EUROPE
EU formally bans Russian oil
The EU yesterday approved an embargo on Russian oil and other sanctions targeting major banks and broadcasters over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The bloc said Russian crude oil would be phased out over six months and other refined petroleum products over eight months. It said that “a temporary exception is foreseen” for landlocked countries — such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia —that “suffer from a specific dependence on Russian supplies and have no viable alternative options.” Bulgaria and Croatia would also get “temporary derogations” for certain kinds of oil. EU leaders said the move means that about 90 percent of Russia’s oil exports to Europe would be blocked by the end of this year. The EU imports around 25 percent of its oil from Russia.
AUTOMAKERS
City allows driverless taxis
General Motors Co’s Cruise on Thursday became the first company to secure a permit to charge for self-driving vehicle rides in San Francisco, after it overcame objections by city officials. Self-driving test vehicles with human safety drivers have become a constant sight in San Francisco, and completely driverless ones are also increasingly common. Turning them into a fledgling business in a major US city would mark a milestone in efforts toward driverless taxi service. The permit was Cruise’s final hurdle in California. Cruise said it would launch paid services within the next two weeks using up to 30 driverless Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles. They would be limited to a geographic area that avoids downtown and operating hours of 10pm to 6am, it said.
TURKEY
Inflation highest since 1998
Inflation last month soared to the fastest since 1998 as the country came under more pressure from the rising cost of food and energy, while ultra-loose monetary policy contributed to currency weakness. Consumer prices rose an annual 73.5 percent, up from 70 percent in April, data released by the state statistics agency showed yesterday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 20 economists was 74.7 percent. Monthly inflation was almost 3 percent, compared with the median estimate of 4 percent in a separate survey. A core index that strips out the effects of volatile items such as food and energy reached 56 percent. The biggest drivers of the latest surge in inflation were food and energy, exacerbated by the global rally in commodities and the war in Ukraine. Turkey is a major importer of oil.
UNITED STATES
Rate hikes ‘reasonable’: Fed
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said expectations for 0.5 percentage point increases in interest rates this month and next were reasonable, and saw no case for pausing the central bank’s tightening campaign afterward. “From where I sit today, market pricing for 50 basis points, potentially in June and July, from the data we have in hand today, seems like a reasonable path,” Brainard said on Thursday. “It’s very hard to see the case for a pause. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to get inflation down to our 2 percent target.” Her remarks were the latest from officials to reinforce the message that they are staying the course on raising rates, with Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester later saying that the pace of increases could speed up or slow down in September, depending on what happens with inflation. The Fed last month suggested that the rapid pace of policy tightening would position officials to slow the cycle later this year.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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