Aurelia Butler

Rome’s government believes that signature can only take place on condition of adequate safeguards and compensation.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen landed in Uruguay on Thursday seeking to finalize a long-delayed trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc while France said the EU was taking a risk in finalising the deal. More

The Bank of Japan must scrutinise various data at its Dec. 18-19 rate review, dovish board member Toyoaki Nakamura said on Thursday, as the market remains split about the timing of Japan’s next interest rate hike between December and January.Base salary, or regular pay, rose 2.7% in October, marking the fastest increase since November 1992, labour ministry data showed, as more companies set higher salaries after major firms agreed to an average 5.1% raise at the spring wage talks. Overtime pay, a barometer of business strength, rebounded to 1.4% growth from a revised 0.9% decrease in the previous month.Combined, nominal wages, or a worker’s average total cash earnings, grew 2.6% to 293,401 yen ($1,955) in October.The inflation rate the ministry uses for wage calculation, which excludes owners’ equivalent rent, was also at 2.6%, its slowest in nine months.That led the inflation-adjusted real wages, a key indicator of consumers’ purchasing power, to stay unchanged in October from a year before, against a revised 0.4% drop in September and 0.8% decline in August.Opposition lawmakers had pressed the government and the BOJ to aim for positive real wage growth after the ruling bloc lost its lower house majority at the October general election.BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda last week told the Nikkei newspaper in an interview that the timing of the next interest rate hike was “approaching” as the economy was moving in line with the central bank’s forecasts.Meanwhile, Jiji news agency reported on Wednesday that a cautious view toward an early hike was growing among BOJ policymakers, adding to uncertainty around the chance of a December hike.($1 = 150.1500 yen) More

WASHINGTON -Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy met on Thursday with Republican lawmakers whose support they will need to win the sweeping spending cuts that President-elect Donald Trump has asked them to find.Trump has named two entrepreneurs to a task force that aims for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. government, which spent $6.8 trillion in the most recent fiscal year. Musk has set a target of $2 trillion in savings, though he has not said whether that would come in a single year or over a longer period.The two chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency have called for firing thousands of federal workers, slashing regulations and eliminating programs whose authorization has expired, such as veterans’ healthcare.That could be easier said than done. Any changes to veterans’ benefits or other popular programs that serve millions of Americans would likely encounter fierce blowback, and efforts to thin the workforce could disrupt everything from law enforcement to air traffic control.”We want to help him in any way that we can. He’s got, obviously, a big mission. But we all think the effort they’re undertaking is long overdue,” Senator John Thune, who will lead the Republican majority next year, told reporters after meeting with Musk.Musk, who earlier rushed through the Capitol’s crowded corridors clutching the hand of a small child, offered few details on how he will try to accomplish his sweeping cost-cutting goals.”I think we just need to make sure we spend the public’s money well,” said Musk.The billionaire CEO of electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX addressed only one specific policy specific, when asked about electric vehicle tax credits, responding: “I think we should get rid of all credits.” Musk’s companies benefit from federal contracts and tax breaks and also are subject to regulatory oversight, raising concerns that his involvement with the efficiency panel creates a conflict of interest.Ramaswamy met separately with a group of Senate Republicans including Thom Tillis, who said afterward they discussed actions the Trump administration could take on its own, rather than those that would require legislation. “Is this an administrative action that doesn’t require congressional approval? Rock on. Do it now or do it after Jan. 20,” he told reporters.As co-chairs of the efficiency task force, Musk and Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, would likely have to work with Congress to secure significant reductions.REPUBLICAN TRIFECTARepublicans will control both chambers of Congress and the White House next year, but they may struggle to win significant reductions. While lawmakers sign off on roughly $1.7 trillion in defense and domestic programs each year, most federal spending consists of health, pension and other benefit programs that lie outside of the annual budget process. Lawmakers also have no control over interest payments, which are projected to top $1 trillion in this fiscal year.Republican lawmakers have said they are eager to cooperate. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right firebrand, will chair a House of Representatives panel to work with Musk and Ramaswamy, and Senate lawmakers have also expressed openness to the idea. Republicans secured limited spending cuts in a 2023 showdown with Democratic President Joe Biden but have been unable to agree on further reductions since then.Trump has broken with former Republican orthodoxy by saying he will not cut benefits for the Social Security pension plan or the Medicare health plan for seniors, which together account for more than one-third of federal spending. Trump showed little interest in spending cuts during his first 2017-2021 term in office, when federal expenditures grew from $4 trillion to $6.2 trillion. Congress did not act on his proposal to eliminate more than a dozen small government agencies and failed to repeal Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, a central goal of the party. More

The Australian Transaction (JO:TCPJ) Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) said its findings showed cryptocurrency was increasingly being exploited for money laundering, scams and money mule activities.AUSTRAC’s taskforce will ensure digital currency exchanges that provide crypto ATM services have robust practices in place to minimise the risk of their machines being used to move money associated with scams or fraud, the government agency said.A crypto ATM allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and dogecoin, for cash.Currently, Australia has 1,200 operating crypto ATMs, while about 400 digital currency exchange providers are registered with AUSTRAC.The total value of the cryptocurrency market has almost doubled over the year so far. Bitcoin also hit a record high above $100,000 as the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president fuelled expectations his administration will usher in a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the agency was seeing “too many” Australians falling victim to scams carried out through cryptocurrency.”Cryptocurrency and crypto ATMs are attractive avenues for criminals looking to launder money, as they are widely accessible and make near-instant and irreversible transfers,” he said, adding that crypto ATMS who were found flouting the anti-money laundering laws would be subject to financial penalties. More