Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to prevent a potentially catastrophic freight rail strike, stepping in to break an impasse between workers and executives during a critical pre-holiday period.. Graves said he was voting on the resolution to avert an "economically ruinous" rail strike as he blamed the Biden administration for the issue, saying it had "failed" to lead on the impasse. jmb/mlm
Germany and Norway want to start a NATO-led alliance to protect critical underwater infrastructure, their leaders said on Wednesday, weeks after explosions hit two key gas pipelines in the fallout from the war in Ukraine.. The G7 interior ministers warned earlier this month at a meeting in Germany that the Nord Stream explosions had highlighted "the need to better protect our critical infrastructure". fec/hmn/imm
A French judge on Wednesday allowed European aerospace firm Airbus to pay 15.9 million euros ($16.4 million) to avoid a corruption probe into aircraft deals in Libya and Kazakhstan between 2006 and 2011.. But the company said earlier this month that the Libya and Kazakhstan probe had not been covered by that agreement "because of procedural issues".
HSBC on Wednesday announced plans to permanently shut more than a quarter of its remaining bank branches in the UK as customers increasingly switch to making transactions online.. The global bank will from April close 114 branches, it said in a statement, having shut around 150 since last year.
German energy giant Uniper said Wednesday it was taking Gazprom to an international tribunal over the Russian company's failure to deliver gas, saying it has so far cost them 11.6 billion euros ($12 billion).. The German company said it had begun legal action against Gazprom at a tribunal in Stockholm, claiming damages over gas that had not been delivered since June.
A security guard at Ukraine's embassy in Madrid was lightly injured Wednesday while opening a letter bomb addressed to the Ukrainian ambassador, prompting Kyiv to boost security at its embassies.. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ordered the strengthening of security at all Ukrainian embassies, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on social media after the letter bomb went off.
An employee of Ukraine's embassy in Madrid was "lightly" injured Wednesday when a letter bomb blew up as he handled it, a police source said.. It happened when one of the embassy employees was handling a letter," the source said.
Britain's financial and professional services sector must boost socio-economic diversity in boardrooms, helping to bridge big differences in pay, a study commissioned by the government concluded Wednesday.. Having at least half of senior leaders in the sector coming from a "non-professional" background by 2030 would help to achieve the goal, said the report by the Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce.
The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that 13 billion euros ($13 billion) in EU funds for Hungary be frozen because Budapest is falling short on its commitments to meet European rule of law.. Also, 5.8 billion euros from an EU coronavirus recovery fund was frozen until Hungary showed it was meeting 27 "super milestones" for its reforms, particularly on the judiciary issue.
Turkey said on Wednesday Sweden's new government was more determined to address Ankara's security concerns in return for NATO membership but called for "concrete steps". . US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also sounded upbeat, saying he was confident that Sweden and Finland would "soon" join NATO. "Turkey, Sweden and Finland are engaging directly as well as with NATO to make sure that Turkey's concerns are fully addressed, including concerns about its security," he said.
