Business

12 Jan 2019; DW: Across France, 80,000 police officers are being mobilized for the ninth weekend of nationwide street protests. President Emmanuel Macron's plans for a three-month public debate have done little to assuage anger.

More than 5,000 police officers are expected to be on the streets of the French capital on Saturday to monitor the ninth weekend of street protests by the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) India has granted consular access to Christian Michel, a British national who was brought here from the UAE last month in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The British High Commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December.

Mumbai, Jan 11 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the BEST Workers' Union to "take the first step" towards resolving its dispute with the state and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and end the civic bus service employees' strike, now in its fourth day.

The court also asked the union to hold a meeting of its office-bearers in the evening in a bid to break the stalemate.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court that the Maharashtra government had set up a committee, headed by the chief secretary, to hold talks with the union.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Industrial output growth dropped to a 17-month low of 0.5 per cent in November on account of contraction in manufacturing sector, particularly consumer and capital goods.

Factory output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown by 8.5 per cent in November 2017, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.

The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by 0.3 per cent.

The growth for October 2018 was revised upwards to 8.4 per cent from 8.1 per cent.

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Rachael Weatherly is a senior adviser for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but she’s considering trying to get a job at a grocery store.

Weatherly is among the 800,000 federal employees who aren’t getting paychecks for the first time Friday because of the lingering government shutdown.

They are scaling back spending, canceling trips, applying for unemployment benefits and taking out loans to stay afloat, with no end in sight for a partial shutdown that enters its 21st day Friday and will be the longest in history by this weekend.

11 Jan 2019; AFP: Holiday shopping reports released Thursday underscored anew the challenges US retailers face in the Amazon era -- even if consumers are willing to open their wallets to spend.

The updates were a mixed bag overall, with several retailers reporting small or moderate increases in comparable store sales during the critical November-December period.

But a report from Macy's aroused the most angst on Wall Street, after the chain slashed its profit forecast even as it signaled a modest increase in sales.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his planned trip later this month to the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

"Because of the Democrats intransigence on Border Security and the great importance of Safety for our Nation, I am respectfully cancelling my very important trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum," the president tweeted.

LONDON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told his counterpart, Britain's Theresa May, in London Thursday that he supported the Brexit deal she has agreed with the European Union (EU).

After a high-level meeting with May at 10 Downing Street, Abe said: "It is the strong will of Japan to further develop this strong partnership with the UK, to invest more into your country and to enjoy further economic growth with the UK.

"That is why we truly hope that a no-deal Brexit will be avoided, and in fact that is the whole wish of the whole world."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved a bill to fund the Treasury Department, the IRS and other agencies for the next year as part of a Democratic strategy to reopen the government on a piecemeal basis.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 240-188 on Wednesday to approve the funding bill, which also would reopen the Federal Communications Commission, the Small Business Administration and the federal judiciary, among other agencies.

Eight Republicans joined 232 Democrats to support the bill.

TORONTO (AP) — China’s ambassador to Canada accused the country Wednesday of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month, while describing the detentions as an “act of self-defense.”

The arrests were in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada.

But Ambassador Lu Shaye’s charged in op-ed in the Ottawa-based Hill Times that Western countries are employing a “double standard” in demanding the immediate release of the Canadians.