The World Bank will give equal weight to curbing emissions and helping poor countries deal with the “disastrous effects” of a warming world as it steps up investments to tackle climate change in the first half of the 2020s, it said on Monday. The bank and its two sister organizations plan to double their investments in climate action to about $200 billion from 2021-2025, with a boost in support for efforts to adapt to higher temperatures, wilder weather and rising seas. The latest figures on international climate funding for developing nations show barely a quarter has been going to adaptation, with the bulk backing clean energy adoption and more efficient energy use, aimed at cutting planet-warming emissions. “We live in a new normal in which disasters are more severe and more frequent,” World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at U.N. climate talks in Poland. “We have to prioritize adaptation everywhere, but especially in the most vulnerable parts of the world,” she said, pointing to the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, coastal regions and small island states. Of the $100 billion the World Bank plans to make available in the five years from mid-2020, half would go to adaptation measures, it said. Those include building more robust homes, schools and infrastructure, preparing farmers for climate shifts, managing water wisely and protecting people’s incomes through social safety nets, Georgieva added. The World Bank said the money would also improve weather forecasts, and provide early warning and climate …
White House Seeks to End Subsidies for Electric Cars, Renewables
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Monday the Trump administration wants to end subsidies for electric cars and other items, including renewable energy sources. Asked about plans after General Motors announced U.S. plant closings and layoffs last week, Kudlow pointed to the $2,500-to-$7,500 tax credit for consumers who buy plug-in electric vehicles, including those made by GM, under federal law. “As a matter of our policy, we want to end all of those subsidies,” Kudlow said. “And by the way, other subsidies that were imposed during the Obama administration, we are ending, whether it’s for renewables and so forth.” Asked about a timeline, he said: “It’s just all going to end in the near future. I don’t know whether it will end in 2020 or 2021.” The tax credits are capped by Congress at 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer, after which the subsidy phases out. GM has said it expects to hit the threshold by the end of 2018, which means under the current law, its tax credit scheme would end in 2020. Tesla said in July it had hit the threshold. Other automakers may not hit the cap for several years. Experts say the White House cannot change the cap unilaterally. U.S. President Donald Trump last week threatened to eliminate subsidies for GM in retaliation for the company’s decision. Kudlow made clear any changes in subsidies would not just affect GM. “I think legally you just can’t,” he said. Democrats will take control of the U.S. House in …
Fed Chairman Powell Says Economic Challenges Remain
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday that despite solid economic progress, the country still faces a number of challenges ranging from slow wage-growth for lower-income workers to sluggish productivity and an aging population. Powell said in remarks at a Fed award ceremony that these challenges remain even though unemployment is near five-decade low and the financial system has been bolstered since the 2008 financial crisis. While there have been recent gains in wage growth, Powell said that wages for lower-income workers have grown quite slowly over the past few decades. He also noted that a decadeslong decline in economic mobility has made it more difficult for lower-income Americans to move up the economic ladder. In his remarks, Powell praised the work of the Fed’s community development staff and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who put a special emphasis on efforts to help disadvantaged communities during her 16 years at the Fed, including the last four as Fed chair. Powell did not discuss the Fed’s current interest-rate policies in his appearance. The central bank has raised rates three times this year and is expected to boost rates for a fourth time at its Dec. 18-19. Powell sent the stock market surging last week when he signaled that the Fed may decide to slow the pace of rate hikes next year. Investors had been hoping to learn more about Powell’s current thinking in testimony he was scheduled to deliver Wednesday before the congressional Joint …
Algae Harnessed to Make Clean Water, Clean Power
“Nature sometimes isn’t pretty,” said University of Maryland environmental scientist Peter May, grabbing a clump of slimy green-brown gunk. That gunk lines the bottom of what’s called an algal turf scrubber at the Port of Baltimore. The meter-wide, shallow channel runs the length of a football field alongside one of the port’s giant parking lots. “Actually, it’s always pretty,” May corrected himself. Even the gunk. Because that gunk is removing pollution from the Chesapeake Bay. Plus, May’s colleagues are turning it into clean, renewable electricity. The Chesapeake needs the help. Algal feast Like many waterways around the world, the bay is polluted with excess nutrients from farm fertilizer runoff, city wastewater and other sources. Algae feast on those nutrients, triggering massive growth that chokes out other aquatic life. Last summer, algal growth left an average of 4.6 cubic kilometers of the bay without oxygen. A third of the pollution reaching the bay literally falls out of the sky. Fossil fuels burned in power plants, cars and elsewhere create nitrogen oxide air pollution, which ultimately ends up in the bay, either attached to airborne particles or dissolved in rainwater. Forests would soak up that pollution. But like many urban areas, the Port of Baltimore has a pavement problem. There’s not a tree to be found at the entire 230-hectare Dundalk Marine Terminal, where the algae scrubber is located. So regulators require the port to remove as much pollution from the bay as its parking lots allow in. That’s where the algal …
First Global Women’s Disability Award Aims to Break Stereotypes
The first global award recognizing the achievements of women with disabilities aims to break through stereotypes to show their skills as leaders and problem solvers, its founder said Monday. A filmmaker, a political campaigner and a public health expert were named the first winners of the Her Ability awards, which were announced to coincide with World Disability Day. Its founder, Ethiopian campaigner Yetnebersh Nigussie, said she wanted to put a spotlight on disabled women’s achievements to combat the idea that they are passive victims. “We really wanted to change that image and cherish their abilities and their victories,” Nigussie, who lost her sight at age five, told Reuters. “In order to change things, people need to really see our abilities and our problem-solving skills that we have developed through life by overcoming attitudinal as well as physical and policy barriers everywhere.” More than a billion people — about 15 percent of the world’s population — have some form of disability, according to the World Health Organization. Women with disabilities have been recognized as doubly vulnerable by experts, who say they face additional barriers. The first winners of the awards, which were set up by Nigussie and the global disability organization Light for the World, all came from the developing world. They included Toyin Janet Aderemi, the first Nigerian wheelchair-user to study and practice pharmacy, who was recognized for her work on disability-inclusive health and as a lobbyist for disability rights. She lost the ability to walk due to a childhood …
Where Are Drones? Amazon’s Customers Still Waiting
Jeff Bezos boldly predicted five years ago that drones would be carrying Amazon packages to people’s doorsteps by now. Amazon customers are still waiting. And it’s unclear when, if ever, this particular order by the company’s founder and CEO will arrive. Bezos made billions of dollars by transforming the retail sector. But overcoming the regulatory hurdles and safety issues posed by drones appears to be a challenge even for the world’s wealthiest man. The result is a blown deadline on his claim to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in December 2013 that drones would be making deliveries within five years. The day may not be far off when drones will carry medicine to people in rural or remote areas, but the marketing hype around instant delivery of consumer goods looks more and more like just that — hype. Drones have a short battery life, and privacy concerns can be a hindrance, too. “I don’t think you will see delivery of burritos or diapers in the suburbs,” says drone analyst Colin Snow. Drone usage has grown rapidly in some industries, but mostly outside the retail sector and direct interaction with consumers. The government estimates that about 110,000 commercial drones are operating in U.S. airspace, and the number is expected to soar to about 450,000 in 2022. They are being used in rural areas for mining and agriculture, for inspecting power lines and pipelines, and for surveying. Amazon says it is still pushing ahead with plans to use drones for quick deliveries, though the …
NASA Spacecraft Arrives at Ancient Asteroid, Its 1st Visitor
After a two-year chase, a NASA spacecraft arrived Monday at the ancient asteroid Bennu, its first visitor in billions of years. The robotic explorer Osiris-Rex pulled within 12 miles (19 kilometers) of the diamond-shaped space rock. It will get even closer in the days ahead and go into orbit around Bennu on Dec. 31. No spacecraft has ever orbited such a small cosmic body. It is the first U.S. attempt to gather asteroid samples for return to Earth, something only Japan has accomplished so far. Flight controllers applauded and exchanged high-fives once confirmation came through that Osiris-Rex made it to Bennu — exactly one week after NASA landed a spacecraft on Mars. “Relieved, proud, and anxious to start exploring!” tweeted lead scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. “To Bennu and back!” With Bennu some 76 million miles (122 million kilometers) away, it took seven minutes for word to get from the spacecraft to flight controllers at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado. The company built the spacecraft there. Bennu is estimated to be just over 1,600 feet (500 meters) across. Researchers will provide a more precise description at a scientific meeting next Monday in Washington. About the size of an SUV, the spacecraft will shadow the asteroid for a year, before scooping up some gravel for return to Earth in 2023. Scientists are eager to study material from a carbon-rich asteroid like dark Bennu, which could hold evidence dating back to the …
Kosovo to Maintain Tariffs on Serbia Despite EU Pressure
Kosovo will keep its 100 percent tariffs on Serbian goods until Belgrade recognizes Pristina, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said Monday, defying calls by the European Union and United States for the tariffs to be abolished. Last month Haradinaj’s government raised tariffs on locally-produced Serbian and Bosnian goods to 100 percent from 10 percent because Belgrade blocked Kosovo’s membership of Interpol. The decision effectively halted trade between the two states and was criticized by EU and U.S. officials. “The tariffs of 100 percent for the goods on Serbia and Bosnia are to protect national security and sovereignty,” Haradinaj wrote on his Facebook page after meeting EU’s Commissioner Johannes Hahn in Pristina. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a statement Pristina’s measures would lead to the destabilization of the region. He added that there would be no counter measures. Improved relations is key to the efforts of both Serbia and Kosovo to join the European Union. Both countries agreed to a Brussels-sponsored dialogue in 2013, but little progress has been made. On Monday, Hahn met Vucic in Belgrade. Kosovo’s mostly ethnic Albanian population declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a NATO bombing campaign to end the killing of Albanian civilians by Serb forces during a two-year insurgency. It is now recognized by more than 110 nations but not by Serbia, Russia or five EU states. Belgrade and Moscow have blocked Kosovo from joining the United Nations. According to official figures, Serbia’s exports to Kosovo amounted to 450 million euros, …
WHO Looks at Standards in ‘Uncharted Water’ of Gene Editing
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday that gene editing may have “unintended consequences” and said it was establishing a team of experts to set clear guidelines and standards after studying ethical and safety issues. The Chinese government last Thursday ordered a temporary halt to research activities for people involved in the editing of human genes, after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies. Scientist He Jiankui said he used a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of the twin girls born this month. He said gene editing would help protect them from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. “Gene editing may have unintended consequences, this is uncharted water and it has to be taken seriously,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a news briefing. “WHO is putting together experts. We will work with member states to do everything we can to make sure of all issues — be it ethical, social, safety — before any manipulation is done.” He’s announcement, which has not been verified, sparked an international outcry about the ethics and safety of such research. “We are talking about human beings, editing should not harm the welfare of the future person,” WHO’s Tedros said. “We have to be very careful, the working group will do that with all openness and transparency.” …
3 Astronauts Safely Aboard International Space Station
Three astronauts who were launched into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Monday entered the International Space Station nearly eight hours later, a relief to relatives and scientists months after a rocket failure aborted another mission. The hatch of the capsule carrying NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Russian space agency Roscosmos was opened while the station was flying over the southern coast of Yemen. The three were greeted upon arrival Monday by the station’s current crew members, who had waited outside the hatch after the astronauts’ capsule docked and underwent safety checks. Their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday at 5:31 p.m. (1131 GMT; 6:31 a.m. EST) then entered a designated orbit just under nine minutes later. The spacecraft made four orbits over six hours as it chased down the space station for the docking. The astronauts were the first sent to be sent to the space station since a crewed Soyuz launch was aborted in October after a booster rocket failed to separate properly, crippling the rocket. The families of the crew, other astronauts and space officials from several nations breathed a sigh of relief after observing the flawless launch. NASA and Roscosmos said all onboard systems operated normally and the astronauts felt fine during the six-hour trip to the space station. After two hours of waiting in their capsule to confirm their ship was firmly docked to the station, they exited …
China-US Tariff Truce is Opportunity with Tight Time Frame
China and the United States have agreed to put tariffs on hold and give negotiations a chance. But the short 90-day period the two have to finish negotiations, which includes major holidays both in Washington and Beijing, will require quick steps, analysts say. China’s pledges to purchase what the White House calls “substantial” amounts of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products are relatively straightforward. What will be more difficult are the other items that Washington said the two agreed on. Those include the pledge to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes such as forced technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber theft, services and agriculture. Raymond Yeung, a senior economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said that despite the tariff truce, resolving the differences between the two countries and making progress would not be easy. “Markets should not be too happy too early,” he said. “If you look at the White House statement there is still a lot of structural issues that the Chinese have to fulfill for the U.S. not to increase the tariffs.” Even so, Asian stocks rallied on Monday on news that the U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to not impose any new tariffs for the time being. Soybeans climbed to their highest price a bushel in nearly six months. Liao Qun, chief economist at China Citic Bank International said it was clear that both governments want to talk and work out …
Запровадження воєнного стану не вплинуло на роботу банківської системи – НБУ
Запровадження воєнного стану в низці українських областей не вплинуло на роботу банківської системи, заявила перший заступник голови Національного банку України Катерина Рожкова під час брифінгу. «На сьогодні загалом стан стабільний. Запровадження воєнного стану не вплинуло на роботу банківської системи», – сказала Рожкова. За її словами, НБУ не бачить відпливу коштів клієнтів із банківської системи. «Обсяг строкових депозитів по банківській системі взагалі не змінився. Є коливання залишків за поточними рахунками, але для них характерні такі коливання, і вони не пов’язані із запровадженням воєнного стану», – зазначила Рожкова. 25 листопада російські прикордонники у Керченській протоці відкрили вогонь по трьох українських кораблях і захопили їх. Підконтрольні Кремлю суди в Криму арештували 24 моряків на два місяці. Зараз полонені військові ВМС України перебувають у слідчих ізоляторах в Москві. Українська влада визнає їх військовополоненими. 26 листопада Верховна Рада проголосувала за запровадження воєнного стану терміном на 30 діб у внутрішніх водах Азово-Керченської акваторії та в 10 областях, прилеглих до кордону з Росією, а також із окупованими чи контрольованими нею територіями України та Молдови. Це Вінницька, Луганська, Донецька, Запорізька, Миколаївська, Одеська, Сумська, Харківська, Чернігівська, Херсонська. …
Asia Stocks Rally After US-China Truce on Tariffs
Asia stocks rallied Monday on the news that the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, would not impose any new tariffs during a 90-day grace period, during which the two sides are to negotiate a detailed agreement. In early trading Monday China’s main market index (the Shanghai Composite) jumped 2.7 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 2.8 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4 percent. The U.S. pre market indexes – Dow and S&P futures contracts – were 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent higher respectively, indicating a strong start on Wall Street once the New York Stock Exchange opens at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard time. The U.S. and China had agreed to a small truce in their escalating trade war after a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping following the G-20 summit. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One after the plane departed Argentina, said his agreement made over dinner with Xi, will go down “as one of the largest deals ever made. … And it’ll have an incredibly positive impact on farming, meaning agriculture, industrial products, computers — every type of product.” “China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40 percent,” Trump said on Twitter late Sunday. Monday China’s ministry of foreign affairs said the Chinese and U.S. presidents had agreed to work towards removing all tariffs. Trump agreed that he will leave the tariffs on $200 …
COP24 to Tackle Implementation of Climate Agreement
World leaders have gathered in the heart of Poland’s coal-mining industry to discuss what can be done about global climate change. The two-week-long meeting in Katowice comes amid a series of reports from various sources and parts of the world saying that climate change processes are in full swing and that some may be unstoppable. But, as VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, a consensus on reducing pollution, and other factors believed to be contributing to climate change, remains elusive. …
Africa Urged to Use more Gas Reserves to Fuel Economic Development
Energy experts are urging Africa to use more of its gas reserves to fuel economic development. The group gathered in Washington to discuss the role of natural gas in helping to meet the continent’s electricity, health and environmental goals. The meeting coincides with the release of a report funded by Africa 50, which includes the Africa Development Bank, two African central Banks and 27 African countries. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo has more. …
Argentina, China Sign Deals Strengthening Ties After G-20
China’s president on Sunday signed new trade deals with Argentina as the Asian giant expands its growing role in Latin American economies. Presidents Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Xi Jinping of China announced the more than 30 agriculture and investment deals during a state visit following the Group of 20 summit of leaders in Buenos Aires. The deals include an agreement to export Argentine cherries to China and an expansion of a currency swap. China is among Argentina’s top export markets, especially for agricultural commodities that are the engine of its economy. It is also one of Argentina’s biggest lenders, financing about $18.2 billion in infrastructure and other projects, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank. “China’s development benefits Argentina, our region and the world,” Macri said during a ceremony at the presidential residence in the outskirts of the Argentine capital. “We have complementary countries. There are few countries in the world that can buy so many of the high-quality products that we’re capable of making,” Macri said. The visit comes after U.S. officials said they had reached a 90-day truce in the trade dispute with China that has rattled financial markets and imperiled global economic growth. That announcement followed a Saturday dinner meeting between Xi and President Donald Trump. Argentina also granted Xi the top honor awarded to foreign politicians, and the Argentine polo association gave the Chinese leader a polo horse. The South American country is home to the world’s top polo players, and Macri said …
Trump-Xi Dinner in Argentina Leads to Trade War Truce
U.S. President Donald Trump has returned home from the Group of 20 meeting of the world’s top economies. After the curtain came down on the summit, the spotlight lingered on the leaders of the two top economies. As VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman reports from Buenos Aires, in the end a truce was achieved in the escalating battle of tariffs between the United States and China. …
WHO: HIV Epidemic Spreads at Alarming Rate in Pakistan
Pakistan is registering approximately 20,000 new HIV infections annually, the highest rate of increase among all countries in the region, warns the World Health Organization (WHO). The international body says mortality among Pakistanis living with the virus, which causes the deadly AIDS disease, is also rising, in spite of the availability of lifesaving antiretroviral therapy. The latest government figures show that only 16 percent of the estimated 150,000 people living with HIV had been tested and only 9 percent have access to lifesaving treatment. “The remaining 135,000 people are walking around in the communities as carriers of (HIV) infection who are ready to transmit infections to those who are not infected, even to their unborn babies,” Dr. Saima Paracha of the National AIDS Control Program, told VOA. Officials say the HIV epidemic in Pakistan remains largely concentrated among the key populations, including people who inject drugs, the transgender community, sex workers and their clients and men who have sex with men. “The drivers of infection are now the sexual networks and they are ready to spill the infection into the general public,” Dr. Paracha cautioned. Paracha says the Pakistani government offers free HIV testing and treatment, but she notes the marginalized key populations continue face widespread stigma and discrimination in the society. The fear of maltreatment, and punitive actions by law enforcers impacts the willingness of these populations to pursue testing, which remains a major challenge facing national efforts to treat and prevent the spread of HIV, she lamented. Official …
Climate Talks Kick off in Poland With Boost From G-20 Summit
Negotiators from around the world began two weeks of talks on curbing climate change Sunday, three years after sealing a landmark deal in Paris that set a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Envoys from almost 200 nations gathered in Poland’s southern city of Katowice, a day earlier than originally planned, for the U.N. meeting that’s scheduled to run until Dec. 14. Ministers and some heads of government are joining in Monday, when host Poland will push for a joint declaration to ensure a “just transition” for fossil fuel industries like coal producers who are facing closures as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting received a boost over the weekend, after 19 major economies at the G-20 summit affirmed their commitment to the 2015 Paris climate accord. The only holdout was the United States, which announced under President Donald Trump that it is withdrawing from the climate pact. “Despite geopolitical instability, the climate consensus is proving highly resilient,” said Christiana Figueres, a former head of the U.N. climate office. “It is sad that the federal administration of the United States, a country that is increasingly feeling the full force of climate impacts, continues to refuse to listen to the objective voice of science when it comes to climate change,” Figures said. She cited a recent expert report warning of the consequences of letting average global temperatures rise beyond 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees …
Can Artificial Intelligence Make Doctors Better?
Teacher Rishi Rawat has one student who is not human, but a machine. Lessons take place at a lab inside the University of Southern California’s (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles, where Rawat teaches artificial intelligence, or AI. To help the machine learn, Rawat feeds the computer samples of cancer cells. “They’re like a computer brain, and you can put the data into them and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition that’s important to making decisions,” he explained. AI may soon be a useful tool in health care and allow doctors to understand biology and diagnose disease in ways that were never humanly possible. Doctors not going away “Machines are not going to take the place of doctors. Computers will not treat patients, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can’t recognize these patterns by itself,” said David Agus, USC’s professor of medicine and biomedical engineering, director at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, and director at the university’s Center for Applied Molecular Medicine. Rawat is part of a team of interdisciplinary scientists at USC who are researching how AI and machine learning can identify complex patterns in cells and more accurately identify specific types of breast cancer tumors. Once a confirmed cancerous tumor is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of recurrence. The type of treatment depends on the type of cancer and whether the tumor is driven by …
Can Artificial Intelligence Help Doctors Make Better Decisions?
With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, doctors may soon have new ways of diagnosing and treating patients in ways that were never humanly possible. Scientists at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles are developing a way of using machine learning to identify specific types of breast cancer tumors, and they say it’s just the beginning of what the computer can do. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details from Los Angeles. …
Espionage, ID theft? Risks From Stolen Marriott Data Myriad
The data stolen from the Marriott hotel empire in a massive breach is so rich and specific it could be used for espionage, identity theft, reputation attacks and even home burglaries, security experts say. Hackers stole data on as many as 500 million guests of former Starwood chain properties over four years including credit card and passport numbers, birthdates, phone numbers and hotel arrival and departure dates. It is one of the biggest data breaches on record. By comparison, last year’s Equifax hack affected more than 145 million people. A Target breach in 2013 affected more than 41 million payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers. Especially sensitive data But the target here — hotels where high-stakes business deals, romantic trysts and espionage are daily currency — makes the data gathered especially sensitive. Jesse Varsalone, a University of Maryland cybersecurity expert, said the affected reservation system could be extremely enticing to nation-state spies interested in the travels of military and senior government officials. “There are just so many things you can extrapolate from people staying at hotels,” Varsalone said. And because the data included reservations for future stays, along with home addresses, burglars could learn when someone wouldn’t be home, said Scott Grissom of LegalShield, a provider of legal services. Starwood brand hotels The affected hotel brands were operated by Starwood before it was acquired by Marriott in 2016. They include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, Element, Aloft, The Luxury Collection, Le Meridien and …
US Judge Gives Preliminary OK to $48M VW Investor Settlement
A U.S. judge in California has granted preliminary approval of a $48 million settlement for investors who said Volkswagen AG made false and misleading statements about its excess diesel emissions. Lawyers for the investors, who include police and other municipal pension funds, had estimated that the maximum they could have recovered was $147 million. But Judge Charles Breyer said the settlement agreed to in August appeared “fair, adequate and reasonable.” VW, in a statement, said Friday that the “proposed settlement agreement eliminates the uncertainty and considerable costs of protracted litigation in the United States and is in the best interests of the company.” The ruling was issued late Wednesday. Buybacks In total, Volkswagen has agreed to pay more than $25 billion in the United States for claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers, and has offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. The buybacks will continue through 2019. The German automaker admitted in September 2015 to secretly installing software in nearly 500,000 U.S. cars to cheat government exhaust emissions tests. The vehicles had emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollutants. In 2017, VW also pleaded guilty of fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements in a U.S. court. Under the plea deal, the automaker agreed to sweeping reforms, new audits and oversight by an independent monitor for three years. Federal prosecutors in Detroit unsealed criminal charges in May against former VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn, who remains in Germany. Two other former VW executives have pleaded guilty in the investigation and are in prison. In total, nine people have been charged in the United States. Breyer set a date for a …
Microsoft Surpasses Apple as Most Valuable Public Company
Microsoft’s big bet on cloud computing is paying off as the company has surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. The software maker’s prospects looked bleak just a few years ago, as licenses for the company’s Windows system fell with a sharp drop in sales of personal computers. But under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has found stability by focusing on software and services over the internet, or the cloud, with long-term business contracts. That 1990s personal-computing powerhouse is now having a renaissance moment, as it eclipses Facebook, Google, Amazon and the other tech darlings of the late decade. Apple had been the world’s most prosperous firm since claiming the top spot from Exxon Mobil earlier this decade. Microsoft surpassed Apple briefly a few times this week, but didn’t close on top until Friday, with a market value of $851 billion to Apple’s $847 billion. Microsoft hadn’t been at the top since the height of the dot-com boom in 2000. Apple’s plunge Microsoft became a contender again in large part because Apple’s stock fell nearly 20 percent in November, while Microsoft hasn’t done any worse than the rest of the stock market. But the fact that it hasn’t done poorly reflects its steady focus on business customers in recent years. Microsoft lost its luster as people were shunning PCs in favor of smartphones. In 2013, PC sales plunged 10 percent to about 315 million, the worst year-to-year drop ever, according to research firms …