Vietnam Seeks Ways to Snuff Out Cigarette Smoking

On a recent weekday afternoon in Ho Chi Minh City, the passengers bouncing along on one of the city’s green buses breathed in mouthfuls of carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and other chemicals that add to Vietnam’s notorious pollution. The toxic smoke did not come from the bus itself, but from the man driving it — one hand supporting the wheel, the other holding a cigarette. Vietnam bans smoking on public transit, but that does not stop some of the bus drivers from lighting up on a daily basis. Amid this loose compliance and enforcement of tobacco rules, as well as an increase in overall smoking in the country, the government is looking at another policy option: taxes. The Ministry of Health has recommended tacking on a levy of 2,000 Vietnam dong (9 cents) to each pack of cigarettes. Cheap cigarettes While incomes in Vietnam have gone up in recent years, cigarette prices have been slower to rise, making the tobacco product relatively more affordable than before. For example, per capita income jumped 370 percent in 2005 and 2006, but cigarettes cost just 120 percent more in that period, the government’s Vietnam News Agency reported. Supporters of higher tobacco taxes say that’s why the Southeast Asian country must do more to help people kick the habit. “To quit smoking is not easy,” Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Tobacco Control Fund at the health ministry, said on national broadcaster VTV. “However, sanctions in Vietnam have not reached the level hoped. In …

Гривня девальвує: долар здолав рівень 26,5

На міжбанківському валютному ринку 24 липня триває зростання котирувань американського долара, валюта США нині оцінюється на рівні 26 гривень і майже 58 копійок. Як повідомляє профільний сайт «Мінфін», який відстежує перебіг торгів, на міжбанку фіксується «переважання попиту на тлі низької ліквідності». «Гривневий навіс на транзитних і кореспондентських рахунках НБУ помітно зріс, попри превентивні заходи регулятора щодо вилучення з ринку надлишкової гривневої ліквідності», – вказують фахівці. Читайте також: Нова девальвація: долар штурмує позначку 26 гривень 50 копійок Котирування на рівні понад 26 гривень 50 копійок за долар є найвищими за останні чотири місяці. Офіційний курс Національного банку України на 30 березня становив 26 гривень 54 копійки за долар. Після цього національна валюта міцнішала до рівня близько 26 гривень за долар. …

Geologists: Hawaii Eruption Could Last Years, Destroy New Areas

The eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano could last for months or years and threaten new communities on the Big Island, according to a report by U.S. government geologists. A main risk is a possible change in the direction of a lava flow that would destroy more residential areas after at least 712 homes were torched and thousands of residents forced to evacuate since Kilauea began erupting on May 3, the report by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. A higher volume of molten rock is flowing underground from Kilauea’s summit lava reservoir than in previous eruptions, with supply to a single giant crack — fissure 8 — showing no sign of waning, according to the study published last week. “If the ongoing eruption maintains its current style of activity at a high eruption rate, then it may take months to a year or two to wind down,” said the report designed to help authorities on the Big Island deal with potential risks from the volcano. Lava is bursting from same area about 25 miles (40 km) down Kilauea’s eastern side as it did in eruptions of 1840, 1955 and 1960, the report said. The longest of those eruptions was in 1955. It lasted 88 days, separated by pauses in activity. The current eruption could become the longest in the volcano’s recorded history, it added. Geologists believe previous eruptions may have stopped as underground lava pressure dropped due to multiple fissures opening up in this Lower East Rift Zone, the report said. …

Trump, Mexico Expect Progress in Stalled NAFTA Talks

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke warmly of Mexico’s incoming leftist president on Monday, saying he expected to get “something worked out” on NAFTA, while a top Mexican official said there was scope to revive the trade talks this week. “We’re talking to Mexico on NAFTA, and I think we’re going to have something worked out. The new president, terrific person,” Trump said in a speech at the White House about American manufacturing. “We’re talking to them about doing something very dramatic, very positive for both countries, he said, without giving more details. Talks to reshape the 1994 trade accord have been underway since last August. But they stalled in the run-up to the July 1 presidential election in Mexico, which produced a landslide victory for veteran leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The United States, Mexico and Canada have been at odds over U.S. demands to impose tougher content rules for the auto industry, as well as several other proposals, including one that would kill NAFTA after five years if it is not renegotiated. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, who last week expressed hope an agreement in principle on NAFTA could be reached by the end of August, is due to hold talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the end of the week in Washington. He will be accompanied by Jesus Seade, the designated chief NAFTA negotiator of the incoming Mexican administration. “There’s clearly a window of opportunity to be able to bed down a series of open issues …

IMF: Venezuela’s Inflation on Track to Top 1 Million Percent

Inflation in Venezuela could top 1 million percent by year’s end as the country’s historic crisis deepens, the International Monetary Fund said Monday. Venezuela’s economic turmoil compares to Germany’s after World War I and Zimbabwe’s at the beginning of the last decade, said Alejandro Werner, head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere department. “The collapse in economic activity, hyperinflation, and increasing deterioration … will lead to intensifying spillover effects on neighboring countries,” Werner wrote in a blog post. The once wealthy oil-producing nation of Venezuela is in the grips of a five-year crisis that leaves many of its people struggling to find food and medicine, while driving masses across the border for relief into neighboring Colombia and Brazil. Shortages in electricity, domestic water and public transportation plague millions of Venezuelans, who also confront high crime, the IMF noted. If the prediction holds, Venezuela’s economy will contract 50 percent over the last five years, Werner said, adding that it would be among the world’s deepest economic falls in six decades. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro often blames Venezuela’s poor economy on an economic war that he says is being waged by the United States and Europe. Maduro won a second six-year term as president despite the deep economic and political problems in a May election that his leading challenger and many nations in the international community don’t recognize as legitimate. The IMF estimates Venezuela’s economy could contract 18 percent this year, up from the 15 percent drop it predicted in April. This will …

Scientists Take Step Toward Creating Artificial Embryos

An international team of scientists has moved closer to creating artificial embryos after using mouse stem cells to make structures capable of taking a crucial step in the development of life. Experts said the results suggested human embryos could be created in a similar way in future — a step that would allow scientists to use artificial embryos rather than real ones to research the very earliest stages of human development. The team, led by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a professor at Britain’s Cambridge University, had previously created a simpler structure resembling a mouse embryo in a lab dish. That work involved two types of stem cells and a three-dimensional scaffold on which they could grow. But in new work published Monday in the journal Nature Cell Biology, the scientists developed the structures further — using three types of stem cells — enabling a process called gastrulation, an essential step in which embryonic cells begin self-organizing into a correct structure for an embryo to form. “Our artificial embryos underwent the most important event in life in the culture dish,” Zernicka-Goetz said in a statement about the work. “They are now extremely close to real embryos.” She said the team should now be better able to understand how the three stem cell types interact to enable embryo development. And by experimentally altering biological pathways in one cell type, they should be able to see how this affects the behavior of the other cell types. “The early stages of embryo development are when a …

Trump Reviews ‘Made in America’ Products at White House

Checking out a speedboat, a fighter jet and a giant industrial magnet parked on the White House driveway, President Donald Trump showcased an array of “Made in America” products Monday as his administration pushes back aggressively against critics who say his punishing tariffs on imported goods threaten to harm the U.S. economy. Trump’s event with a smorgasbord of American goods came at the start of a week in which trade discussions are expected to dominate, including talks with European officials and a trip to Illinois in which the president is planning to visit a community helped along by his steel tariffs. Trump has vowed to force international trading partners to bend to his will as he seeks to renegotiate a series of trade deals he has long argued hurt American workers. But as he deepens the U.S. involvement in trade fights, it raises questions on whether American consumers will feel the pain of retaliatory tariffs — and whether the president will incur a political price for his nationalistic trade policies in the 2018 midterm elections. “Our leaders in Washington did nothing, they did nothing. They let our factories leave, they let our people lose their jobs,” Trump said at the White House. “That’s not free trade, that’s fool’s trade, that’s stupid trade and we don’t do that kind of trade anymore.” Trump noted that he would be meeting Wednesday with European officials, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The U.S. and European allies have been at odds over the president’s …

Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of Century on Friday

Scientists say the longest total lunar eclipse of this century will grace the night sky on Friday, turning the moon a reddish color. NASA says the lunar eclipse will last for 1 hour and 43 minutes with total viability in Eastern Africa and Central Asia. Residents in most of the world will be able to see at least a partial eclipse. However, it won’t be visible from North America. Scientists say that in the United States the period of totality will start around 4:21 p.m. Eastern time, making it too light outside to see the red moon. During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears to be red because it lines up perfectly with the Earth and sun such that the Earth’s shadow totally blocks the sun’s light. The moon loses the brightness normally caused by the reflection of the sun’s light and takes on an eerie, reddish glow, giving the lunar eclipse moon the nickname of blood moon. Scientists say the reason this Friday’s lunar eclipse is especially long is because the moon is passing almost directly through the central part of Earth’s shadow. To compare, it falls just 4 minutes shy of the longest possible time a lunar eclipse could last. For those who aren’t able to see the lunar eclipse this month, July has another treat in store for skygazers when Mars makes a close approach to Earth. Mars will appear about 10 times brighter than usual the last few days of the month, with peak brightness occurring …

Turkey’s Economy Faces Test as Erdogan’s Powers Expand

International investors are looking to Tuesday’s meeting of the Turkish central bank as a critical test of whether the bank can remain independent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his increasing powers, and what some criticize as his Islamist agenda. The Turkish currency has fallen sharply as concerns mount on whether he will impose unorthodox economic policies on the bank. Erdogan, who has called for Islamic banks to make up a quarter of the country’s banking sector, strongly opposes interest rates and has described them as “the mother and father of all evil.” The president rejects economic orthodoxy that increasing rates reduces inflation. Investors are looking to the Turkish central bank meeting to hike rates to rein in rampant inflation, currently running at over 15 percent — among the highest in the developed world. “If the central bank cannot find the opportunity to hike, then the markets will take it very negatively,” economist Inan Demir of Nomura Securities said. “If it can hike then the market will see this as the first market-friendly action by the new administration.” Investors’ concerns saw the Turkish lira plunge about 30 percent since the start of the year. Adding to the unease is Erdogan’s move to assume sweeping executive powers after last month’s presidential elections. During his campaign, Erdogan pledged to take greater control over the economy, including the independent central bank. The appointment of his son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, as Turkey’s finance minister has further raised international investor concerns. In the past, Albayrak voiced support …

Scientists Combine Shellfish, Tree Cellulose to Make Biodegradable Plastic Wrap    

The use of packaging plastic continues to rise as the world’s population grows. Environmentalists say compostable and biodegradable packaging is needed now more than ever, particularly when it comes to plastics used to protect our food.  But now, a biodegradable film made from discarded shellfish and trees may fill that need. It’s being developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lead researcher Carson Meredith is interested in exploring alternatives to crude-oil-based plastics now being used. “Probably about eight years ago, we got involved in what’s referred to as forest-based nanotechnology,” he told VOA news.  This is an emerging area “looking at using wood and other plant resources to extract high performance nano-crystalline materials made out of cellulose and using those in creating light-weight, high strength materials.” Wood, clamshells, lobsters What that means, is that the same cellulose fibers found in woody plants used to make paper can also be used to replace plastic packaging material. Meredith’s group found that by combining the plant cellulose with chitin, the hard material that makes up clamshells and the exoskeleton of lobsters, they could create a biodegradable coating. At the molecular level, chitin and cellulose are oppositely charged — meaning they are attracted to each other. The Georgia Tech scientists used this property when they sprayed very thin, alternating layers of the two materials onto a base.  “In this case, we chose to use polylactic acid, or PLA, which is also derived from natural materials and is biodegradable,” said Meredith. PLA is …

Україна підписала багатосторонню конвенцію про боротьбу з виведенням прибутку з-під оподаткування

В.о. міністра фінансів України Оксана Маркарова підписала багатосторонню конвенцію щодо виконання заходів, які стосуються угод про оподаткування, з метою протидії розмиванню бази оподаткування та виведенню прибутку з-під оподаткування (MLI), повідомила прес-служба Міністерства фінансів. У відомстві пояснили, що через прогалини та неузгодженості у національному та міжнародному податковому законодавстві міжнародні компанії зменшують або уникають зобов’язань зі сплати податку на прибуток. У зв’язку з цим Україна втрачає надходження у бюджет. У Мінфіні підкреслюють, що через це 1 січня 2017 року Україна приєдналася до Програми розширеного співробітництва в рамках ініціативи Організації економічного співробітництва і розвитку (ОЕСР). Країни-члени цієї організації розробили План дій для боротьби з розмиванням бази оподаткування і виведенням прибутку з-під оподаткування (План дій BESP). Він включає в себе 15 кроків, з них чотири – обов’язкові для України («удосконалення заходів боротьби з податковими зловживаннями», «недопущення зловживання пільгами, передбаченими двосторонніми угодами», «рекомендації про документації з трансфертного ціноутворення та розкритті інформації по країнам», «удосконалення процедури взаємного узгодження шляхом вирішення спорів»).  У Міністерстві фінансів розповіли, що з метою надання можливості більш оперативного перегляду міжнародних конвенцій був розроблений 15-й крок Плану дій BEPS – MLI. Згідно з повідомленням, підписавши та ратифікувавши конвенцію MLI, Україна отримує змогу одночасного внесення змін до всіх або деяких чинних конвенцій про уникнення подвійного оподаткування. «Імплементація Плану дій BEPS сприятиме гармонізації міжнародних податкових правил із більш як 70 країнами світу та створить більш прозоре податкове середовище. Підписавши конвенцію MLI, ми зможемо внести необхідні зміни до існуючих міжнародних договорів про подвійне оподаткування між Україною та іншими державами», – заявила в.о. міністра фінансів. Тепер Верховна …

China Pivots to Europe for Technology Transfers

Amid escalating trade friction with the United States, China appears to be courting Europe to fill the gaps in providing opportunities for technology transfers. Analysts, however, are urging Europe to be wary in its dealings with China. They say it will be political and economically unwise for Europe to take advantage of the Sino-U.S. dispute and allow China to continue unfair trade practices that include forced tech transfers and intellectual property theft.   The U.S. has accused China of using “state-led efforts to force, strong-arm and even steal U.S. technology and intellectual property.” Rob Atkinson, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), says Europe should stop cutting deals with China that he says will offset the Trump administration’s efforts to punish Beijing. In early July, the U.S. launched a first round of tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods. China’s tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. imports, including soybeans, also took effect at the same time. U.S. President Donald Trump last week vowed to impose tariffs on all $505 billion worth of Chinese imports. China has vowed to retaliate if the U.S. slaps more tariffs on Chinese goods in the coming months. The U.S. and China are the world’s two biggest economies. Made in China 2025   China’s tech ambition, unveiled in its “Made in China 2025” program, is believed to be at the core of its trade war with the U.S. To avoid upsetting Washington, China has downplayed the initiative, which was first introduced in …

Commission: EU’s Juncker Will not Bring Offer to Trump Trade Talks

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will not arrive in the United States for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump with a specific trade offer, the Commission said on Monday. Juncker will travel to Washington on Wednesday for talks focused on trade tensions after the U.S. imposition of tariffs on EU steel and aluminum and Trump’s threats to extend those measures to European cars. Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, has said he expected Juncker to come with a “significant” trade offer, but the Commission on Monday that would not happen. “I do not wish to enter into a discussion about mandates, offers because there are no offers. This is a discussion, it is a dialogue and it is an opportunity to talk and to stay engaged in dialogue,” Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference. Trump has repeatedly complained about the European Union, pointing to the higher duties it applies for car imports and describing the bloc as a “foe” in trade. EU officials have said that, while EU import duties for cars are heavier than those of the United States, for other products, such as trucks, U.S. rates are higher. They also say cutting duties for cars could only be part of a broader trade deal. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who will accompany Juncker, said last week that the European Union was preparing a list of U.S. products to hit if the United States imposed tariffs on EU cars. Schinas said Juncker was “very prepared” to set …

New Scandal Revives Memories of Tainted Chinese-Made Products

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for an investigation of a domestic drug manufacturer accused of violating regulations in making a rabies vaccine. Changsheng Biotechnology has been ordered to stop production and recall the vaccine after the China Food and Drug Administration discovered it had been falsifying production and inspection records. Premier Li issued a statement Sunday denouncing Changsheng for crossing a moral line, and promised to “resolutely crack down” on any actions that endangers public safety. There have no reports of injuries from the vaccine, but the news led to a wave of criticism on social media. Changsheng Biotechnology was forced to stop production of a vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis last year after regulators found the vaccine to be defective. China has been working to restore confidence in its food and drug industries, both at home and abroad, after a series of scandals over the last decade over shoddy and tainted products, the most notorious in 2008, when 300,000 children were sickened when they were given milk powder contaminated with the chemical melamine. Six of the children died. …

Earlier and Better Dementia Detection Urged

Too few people with signs of mental decline or dementia are getting checked during routine medical visits or told when a problem is found, says a panel of Alzheimer’s disease experts who offered new guidance Sunday. The idea is to get help sooner for people whose minds are slipping — even if there’s no cure. Though mental decline can be an uncomfortable topic for patients and their doctors, the panel says family physicians should do a thorough evaluation when concerning symptoms arise and share the diagnosis candidly. Patients and family members should push for an evaluation if they’re worried that symptoms might not be normal aging – the difference between occasionally misplacing keys versus putting them in the freezer or being confused about their function. “By the time you forget what the keys are for, you’re too far gone to participate in your own care. We’ve lost probably a decade” that could have been spent planning, said the panel’s leader, Dr. Alireza Atri, a neurologist at Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona.   It’s not just memory that can suffer when mental decline starts, Atri said. “It’s actually people’s judgment being off, their character and personality being off,” sometimes years before dementia is diagnosed, he said. The need About 50 million people worldwide have dementia; Alzheimer’s is the most common form. In the United States, nearly 6 million have Alzheimer’s and almost 12 million have mild cognitive impairment, a frequent precursor. In 2015, Alzheimer’s Association research using Medicare records …

G-20 Ministers: Trade, Political Tensions Put Growth at Risk

“Heightened trade and geopolitical tensions” are putting global economic growth at risk, G-20 finance ministers said after two days of meetings in Buenos Aires on Sunday. In their final communique, the Group of 20 ministers stressed the need to “step up dialogue and actions to mitigate risks and enhance confidence.” The ministers, representing industrial and emerging-market nations, described the overall world economic growth as “robust,” but expressed concerns over what they call the increased risks of the “short and medium term.” They did not mention the United States by name in their closing statement. But some decried President Donald Trump’s tough trade rhetoric and tariffs on Chinese and European imports. European Union finance chief Pierre Moscovici urged the U.S. to act like allies, not foes. French finance minister Bruno Le Marie accused Trump of creating a “survival of the fittest” trade mentality and called on Washington to “de-escalate.” Trump has imposed tariffs on imports of European steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent) while also slapping billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods and threatening more. He has also accused China and the EU of keeping their interests rates and currencies low, damaging the U.S. dollar on the world market.   …

Somali Girl Dies After Undergoing FGM

Doctors in central Somalia say a 10-year-old girl has died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). Director of Hanano hospital in Dhusamareb, Dr. Abdirahman Omar Hassan, who was on the response team who tried to save the girl, told VOA Somali that the victim bled to death after undergoing FGM. Hassan said the girl was brought to the hospital on July 17. Her parents told doctors the procedure was performed two days earlier in the village of Olol, 40 kilometer north of Dhusamareb town. “She was brought in during the early evening, we all rushed to the emergency [room] when we learned her situation,” Hassan told VOA Somali. “She died because she was losing lots of blood.” Hassan said examinations show the girl contracted tetanus because the items used by the person who performed the procedure were not sterilized. FGM involves removing part or all of the clitoris and labia for non-medical reasons, usually as a rite of passage. The World Health Organization (WHO) says cutting — often performed on girls 15 and younger — can result in bleeding, infection, problems with urination and complications with childbearing. “They cut the clitoris, one side of the vulva was cut, the other side was wounded in three areas,” Hassan said. “I never saw anyone who was mutilated like that in my life.” The girl’s father Dahir Nur said he was distraught but accepts that his daughter died due to the procedure and believes she was “taken by Allah”. Despite losing his daughter he defended …

Poll: British Reject May’s Brexit Plan, Some turn to Boris, Far Right

Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to leave the European Union are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll. May’s political vulnerability was exposed by the survey which found voters would prefer Boris Johnson, who quit as her foreign minister two weeks ago, to negotiate with the EU and lead the Conservative Party into the next election. Only 16 percent of voters say May is handling the Brexit negotiations well, compared with 34 percent who say that Johnson would do a better job, according to the poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times newspaper. With a little more than eight months to go before Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, May’s government, parliament, the public and businesses remain deeply divided over what form Brexit should take. May’s plans to keep a close trading relationship with the EU on goods thrust her government into crisis this month and there is speculation she could face a leadership challenge after two of her most senior ministers, including Johnson, resigned in protest. Only one in 10 voters would pick the government’s proposed Brexit plans if there were a second referendum, according to the poll. Almost half think it would be bad for Britain. The new Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday the prime minister was still trying to persuade members of the cabinet that her …

Poll: British Reject May’s Brexit Plan, Some Turn to Johnson, Far Right

Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to leave the European Union are overwhelmingly opposed by the British public and more than a third of voters would support a new right-wing political party committed to quitting the bloc, according to a new poll. May’s political vulnerability was exposed by the survey which found voters would prefer Boris Johnson, who quit as her foreign minister two weeks ago, to negotiate with the EU and lead the Conservative Party into the next election. Only 16 percent of voters say May is handling the Brexit negotiations well, compared with 34 percent who say that Johnson would do a better job, according to the poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times newspaper. With a little more than eight months to go before Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, May’s government, parliament, the public and businesses remain deeply divided over what form Brexit should take. May’s plans to keep a close trading relationship with the EU on goods thrust her government into crisis this month and there is speculation she could face a leadership challenge after two of her most senior ministers, including Johnson, resigned in protest. Only one in 10 voters would pick the government’s proposed Brexit plans if there were a second referendum, according to the poll. Almost half think it would be bad for Britain. The new Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday the prime minister was still trying to persuade members of the cabinet that her …

German Industry: US Tariffs Risk Hurting US

German industry groups warned Sunday, ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and U.S. President Donald Trump, that tariffs the United States has recently imposed or threatened risk harming the U.S. itself. The U.S. imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum June 1, and Trump is threatening to extend them to EU cars and car parts. Juncker will discuss trade with Trump at a meeting Wednesday. Dieter Kempf, head of Germany’s BDI industry association, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper it was wise for the European Union and United States to continue their discussions. German auto industry “The tariffs under the guise of national security should be abolished,” Kempf said, adding that Juncker needed to make clear to Trump that the United States would harm itself with tariffs on cars and car parts. He added that the German auto industry employed more than 118,000 people in the United States and 60 percent of what they produced was exported to other countries from the U.S.  “Europe should not let itself be blackmailed and should put in a confident appearance in the United States,” he added. Lowered expectations EU officials have sought to lower expectations about what Juncker can achieve and downplayed suggestions that he will arrive in Washington with a novel plan to restore good relations. Eric Schweitzer, president of the DIHK Chambers of Commerce, told Welt am Sonntag he welcomed Juncker’s attempt to persuade the U.S. government not to impose tariffs on cars. “All arguments in favor of …

Fiat Chrysler Names Jeep Boss to Replace Stricken CEO

Fiat Chrysler named on Saturday its Jeep division boss, Mike Manley, to take over immediately for Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, who is seriously ill after suffering major complications following surgery. The carmaker said British-born Manley, who also takes responsibility for the North America region, will push ahead with the midterm strategy outlined last month by Marchionne, who had been due to step down next April. Marchionne, 66, was credited with rescuing Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the Italian carmaker’s wheel in 2004. On Saturday, he was also replaced as chairman and CEO of Ferrari and chairman of tractor maker CNH Industrial — both spun off from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in recent years. “FCA communicates with profound sorrow that during the course of this week unexpected complications arose while Mr. Marchionne was recovering from surgery and that these have worsened significantly in recent hours,” the statement said. FCA disclosed earlier this month that Marchionne, a renowned dealmaker and workaholic, was recovering from a shoulder operation. But his condition deteriorated sharply in recent days when he suffered massive complications that were not divulged. Ferrari named FCA Chairman and Agnelli family scion John Elkann as new chairman, while board member Louis Camilleri becomes chief executive. CNH appointed Suzanna Heywood to replace Marchionne as chairman. All three companies remain controlled by the Agnellis. Marchionne had previously said he planned to stay on as Ferrari chairman and CEO until 2021. Deal focus One of the auto industry’s longest-serving CEOs, Marchionne has advocated tie-ups …

Tariffs Will Hurt Economy, IMF Warns, as Trump Threatens More

The International Monetary Fund warned world economic leaders on Saturday that a recent wave of trade tariffs would significantly harm global growth, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a major escalation in a dispute with China. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she would present the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Buenos Aires with a report detailing the impacts of the restrictions already announced on global trade. “It certainly indicates the impact that it could have on GDP [gross domestic product], which in the worst case scenario under current measures … is in the range of 0.5 percent of GDP on a global basis,” Lagarde said at a joint news conference with Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne. In the briefing note prepared for G-20 ministers, the IMF said global growth might peak at 3.9 percent in 2018 and 2019, while downside risks have increased because of the growing trade conflict. Her warning came shortly after the top U.S. economic official, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, told reporters in the Argentine capital there was no “macro” effect yet on the world’s largest economy. Long-simmering trade tensions have burst into the open in recent months, with the United States and China — the world’s largest and second-largest economies — slapping tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s goods so far. The weekend meeting in Buenos Aires comes amid a dramatic escalation in rhetoric on both sides. Trump on Friday threatened tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese exports to the United States. Mnuchin said that while there were some “micro” effects, such as retaliation against U.S.-produced …