Author: ALJAZEERA

EDITOR’S ANALYSISThe rise in prices under the Biden administration proved fatal to Kamala Harris’s election hopes.Of the many possible explanations for former US President Donald Trump’s stunning return to the White House, one towers above all others: the cost of living. In exit polls, 45 percent of voters said they were worse off than four years ago, when President Joe Biden took office, versus just 24 percent who said their financial situation had improved. Voters who named inflation as their number one concern broke for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris by a factor of nearly two to one, according…

Taipei, Taiwan – Asia is bracing for disruption should American voters return Donald Trump to the White House, with his plans for sweeping tariffs threatening to hobble the region’s export-driven growth. Trump, who ran neck-and-neck with Vice President Kamala Harris in polls before Tuesday’s presidential election in the United States, has pledged to impose tariffs of 60 percent or more on Chinese imports and tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on all other foreign goods. The trade measures would come on top of tariffs on $380bn worth of Chinese goods that Trump imposed during his first term and current President…

The dispute between port foremen and their employers could disrupt crucial international shipments.Employers at Canada’s largest port have said they would lock out their workers after a negotiating deadline with the union had passed, potentially disrupting key shipments of the country’s coal, potash and beef. The BC Maritime Employers Association said it would lock out more than 700 foremen at the Port of Vancouver at 4.30pm local time (00:30 GMT) on Monday because negotiations with their union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, had broken down. The threatened lockout in Vancouver, on Canada’s west coast, comes at the…

Taichung, Taiwan – When Li Wei took over the running of his father’s glass-making business in northern China’s Cangzhou in 2020, he immediately set about optimising the firm’s operations. Li moved Hebei Yiyue Glass Products’ sole factory from its city location to a site outside Cangzhou, providing better access to important road networks and more space to expand the facility. At the same time, Li changed the primary focus of the company from selling glass components to customers in China to exporting finished glass products to customers abroad. Today, he oversees a successful export business that sells cups, pots and…

Early voting is under way across the United States ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris have both made last-minute efforts to court union voters – a core voting bloc, especially in swing states like Michigan, where groups like the United Auto Workers (UAW) have significant sway among the electorate. Vice President Harris has garnered endorsements from important unions across the country, including the UAW, AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union. Harris also has the support of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union behind the latest Boeing strike, which…

If Elon Musk joins the United States government following a Donald Trump victory in the presidential election, he will be the latest in a succession of billionaire businesspeople to hold public office. From the late Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and former President Trump himself, the super-rich have long held positions of power in Washington, DC and across US state capitals. With polls showing Tuesday’s election on a knife edge, Musk is in serious contention to join Trump’s cabinet after the Republican candidate floated the idea of the…

Former cryptocurrency executive Nishad Singh, who once shared a $35m Bahamas penthouse with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been spared prison time by a judge for his role in the theft by his imprisoned former boss of about $8bn in customer funds from the now-bankrupt exchange. During a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed no prison time, but ordered three years of supervised release. Kaplan credited Singh for cooperating with prosecutors and coming clean about his actions in what they have called one of the biggest financial frauds in US history. Singh,…

Treasury Department says curbs will ensure US investment does not advance technologies that threaten national security.The United States has finalised rules that limit investments in critical technology sectors in China such as artificial intelligence on national security grounds, the Treasury Department has announced. The restrictions will bar US citizens and permanent residents, as well as US-based companies, from engaging in transactions involving technologies including AI, semiconductors and quantum computing, the Treasury said in a statement on Monday. US investors will also be obligated to inform the Treasury about investments in some less advanced technologies “that may contribute to the threat…

CEO Stefan Kaufmann was asked to resign following internal inquiry, Japanese firm says.The foreign chief executive of Japan’s Olympus has resigned following an investigation into allegations he brought illegal drugs, the medical equipment maker has said. CEO Stefan Kaufmann, who had led the company since April 2023, stepped down at the request of the board of directors, Olympus said in a statement on Monday. Olympus said it initiated the investigation after receiving an allegation from an unspecified source. “Based on the results of the investigation, the Board of Directors unanimously determined that Mr. Stefan Kaufmann likely engaged in behaviours that…

Many unresolved claims remain over the bridge collapse, which killed six people and snarled local shipping for months.The owner and operator of a cargo ship that slammed into a bridge in the United States east coast port of Baltimore earlier this year, collapsing it and killing six people, will pay a $102m settlement for cleanup costs. The settlement, cleared Friday by a United States district judge, settles the US government’s claims against Singapore-based firms Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited. It covers money the US government spent responding to the disaster, including clearing the wreck of the…