Author: Press Room

© Reuters. In a strategic move to reinforce its presence in the fast-growing Chinese market, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:) has increased its ownership interest in its China joint venture. The company confirmed today that it has bought out Carlyle’s stake, raising its share to 48%, while CITIC Consortium will continue to hold the majority interest at 52%. The acquisition is part of McDonald’s “Accelerating the Arches” growth plan, which has already seen the number of its restaurants in China surpass 5,000 since 2017. This expansion has been coupled with significant sales growth over the past three years. Carlyle Asia has recognized…

2/2 © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A person walks past a “#COP28” sign during The Changemaker Majlis, a one-day CEO-level thought leadership workshop focused on climate action, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky 2/2 By Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. will lay out the first international strategy to commercialize nuclear fusion power at the upcoming UN climate summit in Dubai, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry will say on Monday, two sources familiar with the announcement said. Fusion could have an important advantage over today’s nuclear fission plants that split…

We Are Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) delayed its planned release of its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset from January to March, Bloomberg reported. The tech giant unveiled the $3,499 Vision Pro in June and said it would be available early next year. The complex design and difficulties in manufacturing are behind the forecast cut, while plans for a more affordable version of the headset have had to be pushed back, the news outlet added, citing people with knowledge of the production process. In July, it was reported Apple (AAPL) had cut its production forecast for Vision Pro as manufacturers were struggling to get…

By traditional measures, the economy is strong. Inflation has slowed significantly. Wages are increasing. Unemployment is near a half-century low. Job satisfaction is up.Yet Americans don’t necessarily see it that way. In the recent New York Times/Siena College poll of voters in six swing states, eight in 10 said the economy was fair or poor. Just 2 percent said it was excellent. Majorities of every group of Americans — across gender, race, age, education, geography, income and party — had an unfavorable view.To make the disconnect even more confusing, people are not acting the way they do when they believe…

Wages are rising but not inflationaryGetty Images The Federal Reserve continues to believe that wage growth in the US is too high and contributing to inflation, according to Fed chair Jerome Powell. The Employment Cost Index (ECI), the most commonly watched measure of labor costs to employers, rose 4.3 percent last quarter and 4.4 percent over the last two. Assuming productivity growth at its recent trend (1.4 percent annually), these data suggest that labor costs are rising by 3% – above the Fed’s target of 2% but consistent with a moderately higher target advocated by economists like Paul Krugman and…

BARRY, WALES – OCTOBER 01: A woman smiles while wearing a novelty face mask in a shop on October 1, … [+] 2020 in Barry, Wales. Six more people have died in Wales after testing positive for Covid-19, the most reported in a single day since July 2. Public Health Wales (PHW) also confirmed there were 398 new lab-confirmed positive cases of coronavirus for Thursday, October 1. The highest figure so far during the second wave. More cases were only reported once before on April 10. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)Getty Images I recently watched the Netflix documentary Live to…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The writer chairs the Energy Transitions CommissionIn December, the COP28 climate conference will meet in Dubai. The event’s president, Sultan al-Jaber, has set the objective of agreeing actions that could limit global warming to 1.5C. That will only be possible if carbon emissions from the energy system, currently running at about 34 gigatonnes a year, fall rapidly to reach net zero by around 2050.There are only two ways to achieve that: either rapidly cutting the use of all fossil fuels — coal, oil and…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos attends the start of the International Monetary Finance Committee (IMFC) Plenary during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, following last month’s deadly earth MADRID (Reuters) – Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos on Monday said he did not see the need at the moment for banks to potentially extend mortgage relief measures for vulnerable households given the limited use from citizens so far. Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the new coalition government was planning to extend the…

© Reuters. LONDON – In a significant step towards enhancing the UK’s infrastructure and economic landscape, London hosted the first-ever British Infrastructure Council meeting today. The event, chaired by the shadow chancellor, brought together industry leaders from major financial institutions such as Lloyds (LON:), HSBC, Santander (BME:) UK, Phoenix, Fidelity, and BlackRock (NYSE:). The focus of the discussions was on fostering public-private partnerships to drive national infrastructure investments that are expected to boost productivity and create jobs. Earlier today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hinted at potential business tax cuts in light of successfully halving inflation over 2023. This move comes…

© Reuters DHAKA – Gold prices in Bangladesh have soared to a new record, with the cost of 22-carat gold climbing by Tk 2,000 to reach Tk 106,339 per bhori. The Bangladesh Jewellers Samity (BAJUS) has announced that the revised prices will be effective from today. The latest increase is part of a series of recent hikes in the precious metal’s valuation. On November 6, there was a significant rise of Tk 1,750, which at that time set a record price for gold in the country. Even before that, there was another notable increase on October 27. These consecutive price…