Presidential hopeful Warren latest to press BlackRock on climate

ENVIRONMENT FEBRUARY 26, 2020 / 9:09 AM / UPDATED 21 MINUTES AGO

Ann Saphir, Ross Kerber
3 MIN READ

SAN FRANCISCO/BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of several vying to be the Democratic party’s presidential nominee, this week pressed the world’s largest asset manager for details on its recent vows to take more account of climate risks.

The five-page letter, also signed by senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen, is the latest outreach BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) has received over sustainability matters and reflects the growing interest, at least among some Democrats, in making climate a business issue for financial firms.

Among other things, the Warren-led group asked BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink whether he supports legislation that would require companies to disclose risks such as those tied to rising sea levels, and for details on how it plans to make use of sustainable funds.

Currently, “investors lack access to basic information about the potential risk of the climate crisis on American companies,” the letter states.

A BlackRock representative said the company is reviewing the letter.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-warren-blackrock/presidential-hopeful-warren-latest-to-press-blackrock-on-climate-idUSKCN20K230?il=0

Virus outbreak stalks markets as 2020 gains get wiped out

Source: Associated Press

an hour ago

LONDON (AP) — Global shares fell sharply once again Wednesday as fears over the speed of the new coronavirus around the world accentuated.

With the spread around Europe gathering pace — Greece became the latest country to reveal its first case — investors are getting increasingly concerned about how long it will take for the world to bring the outbreak under some sort of control. United Airlines and Mastercard are just two of the many companies that have warned about the impact of the outbreak on their finances.

“What we appear to be seeing is the realisation that global economic growth could well come to a halt as the combined effects of a flu virus and belated attempts to stem the spread of it across the globe, raise the prospect of an economic sneeze, as consumers stop spending, and supply chains seize up, due to workers and consumers staying at home,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Given the wide array of concerns, it’s hardly surprising that traders have hit the sell button. Many stock indexes around the world have seen their gains this year wiped out.

Read more: https://apnews.com/4d2352194d60105111a5649c306fdb5e

Assange tried to call White House, Hillary Clinton over data dump, his lawyer says

TECHNOLOGY NEWS FEBRUARY 25, 2020 / 9:55 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Michael Holden 3 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Julian Assange tried to contact Hillary Clinton and the White House when he realized that unredacted U.S. diplomatic cables given to WikiLeaks were about to be dumped on the internet, his lawyer told his London extradition hearing on Tuesday.

Assange is being sought by the United States on 18 counts of hacking U.S. government computers and an espionage offense, having allegedly conspired with Chelsea Manning, then a U.S. soldier known as Bradley Manning, to leak hundreds of thousands of secret documents by WikiLeaks almost a decade ago.

On Monday, the lawyer representing the United States told the hearing that Assange, 48, was wanted for crimes that had endangered people in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan who had helped the West, some of whom later disappeared.

U.S. authorities say his actions in recklessly publishing unredacted classified diplomatic cables put informants, dissidents, journalists and human rights activists at risk of torture, abuse or death.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-assange/assange-tried-to-call-white-house-hillary-clinton-over-data-dump-his-lawyer-says-idUSKBN20J1W9

Massive changes to California voting spark fears of Iowa-style primary chaos

POLITICS FEBRUARY 25, 2020 / 7:38 AM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO

Tim Reid 9 MIN READ

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As he looks ahead to California’s March 3 Democratic primary, Neal Kelley is having sleepless nights.

Kelley is the elections chief for Orange County, part of a wave of California counties rolling out sweeping new balloting procedures affecting millions of voters in the nation’s most populous state.

He has good reason to be worried.

Memories of the chaos that plagued Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 3 have election officials nationwide looking to avoid similar embarrassment. Iowa’s results were delayed for days, in part because of the failure of an unproven vote-counting app.

Some mammoth California counties are unveiling their own new voting technology. They’re also eliminating thousands of polling places in the hopes that voters will make use of expanded mail-in balloting or take advantage of extended early in-person voting.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-california/massive-changes-to-california-voting-spark-fears-of-iowa-style-primary-chaos-idUSKBN20J1J7

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IOC senior member: 3 months to decide fate of Tokyo Olympics

By STEPHEN WADE
59 minutes ago

Dick Pound, the longest-serving member of the IOC, estimates there’s a three-month window to decide the fate of the Tokyo Olympics, which are being threatened by the fast-spreading virus from China.

Pound, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, did not sound alarmist. But he did speak frankly about the risks facing the Olympics, which open July 24.

Pound has been an International Olympic Committee member since 1978, 13 years longer than current President Thomas Bach.

“You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” Pound said, which would mean putting off a decision until late May and hoping the virus is under control. “A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels, The media folks will be in there building their studios.”

https://apnews.com/afs:Content:8539951776

China sentences Swedish bookseller to 10 years in prison

By YANAN WANG and JAN M. OLSEN
2 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — A court in eastern China has sentenced a Swedish seller of books that took a skeptical look at the ruling Communist Party to 10 years in prison for “illegally providing intelligence overseas,” in a further sign of Beijing’s hard line toward its critics.

Gui Minhai first disappeared in 2015, when he was believed to have been abducted by Chinese agents from his seaside home in Thailand. He and four others who worked for the same Hong Kong publishing company all went missing at around the same time, only to turn up months later in police custody in mainland China.

The Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court announced Tuesday that it gave Gui, a naturalized Swedish citizen, a 10-year prison sentence. Gui admitted to his crime, agreed with the sentence and will not appeal, the court said.

For years, Gui sold gossipy books about Chinese leaders in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong. His was among a spate of high-profile disappearances that stirred unease over the central government’s growing reach in Hong Kong, a former British colony that has been promised greater democratic rights than are afforded the mainland.

https://apnews.com/7fa829910e23831326341222e326bdf4

No checkout needed: Amazon opens cashier-less grocery store

By JOSEPH PISANI
2 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is aiming to kill the supermarket checkout line.

The online retailing giant is opening its first cashier-less supermarket, the latest sign that Amazon is serious about shaking up the $800 billion grocery industry.

At the new store, opening Tuesday in Seattle, shoppers can grab milk or eggs and walk out without checking out or opening their wallets. Shoppers scan a smartphone app to enter the store. Cameras and sensors track what’s taken off shelves. Items are charged to an Amazon account after leaving.

Called Amazon Go Grocery, the new store is an expansion of its 2-year-old chain of Amazon Go convenience stores. At 10,400 square feet, the supermarket is more than five times the size of the smaller stores, and stocks more items beyond the sodas and sandwiches found at Amazon Go. The new market stocks fresh baked bread, blood oranges, butternut squash and other food to whip up dinner or stock the fridge.

Amazon is not new to groceries. It made a splash in 2017 when it bought Whole Foods and its 500 stores. It’s also been expanding its online grocery delivery service. But it’s still far behind rival Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, which has more than 4,700 stores. Walmart has also found success with its online grocery service, that lets shoppers buy online and then pickup at stores.

https://apnews.com/623bd4cd2b6c949d9d9411090447c371