Scope Ratings places US credit ratings under review for possible downgrade

(Reuters) -Scope Ratings on Friday placed the United States of America’s AA long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings in local and foreign currency under review for a possible downgrade due to longer run risks associated with the misuse of the debt ceiling instrument. Scope, which is seen as the leading European credit rating agency,…

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U.S. launches $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports, cut emissions

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday launched a $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports and cut heavy duty truck emissions as the government looks to address disproportionate impacts on nearby communities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was seeking input in its $3 billion Clean Ports Program to…

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Georgia fake elector defendants accept immunity in Trump probe -lawyer

(Reuters) – Prosecutors for Georgia’s Fulton County have granted immunity to at least eight people under investigation for conspiring to overturn Georgia’s vote in the 2020 presidential election, according to a court filing on Friday. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to disclose this summer whether former President Donald Trump and others will…

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Judge tosses FTC lawsuit accusing broker of unfair geolocation data sales

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Idaho on Thursday dismissed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Kochava Inc alleging that the data broker unfairly sold geolocation data but gave the regulator an opportunity to revise its case. In a 35-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill granted a motion the Idaho-based company filed…

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Jurors at rape trial hear Trump defend lewd ‘Grab ’em’ remarks in new video

By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Padraic Halpin NEW YORK/DOONBEG, Ireland (Reuters) -Jurors in Donald Trump’s civil rape trial on Thursday saw a video deposition in which the former U.S. president defended private comments he made in 2005 about grabbing women sexually without asking. Trump was asked by a lawyer for his accuser, the writer…

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Venezuelan opposition party replaces Guaido as candidate

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular on Friday named a new candidate for a key presidential primary in October, replacing formerly anti-government leader Juan Guaido who left Venezuela unexpectedly in late April. At a news conference, Voluntad Popular named political coordinator Freddy Superlano, a 46-year-old engineer and critic of President Nicolas Maduro, as…

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Wall Street Week Ahead: U.S. consumer price data to test feared stagflation scenario

By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fears of stagflation are percolating on Wall Street, as investors await data that could shed light on whether the Federal Reserve is succeeding in tamping down inflation without badly hurting growth. Stagflation – a combination of stagnant growth and persistent inflation that dogged the U.S. in the 1970s…

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