Category: Business

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

PRAGUE (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Monday for a growing European Union to agree on a series of changes that would help it overcome internal divisions and stand up to external rivals such as Russia and China.

In a wide-ranging speech at Charles University in Prague, Scholz said the EU must make itself “fit” for future enlargement from 27 to 30 — or even 36 — nations by taking more decisions by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity on all issues that has in the past allowed individual member states to veto key decisions.

“We have to remember that swearing allegiance to the principle of unanimity only works for as long as the pressure to act is low,” Scholz said, arguing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for the EU to change the way it takes decisions. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By MARCY GORDON and JOE MCDONALD AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. and China have reached a tentative agreement to allow U.S. regulators to inspect the audits of Chinese companies whose stocks are traded on U.S. exchanges. In a long-festering dispute, U.S. regulators have threatened to boot a number of Chinese companies off the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq if China doesn’t permit inspections.

The deal announced Friday by market regulators in the U.S. and China is preliminary. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said, “The proof will be in the pudding.”

“While important, this framework is merely a step in the process,” Gensler said in a prepared statement. “This agreement will be meaningful only if (U.S. regulators) actually can inspect and investigate completely audit firms in China. If (they) cannot, roughly 200 China-based issuers will face prohibitions on trading of their securities in the U.S. if they continue to use those audit firms.”

An agreement would mean that U.S. investors will maintain access to shares of important Chinese companies while at the same time being protected by the integrity of company audits. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

The Associated Press undefined

LONDON (AP) — Conditions are dimming at many movie theaters around the world.

Cineworld Group PLC, one of the industry’s biggest theater operators, confirmed Monday that it’s considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., as it contends with billions of dollars in debt and more empty seats in front of its screens than expected.

The British company, which owns Regal Cinemas in the United States and operates in 10 countries, said its theaters remain “open for business as usual” as it considers options for relief from its debt load. Cineworld said it expects to continue operating even after any potential filing, though its stock investors could face steep or total losses on their holdings.

Cineworld faces challenges specific to itself after building up $4.8 billion in net debt, not including lease liabilities. But the entire industry is navigating a tenuous recovery after the pandemic shut theaters worldwide. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By Dane Dickerson

By now, you’ve likely heard about Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot, makers of Roomba Vacuums, with the insidious motive of mapping consumer homes for valuable marketing data. But what’s really behind this brow-raising deal is not so conclusive amongst field experts.

Amazon’s press release on August 5th stated they would purchase iRobot for $61 per share, including iRobot’s net debt, which approximates to a $1.7 billion deal. They refer to the deal as a “definitive merger agreement.”

The current CEO of iRobot, Colin Angle, will retain his position. The senior vice president of Amazon Devices, Dave Limp, advertises wholesome intentions for the deal that has nothing to do with using Roomba’s as tiny data spies.

“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” says Limp. “I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.” Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By KRUTIKA PATHI and BHUMIKA SARASWATI Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — As India’s economy grew, the hum of factories turned the sleepy, dusty village of Manesar into a booming industrial hub, cranking out everything from cars and sinks to smartphones and tablets. But jobs have run scarce over the years, prompting more and more workers to line up along the road for work, desperate to earn money.

Every day, Sugna, a young woman in her early 20s who goes by her first name, comes with her husband and two children to the city’s labor chowk — a bazaar at the junction of four roads where hundreds of workers gather daily at daybreak to plead for work. It’s been days since she or her husband got work and she has only five rupees (six cents) in hand.

Scenes like this are an everyday reality for millions of Indians, the most visible signs of economic distress in a country where raging unemployment is worsening insecurity and inequality between the rich and poor. It’s perhaps Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge as the country marks 75 years of independence from British rule on Monday. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Justin McDevitt

Is the American Dream dead?

A new study reveals that optimism in the business community has hit a record low, making many question the root causes, the current dilemmas, and the future of an ideal.

Pandemic fatigue? Inflation fatigue? American Dream fatigue? What’s causing the negative feelings?

In Arthur Miller’s seminal classic, Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman, son of the eponymous salesman, asks, “What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” While the play went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and has been taught in school ever since, Miller’s classic may ask more questions than it provides answers.

Seventy-three years later, exhausted by a pandemic, the war in Ukraine, Monkeypox, and soaring inflation, Americans are asking the same questions. They deserve answers. Continue reading

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news.

Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.

The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. While the pandemic didn’t quite cause the reckoning that some in the industry feared, 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities. Continue reading

Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

By Justin McDevitt 

Short-term rental app Airbnb may have another banner year, but many question the ripple effect of vacation rental services on the housing market.

Communities have turned into ghost towns. The housing market has become insurmountable for new buyers. There are more listings for Airbnb than long-term rentals in major cities such as New York. A simple search of the hashtag #airbnbnightmare will yield more than just complaints about unreturned deposits and missing towels.

“Airbnb destroys communities,” tweets one user. @MeMeBoomer is no stranger to talking politics on Twitter, but her feelings for Airbnb couldn’t be more personal. She describes her community as a lonely and desolate place to live. Airbnb dominates her neighborhood, making it impossible for new tenants or potential homeowners to move in permanently.

“No long-term housing options for people who work in these towns, so businesses and services also suffer,” she tweeted on June 21. @MeMeBoomer’s is not the only story to be shared on the social media platform. Continue reading

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s banks aren’t sufficiently considering risks from climate change and must “urgently step up efforts” to make sure they understand the possible impact of floods, wildfires and losses on investments.

That was a key conclusion from a climate stress test on 104 banks run by the European Central Bank and released Friday.

The ECB said that for now the climate stress test was a learning exercise that would not result in requiring banks to strengthen their financial buffers against possible losses from borrowers who can’t pay.

But the bank’s supervisory arm warned that as things stand now, 60% of the 104 surveyed banks have no framework for assessing the impact of climate risk on their financial solidity, and only 20% consider climate risk when granting loans. Continue reading