Business

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators on Thursday approved allowing utilities to cut off electricity to possibly hundreds of thousands of customers to avoid catastrophic wildfires like the one sparked by power lines last year that killed 85 people and largely destroyed the city of Paradise.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that President Donald Trump is a “great friend of the Canadian people” and that the U.S.-Canada relationship has “never been stronger,” less than a year after Trump assailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in unprecedented attacks on America’s longtime ally.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal security chief faces accusations of sexual misconduct and making racist and homophobic comments, according to a report Thursday by a business news site.

In a detailed article, Business Insider cited legal letters reportedly written by former employees of Zuckerberg’s household staff. The letters reportedly described pervasive discriminatory conduct and severe levels of sexual harassment and battery, including racist and homophobic comments about members of Zuckerberg’s staff and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

TORONTO (AP) — The NBA is closely monitoring the ongoing trade dispute and tariff rift between the U.S. and China, though the league is not yet worried that it will interfere with any business happening with the world’s most populous nation.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver even went as far Thursday night to suggest that the sport could provide a reprise of sorts to the phenomenon known as “pingpong diplomacy” — when table tennis players from the U.S. and China played in the early 1970s and essentially began a major mending of relations between the two countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s announcement on new tariffs for Mexican imports in response to heavy flow of migrants (all times local):

11:15 p.m.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his foreign relations secretary will lead a delegation to seek a peaceful and negotiated solution to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose stiff tariffs on goods from Mexico if the country doesn’t do more to slow irregular migration.

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Friday as trade worries continued after President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on imports from Mexico.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 0.7% in early trading to 20,796.38, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched down 0.1% to 6,383.70. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4% to 2,046.56. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed but up by less than 0.1% to 27,115.53, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 2,914.46.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman opened an emergency summit of Arab leaders in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca on Friday with a call for the international community to use all means to confront Iran, but he also said the kingdom remains committed to peace.

King Salman delivered his remarks at Arab summits in Mecca that were hastily convened after a spike in tensions between Saudi Arabia and its rival Iran.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprise announcement that could compromise a major trade deal, President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is slapping a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports, effective June 10, to pressure the country to do more to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross the U.S. border.

He said the percentage will gradually increase — up to 25% — “until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied.”

30 May 2019; AFP: China accused the United States of "naked economic terrorism" on Thursday as Beijing ramps up the rhetoric in their trade war.

The world's top two economies are at loggerheads as trade talks have apparently stalled, with US President Donald Trump hiking tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods earlier this month and blacklisting telecoms giant Huawei.

30 May 2019; DW: Supermarket chain Aldi is set to open its first store in China. The German discounter is reportedly hoping to tap into a more affluent customer base by touting sought-after products from Europe.

German discount chain Aldi Süd is preparing to launch a flagship store in the coastal metropolis of Shanghai next week, according to trade reports.

A second store is expected to follow in the near future, the Lebensmittel Zeitung newspaper reported.