Author: Press Room

Hong Kong firm CK Hutchison is selling its controlling stake in a unit that operates Panama ports to a group including BlackRock, it says as the administration of US President Donald Trump piles up pressure to curb Chinese influence in the region.The sale of licences will result in the consortium gaining a 90 per cent stake in Panama Ports Company, which is the operator of Balboa and Cristobal ports in the country.CK Hutchison has been operating the ports at the canal’s Pacific and Atlantic entrances for more than two decades.Although it is not financially tied to the Chinese government, Hong…

Comments from a member of President Trump’s cabinet over the weekend have renewed concerns that the new administration could seek to interfere with federal statistics — especially if they start to show that the economy is slipping into a recession.In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, suggested that he planned to change the way the government reports data on gross domestic product in order to remove the impact of government spending.“You know that governments historically have messed with G.D.P.,” he said. “They count government spending as part of G.D.P. So I’m going to separate…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK financial watchdog has banned two former Credit Suisse bankers from working in the sector almost six years after they pleaded guilty to accepting bribes linked to $2bn of “tuna bonds” they arranged for Mozambique.The Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to ban managing directors Andrew Pearse and Surjan Singh is the latest twist in one of Africa’s biggest corruption scandals, which started over a decade ago, wrecked Mozambique’s finances and contributed to the collapse of one of Switzerland’s largest banks.Pearse and Singh…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Germany’s financial watchdog has fined Deutsche Bank €23mn over a series of violations of the country’s securities and payments laws, the latest sign that Germany’s largest lender is struggling to move past its history of regulatory lapses.The fine is BaFin’s second highest on record, behind the €40mn penalty the regulator meted out to Deutsche in 2015 over shortcomings in the bank’s anti-money laundering controls.The bulk of the new fine — €14.8mn — was imposed over flaws in an internal investigation into mis-selling…

Shortly after taking office for the second time, President Trump began making deep cuts to agencies and programs that play critical roles in human health, slashing funding for medical research, halting global health aid and firing scores of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.But the campaign to downsize government, which has been led by Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, has also hollowed out agencies and programs devoted to protecting plant and animal health. The recent wave of mass firings hit federal workers responding to the nation’s growing bird flu outbreak, protecting crops from damaging pests and ensuring…

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said her government would impose countermeasures if President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Mexican goods remained in effect later in the week.

A flight passenger posted on Reddit (not pictured) to share which seats to book on an airplane in hopes of avoiding seat squatter encounters. A travel industry expert weighs in. (iStock) Welcome to the Fox News Lifestyle Newsletter. Check out these top headlines.TOP 3:FIGHT OR FLIGHT – A traveler is taking a unique stance on airplane seat squatters by encouraging others to test their luck in hopes of avoiding people who rob seats.’DESSERT STOMACH’ – Scientists recently determined why people always seem to have room for something sweet after eating a meal.PLANE FEAR – Recent flight mishaps have travelers on…

Dolly Parton’s late husband served as inspiration for one of the country music star’s biggest hits.Carl Dean, who died March 3, caught the eye of a bank teller in the 1970s – leading Parton to write “Jolene.” The song begs another woman not to take her man and is really “an innocent” song, according to the country crooner.”She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told NPR in 2008.”And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention,” the “Islands in the Stream” singer recalled. “It was kind of like a running joke between…

President Trump’s imposition of blanket 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico drew swift vows of retaliation from the United States’ immediate neighbors on Tuesday. China, which was hit with a second 10% tariff on U.S. exports since Mr. Trump took office, bringing the total levy to 20%, immediately announced its own reciprocal measures — deliberately targeting America’s agricultural sector.Below is a look at the measures being imposed or planned by Canada, China and Mexico, and the rhetoric coming from officials in those countries as Mr. Trump ramps up his trade war against one of America’s biggest…

Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm, issued a stark message to the G.O.P. rank and file on Tuesday: Stop having in-person town halls with your constituents.The directive, relayed to lawmakers during their private weekly meeting in the basement of the Capitol, comes as Republican town halls have devolved into angry shouting matches across the country. They have become forums where voters confront members of Congress about the sharp spending cuts they are proposing and President Trump’s moves to fire federal workers and defund programs across government.Mr. Hudson told Republican lawmakers that Democratic activists…