Washington Financial News

By Jamie McGeever

Biden administration has assured the Indian government of a quick investigation into the death of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula in Seattle after being struck by a speeding police patrol car and bringing to justice the police officers who were responsible for it. The US government swung into action after India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, strongly raised the issue at the highest level in Washington and sought prompt action on the killing of Kandula, and the highly insensitive behaviour of the police officer in Seattle in Washington state. Kandula was killed in January after she was struck by a police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Dave.

The top executives from some of the world’s largest tech and web companies have concluded a closed-door meeting with U.S. lawmakers in Washington D.C., where they reportedly discussed AI technology and potential approaches to regulation.

European Union may have just sparked one of its biggest battles. With European officials fearing millions of auto jobs are at risk from China’s surging electric vehicle exports, the bloc’s executive arm on Wednesday launched an investigation into Beijing’s financial support for the EV industry. The probe, which could take up to nine months, will probably lead to new EU tariffs on Chinese EV imports and embroil major non-European automakers like Tesla Inc., which produce cars in China for export to the bloc. The move may lead to tariffs close to the 27.5% level already imposed by the US on Chinese EVs, according to a person familiar with the matter. The EU duties could vary depending on the producer, the person added, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private and no decision has been finalized. The bloc’s investigation, as well as aggressive moves by Washington to counter China, are part of a broader rethink by governments in developed economies to bring production closer to home, especially for key sectors like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and heavy industries, which were disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic. That drive to secure supply chains, combined with the tensions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has resulted in a simultaneous rush to throw up trade barriers, triggering fears of a global economic fragmentation.Major Market If the EU does impose duties, that would curtail one of the last major markets for Chinese EV exports, and raises the prospect of a cascade of defensive moves in places like the UK to protect their markets being flooded by vehicles redirected from the EU. Shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers staged a mix performance Thursday with BYD Co Ltd.

Donald Trump and some other defendants are waiving their right to seek a speedy trial in the Georgia case in which they are accused of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. The filings are part of the legal maneuvering as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis seeks to try all 19 defendants together starting next month. Most of the defendants have sought to separate their cases from some or all of the others, with many saying they will not be ready by Oct.

By Jeff Mason and Jarrett Renshaw

By David Lawder

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON—Titans of Silicon Valley are descending on Washington Wednesday to brief U.S. senators on artificial intelligence, in a meeting aimed at advancing nascent efforts to regulate the new technology. The closed-door all-senators’ session, organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), will feature Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and more than a dozen other executives and civil-society leaders.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Joe Biden wants auto union UAW and major automakers to work around-the-clock to avoid a strike, White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein said Wednesday.

By Howard Schneider

(Reuters) — The U.S. Senate has issued a subpoena to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund's (PIF) U.S. subsidiary over its planned partnership with the PGA Tour, it said on Wednesday.

By Diane Bartz

Sharply higher gas prices pushed up inflation in August, yet underlying price measures cooled

The Biden administration is recommending changes to a 151-year-old law that governs mining for copper, gold and other hardrock minerals on U.S.-owned lands, including making companies pay royalties on what they extract

Here's more proof of how fast legal sports betting is spreading in the U.S. A company that most of the industry uses to verify that its customers are where they say they are reports a record number of transactions over the first weekend of the NFL season

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been talking for months about trying to pass bipartisan legislation that encourages the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mitigates its biggest risks

Inflation jumped last month largely because of a spike in gas prices, while other costs rose more slowly, suggesting price pressures are easing at a gradual pace

By Jonathan Stempel

By David Shepardson

Investing.com -- A crucial legal battle between Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google and the U.S. Department of Justice that began with opening arguments earlier this week is «too close to call,» according to analysts at Barclays.