Washington Financial News

Sundar Pichai took swipes at rival Microsoft, while appearing before a court an antitrust hearing panel in Washington on October 30 Pichai said that Chrome, the web browser of Google that dominates the segment, was launched by the company at a time when browser market had stagnated. Microsoft's Internet Explorer was considered as the top web browser before the launch of Chrome in 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc and its subsidiary Google, testified Monday in a once-in-a generation antitrust fight with the U.S. government that the company sought to make browser use and internet search easy and secure.

F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets. Over the weekend, Denmark and the Netherlands announced that they would begin sending F-16s to Ukraine as soon as the training of the first group of pilots to fly them is complete. The Danish air force will donate 19 F-16s (upgraded in recent years) and the Dutch an as yet unclear number of the 42 F-16s they possess.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday would not acknowledge differences between the U.S. and Israel over the military assault on Gaza, but emphasized that Washington was being candid with its ally. Faced with growing outcry over Israel's bombardment of Gaza since the deadly Oct.

Wang Yi said the path to a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden was «not smooth», state media reported as the top diplomat wrapped up a rare visit to Washington. Wang met with Biden and other senior US officials this week, with both sides agreeing on Friday to set up a meeting between the leaders next month. Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit at a time of tense relations between the two powers.

inflation picked up along with consumer spending as the third quarter drew to a close, government figures showed ahead of the Federal Reserve’s penultimate policy meeting of the year. Consumer price growth also gathered pace in Tokyo, an indicator of nationwide inflation. Bank of Japan officials also meet next week, as do Bank of England policymakers.

Brisbane fast-charging company Tritium may be forced to close its Australian factory and move its headquarters overseas after a dramatic fall from a “double unicorn” $2 billion listing on the Nasdaq two years ago to being issued a show-cause notice last week about its underperformance on the American bourse.

The Biden administration is contemplating measures to plug a loophole that has been enabling Chinese firms to acquire U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chips through overseas channels, as reported by Reuters on October 13, 2023. This move underscores Washington's ongoing effort to curb China's burgeoning AI capabilities which are significantly anchored on U.S. chip technology.

Israel, escalating a rhetorical back-and-forth that has stoked fears the Israeli conflict with Hamas will spread into a wider regional war. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian declined to detail the consequences Iran might have in store.

export licenses for most civilian firearms and ammunition for 90 days for all non-governmental users, the Commerce Department said on Friday, citing national security and foreign policy interests. The Commerce Department did not provide further details for the pause, which also includes shotguns and optical sights, but said an urgent review will assess the «risk of firearms being diverted to entities or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities.» The Commerce Department declined to comment beyond the posting on its website. The halt covers most of the guns and ammunition that could be purchased in a U.S. gun store, said Johanna Reeves, a lawyer who specializes in export controls and firearms with the law firm Reeves & Dola in Washington. Reeves said she had not seen the Commerce Department take such a sweeping action like this before.

United States and China have agreed to work together toward an expected summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month, U.S. officials said on Friday, following hours of meetings between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and senior U.S.

US regulators are finally discussing the subject of fiat-backed digital assets, popularly known as stablecoins.

Welcome to the weekend. To start off your day, we’ve curated 10 great reads to enjoy.

An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve showed price increases remained elevated in September amid brisk consumer spending and strong economic growth

The Biden administration is launching a multi-agency effort to encourage states and cities to convert more empty office buildings into housing units, with billions of federal dollars available to help spur such transitions

There soon may be a new cure for sickle cell disease that attacks the disorder at its genetic source

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Joe Biden met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Friday, the White House said.

By Ted Hesson and Daniel Wiessner

The Federal Reserve Board continues to research a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or at least adjacent technologies, vice chair Michael Barr said on Oct. 27. He also touched on stablecoins at the Economics of Payments XII Conference where his English colleague Sir Jon Cunliffe made his last speech as deputy governor of the Bank of England (BOE).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in September, keeping it on a higher growth path heading into the fourth quarter, while monthly inflation was elevated.