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Tesla fans complain Biden ignores companys EV leadership
DETROIT: Some of Teslas loyal band of devotees and CEO Elon Musk say the White House has been unfairly snubbing Americas top-selling electric vehicle brand in its support for EVs as a way to help fight climate change and theyre making their discontent known. More than 33,000 people have signed a petition on change.org, asking President Joe Biden to acknowledge Teslas electric vehicle leadership. The petitioners have accused the president of ignoring Tesla, a non-union company, in favor of the traditional Detroit automakers, which are unionized.
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Biden issues an infrastructure roadmap to help spend $1T
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is urging U.S. governors to ramp up their construction plans as his administration rolls out a guidebook for accessing the nearly $1 trillion made available by the bipartisan infrastructure deal. Biden welcomed governors to the White House on Monday as part of the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. He cajoled them on the importance of infrastructure, telling them that they know how to build roads and bridges and that there are a lot to build. The White House says the goal of the guidebook released Monday is to ensure that all communities have the details on how to qualify for funding, no matter their size or politics. ___
Rogan responds to Spotify protest, COVID advisories
NEW YORK: Spotify is pledging to combat the spread of COVID-19 misinformation as part of a damage-control campaign sparked by musician Neil Young, who called out the streaming services top podcaster for amplifying vaccine skepticism. Spotify said Sunday that it will add content advisories before podcasts discussing the coronavirus. Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek laid out more transparent platform rules given the backlash stirred by Young, who had his music removed from the streaming service. Joe Rogan, who has been criticized for spreading virus misinformation on his podcast, said he welcomed the addition of the advisories.
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EPA restores rule to limit power-plant mercury emissions
WASHINGTON: In a reversal of a Trump-era action, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will resume enforcement of a rule that limits power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants. The EPA action restores a rule imposed under President Barack Obama and continues a practice in which the Biden administration reinstates environmental protections loosened under President Donald Trump. The rule requires significant reductions in emissions of mercury, acid gases and other harmful pollutants, primarily by coal-fired power plants. EPA said its actions would improve public health, including reducing the risk of heart attacks and cancer and avoiding neurodevelopmental delays in children.
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Stocks end higher, still log worst month since March 2020
NEW YORK: Stocks closed higher Monday, but still logged their worst monthly loss since the early days of the pandemic, as Wall Street closes a tumultuous January wracked by worries that imminent interest-rate hikes will make everything in markets more challenging. The S&P 500 rose 1.9%, but its still down 5.9% since setting a record exactly four weeks ago. It lost 5.3% this month, its worst since falling 12.5% in March 2020, when it hit bottom after the pandemic suddenly shut down the global economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.79% from 1.77% Friday.
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Boeing lands huge airplane order from Qatar Airways
CHICAGO: Boeing says it has landed a huge new order for planes from Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways. Boeing said Monday that Qatar ordered up to 50 cargo planes and committed to up to 50 of its Boeing 737 Max jets. Its a huge win for the U.S. aircraft maker over European rival Airbus, which has been locked in a bitter fight with Qatar Airways over the paint jobs on some Airbus planes. Boeing and Qatar Airways did not disclose financial terms of the deal. The list price of the planes would total about $27 billion, but airlines routinely get deep discounts.
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Sonys PlayStation buys Bungie, game studio with Xbox ties
BELLEVUE, Wash.: PlayStation-maker Sony is escalating its competition with Xbox-maker Microsoft by buying the video game studio behind one of Xboxs hit games. Sony Interactive Entertainment said Monday it would spend $3.6 billion to buy Bungie Inc., an independent game publisher based in Bellevue, Washington. Bungie makes the popular game franchise Destiny and was the original developer of Xbox-owned Halo. Microsoft bought Bungie in 2000, but spun off the game studio in 2007 while retaining the intellectual property rights to the Halo franchise.
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Exxon restructures divisions and packs up for Houston
NEW YORK: Exxon Mobil is restructuring its business into three divisions and moving its headquarters from Irving, Texas. to its campus north of Houston. The oil giant said Monday that it will combine its chemical and downstream companies refineries and distributors while centralizing its technology and engineering and other support services. It will also consolidate its upstream business, which includes exploration and drilling. Exxon Mobil sales for the year are expected to be close to $300 billion when it releases its earnings Tuesday. It says the reorganization will be effective April 1.
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Mexicos economy enters technical recession
MEXICO CITY: Mexicos economy entered a technical recession at the end of last year with two consecutive quarters of contraction. Thats despite annual growth of 5% for 2021. Continuing issues with the global supply chain have been a problem for Mexican assembly plants. Despite COVID-19 infections falling late last year and there being few health-related restrictions the economy struggled. The government statistics agency says that in the last three months of 2021, the economy dropped 0.1% compared to the previous three months, when it shrank 0.4%. The 5% growth in 2021 followed an 8.4% contraction in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic gripped Mexico.
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The S&P 500 rose 83.70 points, or 1.9%, to 4,515.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 406.39 points, or 1.2%, to 35,131.86. The Nasdaq jumped 469.31 points, or 3.4%, to 14,239.88. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 59.94 points, or 3%, to 2,028.45
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