Use of cannabis is very common in the island state of New Zealand. Around 42% of all aged Kiwis have reportedly tried the most popular but illegal substance. However, the island nation is going through acute shortage of weed due to drought, flood and intervention from the law enforcers.
People
India moves WTO over US doubling visa fees
India is seeking World Trade Organization's (WTO) intervention over increasing visa fees by the US. The visa fee for H-1B has been doubled to $4,000 and it's $4,500 for L-1 visa, as fixed by the US government.
China's consumers spending rise on spas, travel, entertainment
Chinese consumers are spending more on spa visits, travel and entertainment as income levels are on upward movement. The consumer spending is expected rise 10 percent annually for the next decade.
U.S. Competes with China for Business and Influence in Cuba
China and U.S. has been competing for a place in the economy and politics of Cuba. China has been doing business with Cuba for several years and the U.S. is just making a start. The edge that Washington sees is the proximity as being Cuba's neighbor.
Automatic emergency braking will be standard in US cars by 2022
The US automobile industry will have the automatic emergency braking system in place by 2022. About 20 automobile manufacturers representing over 99 percent of US automobile industry have agreed to implement automatic emergency braking system in their vehicles.
Latest News
Pacific Exploration & Production Corp is actively examining six buyout offers. The Canada-listed company is in the process of avoiding bankruptcy. The company's board is likely to take its final decision by this weekend.
TransCanda has announced on Thursday its acquisition of Columbia Pipeline for $13 billion in total, enabling the energy giant to represent itself as a dominant player in the businesses of natural gas across the North America. The deal appears following a series of announcement for merger in the energy sector including $2.3 billion deals in 2016.
EDF has been witnessing a stretched balance sheet mainly due to lower power tariff. The French utility’s CFO has resigned this month protesting go ahead with the Hinkley project citing its indebted status. However, French government has assured of financial bailout for EDF to go ahead with the project considering future business prospect.
Bouygues SA is probably going to be acquired through a multi lateral deal. Though the deal appears for €10 Billion in total, Altice will have to pay €4 Billion. The rest deal amount will be paid by Orange SA, SFR and Illiad SA.
JPMorgan board has announced the approval of $1.88 billion buy-backs in stock. The recent buy back decision follows its earlier precedence of repurchasing stock for $6.4 billion. The board has allowed flexibility in timeframe and quantity of purchased shares or even pulling out from the decision at company’s own discretion.
Automatic emergency braking systems have proved their efficiency in preventing car accidents. The systems may reduce the number of rear-end collisions by up to 40%. Considering the efficacy level, almost all US automakers and NHTSA have reached an agreement to make the system a standard equipment on most cars by 2022.
Central bank of Chile has not changed its key interest rate for three months in a row even though it recorded the slowest economy growth rate in six years in January 2016. The inflation rate is alarmingly at 4.7 percent above the two percent target of Chile government.
Sirius Minerals has decided to execute a potash mine, Britain's first potash mine in 40 years, at an investment of £2.5-billion. Sirius is planning to raise funds from investors and banks. Environmentalists are raising concerns , however, about the project as it would have underground network of tunnels underneath North York Moors National Park.
Tech company 373K decided to move from Georgia due to religious freedom bill that would allow anti-gay discrimination. After reaching the decision to move through voting, the company is now in the process in moving to Delaware.
