Canada's central bank on Wednesday hiked its key lending rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent, saying its aggressive moves to rein in inflation were working but that the economy was still too hot.. The bank will need to assess whether its seven rate hikes this year have slowed demand as hoped, how supply challenges are resolving, and whether all of this is impacting inflation.
A planned underwater hydrogen pipeline connecting Barcelona and Marseille is a risky project, but one that is key for the European Union's energy independence.. - Why Barcelona and Marseille?
From "Terminator" to "Titanic" to "Avatar", director James Cameron has pushed Hollywood's technical wizardry to new limits, but human emotion must always come first, he told AFP. In an era when special effects are much more accessible to filmmakers, and studios are willing to regularly spend hundreds of millions of dollars on blockbusters, it is the artistic talent that makes the difference, Cameron said during a visit to Paris.. Cameron has always justified the vast sums he has asked of studios -- "Titanic" was both the most expensive and most profitable film of all time following its release in 1997, only to be topped by "Avatar" in 2009 -- and he feels that responsibility "every day".
Foie gras pate, the consummate delicacy of French holiday tables, might be harder to find this year and certainly pricier due to a bird flu outbreak that ravaged farms across the west and south last winter.. But two brutal bird flu outbreaks in recent years decimated flocks as authorities imposed culls, with just 21 million ducks raised in 2021, a number expected to plunge to 15 million for 2022, according to the CIFOG producers' association.
The EU on Wednesday escalated disputes with China to the WTO, requesting panels be assembled to hear two cases, one over trade restrictions on Lithuania and the other on legal recourses for EU patent holders.. The Lithuania case is over trade restrictions China has been applying to that EU member country because of Lithuania's strengthening ties with Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory.
Turkey said Wednesday it has started requesting proof of insurance from tankers loaded with Russian crude oil after Western powers imposed a price cap to punish the Kremlin for its war on Ukraine.. One source told AFP that Turkish officials began requesting proof of insurance from tankers passing from Russia at the start of the month.
The hugely popular "Call of Duty" game franchise will become available on Nintendo's Switch console if the acquisition of its developer goes ahead, a Microsoft executive said Wednesday.. "Call of Duty" is a blazingly successful first-person shooter franchise with hordes of devotees that play it on Microsoft's Xbox consoles or Sony's PlayStation.
Vietnam's homegrown carmaker VinFast, which plans to sell the first ever Vietnamese car in the United States, said Wednesday it has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the country.. The pivot to the United States is a bold move by chairman Vuong, who started out selling dried noodles in the former Soviet Union before amassing his $5 billion fortune in a range of sectors including real estate, tourism and education.
China announced Wednesday a nationwide loosening of Covid restrictions following protests against the hardline strategy that grew into calls for greater political freedoms.. They expanded into calls for more political freedoms, with some even calling for President Xi Jinping to resign.
US e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs said on Tuesday it had reached a settlement with about 10,000 plaintiffs in California after the company was accused of marketing its products to teenagers.. Juul is battling to stay afloat after the US Food and Drug Administration found the company had failed to address safety concerns and ordered all its products off the market in the United States.
