By Julia Harte and Nate Raymond (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether Harvard racially discriminates by favoring applicants with ties to donors and alumni in its admissions process, according to a letter from the agency. The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened the probe following a complaint filed earlier this month by…
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will loosen loan regulations for homeowners having difficulty repaying “jeonse” deposits to tenants, for a year starting on Thursday, the financial regulator said. Jeonse refers to South Korea’s unique house renting scheme in which tenants put up a deposit typically worth as much as 70% of the home’s value, then…
By Chen Aizhu, Emily Chow and Andrew Hayley SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) – Policy reform in China will boost profit for city-gas distributors by letting them raise prices for residential sales above costs, after years of selling piped gas to households at a loss, according to utility officials and analysts. The scheme, which allows retail residential tariffs…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Both Democratic and Republican senators expressed alarm on Tuesday about the potential for a malevolent use of artificial intelligence, focusing on the possibility of AI being used to create a biological attack. In a hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dario Amodei, chief executive of the AI company Anthropic,…
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s securities regulator promised to deepen reforms in its capital markets and open them up further in the second half of this year, as part of moves to implement policy support pledged by top leaders of the country. The Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, promised on Monday to…
By David Stanway SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Human-induced climate change has played an “absolutely overwhelming” role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept across North America, Europe and China this month, according to an assessment by scientists published on Tuesday. Throughout July, extreme weather has caused havoc across the planet, with temperatures breaking records in China,…
By Kylie Madry and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo lowered its sales and earnings guidance for 2023 as it deals with the strong appreciation of the peso, which also hurt second-quarter results released on Tuesday. Bimbo cut its annual sales forecast to low-to-mid single-digit growth, Chief Financial Officer Diego Gaxiola said…
By Joseph Ax (Reuters) – Voters in Ohio will decide in November whether to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitution, after state officials on Tuesday confirmed abortion rights supporters had gathered enough signatures to place the question on the ballot. The measure will be closely watched by groups on both sides of…
By Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – The Panama Canal will extend restrictions on ships’ maximum depth, it said on Tuesday, and it has limited average crossings at one of the world’s busiest trade passages to just 32 ships a day as a prolonged drought continues. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will maintain a depth…
By Kylie Madry MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Grupo Televisa reported a more than 95% slide in quarterly net profit on Tuesday as the broadcaster’s income from its joint venture with Univision slipped and satellite TV unit Sky saw increased disconnections. Profit only reached 133.5 million pesos ($7.8 million) in the second quarter, a sharp drop…
