginable after he was ambushed by two resignations live on air.

He endured a hellish first morning in his new job after being asked to serve as the mouthpiece for Boris Johnson’s crumbling regime.

The new chancellor faced a series of awkward media encounters, including being asked about reports he threatened to quit unless he was handed the keys to Number 11.

He was twice interrupted on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to be told about the resignations of Laura Trott and his former junior minister at the education department, Will Quince.

When news of the first broke, Mr Zahawi began to lecture colleagues, saying: ‘The way you deliver trust is the way you deliver outcomes for people. Delivery, delivery, delivery’.

But he couldn’t finish his sentence before news of another emerged.

Host Nick Robinson informed him of Mr Quince’s resignation, saying ‘it’s over, Mr Zahawi, isn’t it?’.

He continued: ‘All I would say to colleagues is that people don’t vote for divided teams. We have to come together.’

The former vaccines minister was parachuted into the Treasury last night to replace Rishi Sunak shortly after his shock resignation.

He was moved from the education department to a more senior post amid swirling speculation over who might walk out of the cabinet.

Sajid Javid joined Mr Sunak in heading for the exit, along with eight other figures in junior government positions.

Mr Zahawi was pressed about reports he gave Boris Johnson an ultimatum that he wanted to be made chancellor as a price for his loyalty.

He told Sky News: ‘No, I didn’t threaten to resign at all.’

It was claimed Liz Truss was reportedly in line for the role but Mr Zahawi said he would step down if he did not get the job.

He denied it again, telling the broadcaster ‘that is not true’.

British new Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi arrives for TV interviews, in London, Britain, July 6, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble — Mr Zahawi has previously overseen the vaccine programme and ran the education department (Picture: Reuters)

Asked why he had not quit following Mr Johnson’s admission over the Chris Pincher affair, he took a swipe at his predecessor for taking the ‘easy’ way out.

He said: ‘You don’t go into this job to have an easy life. You make some tough decisions every day.

‘Sometimes it’s easy to walk away but actually it’s much tougher to deliver for the country.’

His appointment could signal a shift in the government’s economic approach after months of reported tension between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak.

The PM is said to want to go further and faster on tax cuts but was facing resistance from a Treasury concerned about balancing the books.

Boris Johnson Holds Cabinet Meeting Following Vote Of Confidence Victory — The Johnson-Sunak tandem at the heart of government finally broke down last night (Picture: Getty)

Mr Zahawi signalled today that nothing was off table, including ‘looking again’ at a planned corporation tax rise due to come into force next year.

Asked about his approach to tax cuts, he said: ‘I will look at everything, there is nothing off the table.’

Mr Zahawi faces an uphill task as the economy slides towards recession amid record prices.

Asked about his priorities in the job, he said: ‘The important thing is to get inflation under control, be fiscally responsible.

‘The first thing we’ve got to do is make sure that we are really careful about, whether it’s public sector pay, that inflation doesn’t continue to be fuelled.”

‘Today, we are facing a global battle with inflation.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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2022-07-06 06:49:00Z
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Norway bans gas strike threatening UK supply with 'serious consequences' - Express

The Sleipner field, a North Sea hub for British fossil fuel, was on the verge of being shut down at the weekend owing to a dispute over pay. Norwegian oil and gas workers had already closed three fields by Monday with three more expected to have followed on Tuesday before the government intervened.

Had the striking workers managed to shut down the three additional fields it would have affected around 13 percent of Norway's total gas exports.

An additional three fields including Sleipner were due to be shut down on Saturday.

It means that Britain's gas supplies are unlikely to be disrupted on Saturday as a result,

Labour Minister Marte Mjoes Persen told Reuters that Oslo had used its powers to intervene and the strike would have had "serious consequences".

She said: "Norway plays a vital role in supplying gas to Europe, and the planned escalation [of the strike] would have had serious consequences, for Britain, Germany and other nations.

"When the conflict can have such great social consequences for the whole of Europe, I have no choice but to intervene in the conflict.

"It is unjustifiable to let gas production stop to such an extent."

Lederne union leader Audun Ingvartsen told Reuters that the strike was over.

Mr Hansen added that the closure of Sleipner would have also affected supplies to Belgium.

Josef Pospisil, utilities specialist at Fitch Ratings, argued that a short-term fall in supply would not have a major impact on the UK because of the large volumes it receives from other countries shipped in from around the world.

Norway is the UK's largest supplier of gas providing 32 billion cubic metres (bcm) of the 76bcm consumed last year.

On Tuesday evening, around 30 percent of Britain’s gas was being supplied through the Easington terminal.

The dispute will now move to what the Norwegian government has labelled a "compulsory wage board".

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2022-07-06 05:19:00Z
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Selasa, 05 Juli 2022

Highland Park shooting: Man arrested after 4 July mass shooting - BBC

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US police have arrested a suspect after six people were killed in a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

Robert E Crimo III, 22, was detained after a brief chase, police said.

The gunman climbed on to a roof, shooting randomly at spectators using a high-powered rifle.

It is the latest mass shooting to hit the US - there has been one in every week of 2022. President Joe Biden said he was "shocked" by the violence.

Hours later, two police officers were wounded in a shooting in Philadelphia during a Fourth of July fireworks display.

Mr Crimo was detained after a manhunt. He was referred to as a "person of interest" in Monday's shooting, but after his arrest police said they believed he was responsible.

The gunman opened fire at the parade, near the city of Chicago, at around 10:15 local time (15:15 GMT), just a few minutes after it began.

The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city's Independence Day celebrations.

But what should have been one of the happiest days of the year quickly turned to panic, with pushchairs, purses and lawn chairs left discarded on the street as crowds fled from the scene. Some witnesses said they thought the sound of gunfire was fireworks.

The gunman fired at members of the public from the rooftop of a nearby shop, where police recovered "evidence of a firearm."

Five adults were killed at the scene, as well as a further victim who the local coroner said died in a nearby hospital. At least two dozen others were injured.

One of those who died has been named as Nicolas Toledo, a man in his late 70s, who was only there because he requires full-time care and his family did not want to miss the event.

"We went to have a nice family day out - and then suddenly all this gunfire happens," said Anand P, who was there during the parade.

"At the time I personally wanted to believe it was a car backfiring. Then people started running - so we start running."

Another witness, Noel Hara, described how he was having breakfast at Starbucks after dropping off his son at the parade, when the chaos unfolded.

"About 30 people suddenly came rushing in screaming and we were locked into the Starbucks bathroom," Mr Hara told the BBC.

"Moments later, they evacuated us from the Starbucks because they thought the shooter was trying to get in the back door."

No charges have been filed against Mr Crimo and there is no indication of any motive.

Social media firms suspended accounts apparently belonging to Mr Crimo, who posted rap videos under an alias.

The attack in Highland Park comes just a month after deadly shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

Abandoned chairs after a mass shooting in the US

Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker warned that mass shootings were becoming an "American tradition".

"There are going to be people who are going to say that today is not the day, that now is not the time to talk about guns. I'm telling you there is no better day and no better time then right here and right now," the Democratic governor said.

President Biden vowed to keep fighting "the epidemic of gun violence" in the country.

"I'm not going to give up," he said, speaking outside the White House in Washington DC.

Last week, the president signed the first significant federal bill on gun safety in nearly 30 years.

It imposes tougher checks on young buyers and encourages states to remove guns from people considered a threat - but critics say the measures don't go far enough.

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Senin, 04 Juli 2022

Highland Park shooting: Man arrested after 4 July mass shooting - BBC

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US police have arrested a suspect after six people were killed at an Independence Day parade near Chicago.

Police say Robert E Crimo III, aged 22, was detained after a brief chase.

At least 24 other people were injured in the city of Highland Park, Illinois, after a gunman used a high-powered rifle to target people from a rooftop.

It is the latest mass shooting to hit the US - there has been one in every week of 2022. President Joe Biden said he was "shocked" by the violence.

Mr Crimo was detained after a manhunt. He was referred to as a "person of interest" in Monday's shooting, but after his arrest police said they believed he was responsible.

The gunman opened fire at the parade at around 10:15 local time (15:15 GMT), just a few minutes after it began.

The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city's Independence Day celebrations.

But what should have been one of the happiest days of the year quickly turned to panic, with pushchairs, purses and lawn chairs left discarded on the street as crowds fled from the scene.

The suspect is believed to have fired at members of the public from the rooftop of a nearby shop, where police say they recovered "evidence of a firearm."

Five adults were killed at the scene, as well as a further victim who the local coroner said died in a nearby hospital.