business

Cook’s lawyer says the criminal referrals against her ‘fail on even the most cursory look at the facts’.

United States Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s lawyer has offered the first detailed defence of mortgage applications that gave rise to President Donald Trump’s move to fire her, saying apparent discrepancies in loan documents were either accurate at the time or an “inadvertent notation” that couldn’t constitute fraud given other disclosures to her lenders.

Cook has denied wrongdoing, but until Monday, neither she nor her legal team had responded in any detail to the fraud accusations first made in August by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte.

She has challenged her removal in court, and the US Supreme Court has for now blocked Trump’s firing attempt and will hear arguments in the case in January.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said the department “does not comment on current or prospective litigation, including matters that may be an investigation”.

In a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi seen by the Reuters news agency, Cook’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said the criminal referrals Pulte made against her “fail on even the most cursory look at the facts”.

The two separate criminal referrals Pulte made fail to establish any evidence that Cook intentionally deceived her lenders when she obtained mortgage loans for three properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, the letter said.

Lowell also accused Pulte of selectively targeting Trump’s political enemies while ignoring similar allegations against Republican officials, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Lowell said other recent conduct by Pulte “undercut his criminal referrals concerning Governor Cook”. That behaviour includes the recent dismissal of the FHFA’s acting inspector general and several internal watchdogs at Fannie Mae, one of the mortgage-finance giants under FHFA control.

The letter also cited a recent article by Reuters that said the White House ousted FHFA acting Inspector General Joe Allen right after he tried to provide key discovery material to federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia who are pursuing an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James was charged with bank fraud and lying to her lender also after Pulte made a referral to the Justice Department. She has pleaded not guilty, and she is seeking a dismissal of the case on multiple grounds, including vindictive and selective prosecution.

Cook’s case is being handled in part by Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, whom Bondi named as a special assistant US attorney to assist with mortgage fraud probes into public figures.

The case is still being investigated, and no criminal charges have been brought. The department is also separately investigating Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff, also at Pulte’s request.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have plummeted over Japanese leader’s recent remarks on Taiwan.

Japanese shares linked to the tourism industry have nosedived following China’s warning to its citizens against travelling to Japan.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have plummeted since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested earlier this month that Japan’s military could intervene to stop China from taking control of Taiwan.

In a sharp escalation of the dispute on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised citizens to avoid travel to the East Asian country, claiming that Takaichi’s comments had increased risks to their “personal safety and lives”.

The issue continued to reverberate as Japan’s stock market reopened on Monday after the weekend break, with shares of airlines and retail outlets taking sharp falls.

Department store group Isetan Mitsukoshi fell more than 11 percent in afternoon trading, while its rival Takashimaya tumbled about 5 percent.

Japan Airlines fell about 4 percent, while Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing dipped about 5 percent. Cosmetics company Shiseido plunged about 9.5 percent.

China is Japan’s biggest source of foreign tourists, accounting for almost one-quarter of the 31.65 million arrivals in the first nine months of this year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Ryota Abe, an economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, said Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) could shrink by about 0.5 percent in the event of a total collapse in Chinese arrivals and by about 0.1-0.2 percent if arrivals decreased by about one-third.

“Even if the number of visitors decreases 30 percent because of the heightened tensions, the negative impact will be around 0.1-0.2 percent,” Abe told Al Jazeera.

Japan’s economy shrank by 0.4 percent in the three months to September, official data released on Monday showed, the first contraction in six quarters.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news briefing on Monday that Beijing’s travel warning was inconsistent with mutually beneficial ties and that Tokyo had requested “appropriate steps” from the Chinese side.

Japan’s top official for Asia Pacific affairs, Masaaki Kanai, departed for China on Monday for talks aimed at lowering tensions between the sides, Japanese media reported.

Masaaki Kanai will meet his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong, in Beijing, where he is expected to clarify that Tokyo has made no change to its security policy despite Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, the reports said.

Japan has long viewed China’s threats to take control of Taiwan with concern due to the self-ruled island’s close proximity to Japanese territory and its location in waters that carry large volumes of trade.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has pledged to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.

Taiwan is not officially recognised by most countries but has many characteristics of a de facto independent state, including its own military and passport, and a democratically elected president and legislature.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — Jaguar Land Rover reported a loss of $637 million over the three months ending in September, when it was hit by a cyberattack that shut down production.

In the same quarter last year, the company reported $523 million in profits. The company also reported additional costs of $258 million, which included outside consultants and other support after the attack, the BBC reported.

The company had to shut down production through all of September and early October because the attack disabled its computer systems.

Retail sales dropped in all markets. In the United Kingdom they were down by 32.3%. Sales fell by 12.1% in Europe, 9% in North America, 22.5% in China and 15.8% in the Middle East and North Africa.

Revenues for the quarter fell 24%, from $8.5 billion last year to $6.4 billion, the company told BBC.

JLR also had phased out several models as part of a plan to become an all-electric brand. Those new models are now delayed until at least 2026. The JLR CFO Richard Molyneux wouldn’t confirm a launch date.

“We will launch it when it is perfectly right,” he said.

The English manufacturer has confirmed that all plants are back up and running at capacity or near it.

“JLR has made strong progress in recovering its operations safely and at pace after the cyber incident,” said outgoing JLR CEO Adrian Mardell, The Guardian reported. “In our response we prioritized client, retailer and supplier systems, and I am pleased to confirm that production of all our luxury brands has resumed.

“The speed of recovery is testament to the resilience and hard work of our colleagues. I am extremely grateful to all our people who have shown enormous commitment during this difficult time,” Mardell said.

Auto production in the United Kingdom was at its lowest level for September since 1952, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — Peru became the top global winner at the International Chocolate Awards with its “El Ganso 70%” bar, made with cacao from the Junín region in the central part of the country.

The recognition places Peru at the genetic and cultural epicenter of cacao worldwide.

Considered the “Chocolate Oscars,” the competition is organized by an international network of experts in cacao, gastronomy and sensory analysis. The contest is held in regional phases. The Latin American round was held in April, and the World Final was this week in Florence, Italy.

The winning bar, produced by the brand Cacaosuyo, received the Overall Winner award, the competition’s top honor. Its fruity, floral profile with deep cacao notes impressed an international jury of tasters, chefs and culinary experts.

The cacao used in “El Ganso 70%” comes from Junín, a region of exceptional biodiversity where native varieties with high genetic value are grown. According to Samir Giha, founder of Cacaosuyo, “Peru is the world’s genetic center of cacao, with more varieties than any other country.”

More than 3,500 chocolate samples from around the world were evaluated in the competition. Latin America had a strong showing, with products from at least 10 countries.

Colombia stood out with artisanal bars from regions known for their traceability and fruity, floral profiles. Mexico, meanwhile, presented bean-to-bar chocolates made with criollo cacao from Chiapas and Tabasco, which earned awards in the regional phase for their deep flavor and respect for tradition.

Ecuador reaffirmed its international reputation with chocolates made from its emblematic “Arriba Nacional” cacao, earning distinctions in the dark chocolate and single-origin categories.

Brazil surprised with innovative entries from the Amazon that combined sustainability with sensory creativity, while Venezuela competed with Chuao and Carenero beans, winning medals for the depth and elegance of its dark chocolates.

Peru’s victory comes at a pivotal moment. The international price of cocoa — the processed form of cacao beans — rose from about $2,500 a ton in 2023 to a record high of $12,931 per ton in December. But as of Wednesday, cocoa futures were at $5,625 per ton.

Still, the increase has restored profitability to the crop, improved conditions for small producers and opened new export opportunities.

The international recognition is boosting the bean-to-bar model, which promotes traceability, fair trade and sensory quality. Countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, China and Japan are the main destinations for Peruvian chocolate, strengthening its global presence.

The global chocolate market is expanding, driven by rising demand for artisanal, ethical and origin-specific products. Today’s consumers are seeking authentic sensory experiences, a trend that has benefited Latin American countries with fine and criollo cacaos.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — The Trump administration has agreed to lower tariffs on Swiss goods imported to the United States, a statement from the Swiss government said Friday.

The agreement drops tariffs on Swiss imports from 39% to 15%. The higher rate went into effect in August after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on dozens of trading partners to correct what he described as a trade imbalance.

The United States had a $38 billion trade deficit with Switzerland in 2024, according to U.S. Commerce Department data cited by CNN.

“Switzerland and the U.S. have successfully found a solution: U.S. tariffs will be reduced to 15%,” the Swiss government said in a post on X.

“Thanks to President Trump @POTUS for the constructive agreement.”

The announcement came after Swiss officials met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The Swiss government said further details about the agreement would be announced at 4 p.m. CET.

“They’re going to send a lot of manufacturing here to the United States — pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment — so we’re really excited about that deal and what it means for American manufacturing,” Greer said in an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

He said the deal had been in the works since April.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — The European Union wants Google to dismantle its European-based advertising-technology business, which it has deemed a monopoly, but the tech firm said Friday it has another plan.

Google officials announced they submitted a compliance plan following the European Commission’s ad-tech decision, which Google will appeal.

“Our proposal fully addresses the EC’s decision without a disruptive breakup that would harm thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google tools to grow their business,” Google said in a blog post.

Google’s proposal “includes immediate product changes to end the specific practices the Commission challenges,” it said.

“For example, we are giving publishers the option to set different minimum prices for different bidders when using Google Ad Manager,” Google officials said.

They also propose addressing accusations of conflicts of interest by giving publishers and advertisers more choices and greater flexibility by “increasing the interoperability of our tools.”

Google officials said they intend to cooperate with the EC while it considers the proposal and “are committed to finding an effective solution that provides certainty and consistency for our customers across Europe, the United States and globally.”

The EC in September fined Google $3.5 billion in a search engine antitrust case and wants Google to break up its European business.

Google’s proposal seeks to avoid a breakup, but it does not provide any mechanisms for measuring the impact of proposed changes, according to Politico.

The EC has received Google’s proposal, which drew criticism from online publishers in Europe.

“Behavioral adjustments have been tested repeatedly over many years and have failed to rebalance this market,” Angela Mills Wade, European Publishers Council executive director, told Politico.

She said Google’s proposal, ultimately, won’t eliminate its ad-tech monopoly, which accounts for most of parent company Alphabet’s annual revenues, which topped $350 billion in 2024.

“Without structural change, Google will continue to own and control the tools and data flows that determine the terms of trade for the entire digital advertising ecosystem,” Wade added.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — The White House announced new “trade framework agreements” with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala, all governed by administrations aligned with president Donald Trump, with the goal of reducing certain tariffs, eliminating non-tariff barriers and expanding access for U.S. products in those markets.

According to a statement issued by Washington on Thursday, the agreements establish reciprocal commitments.

The Latin American countries will eliminate or ease requirements and licenses that restrict the entry of U.S. goods — including agricultural products, medical devices, machinery and automobiles — while the U.S. government will reduce or waive tariffs on some key exports from those countries, as long as the products are not produced in sufficient quantities domestically.

“These agreements will help American farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses and manufacturers increase U.S. exports and expand trade opportunities with these partners,” the White House said.

The commitments agreed to range from the acceptance of U.S. standards for vehicles, auto parts, medical devices and pharmaceuticals in El Salvador’s case to preferential access in Argentina for machinery, technology products, chemicals and agricultural goods, along with reforms to its intellectual property regime.

Guatemala agreed to ensure a favorable framework for digital trade, including free data transfers and a pledge not to impose taxes on U.S. digital services, while also strengthening its labor rules to prohibit goods linked to forced labor.

Ecuador assumed stricter environmental obligations, such as improving forest governance and combating illegal logging, as well as fully complying with international rules on fisheries subsidies.

On the trade front, it will eliminate or reduce tariffs on key products — fruits, nuts, legumes, wheat, wine and spirits — and dismantle its variable agricultural tariff system, opening significant access for U.S. exports.

The governments of all four countries welcomed the initiative as an opportunity to boost their exports, attract foreign investment and strengthen their competitiveness.

Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on X that the agreement “creates the conditions to increase U.S. investment in Argentina” and includes tariff reductions for key industries.

In a statement, the government of Javier Milei said that as part of this understanding, the two countries agreed to significantly expand access for Argentine beef in the U.S. market and to work together to eliminate non-tariff barriers to bilateral agrifood trade.

It added that the United States will eliminate tariffs on products it does not produce, while Argentina will grant tariff preferences to facilitate the entry of capital goods and intermediate inputs.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Economy Minister Gabriela García said on social media that more than 70% of the products the country exports to the United States will now enter tariff-free. They added that most remaining products will face a 10% tariff, Prensa Libre reported.

In Ecuador’s case, as Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Danilo Palacios had previously indicated, among the products that will no longer pay the 15% tariff imposed by the United States in August are bananas and cacao, two of the main goods in Ecuador’s export basket, the newspaper Primicias reported.

While Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reposted the White House’s official statement on X with the caption “Friends” alongside both countries’ flags, the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists said the agreement is a “unique opportunity” for exports and for attracting investment.

The Trump administration’s announcement remains at the framework stage, and the agreements are expected to be formalized in the coming weeks.

However, they do not amount to full free trade agreements, but are designed as specific market-access and regulatory commitments, including a guarantee not to impose digital taxes on U.S. companies.

Nov. 14 (UPI) — The BBC issued a retraction and a formal apology to U.S. President Donald Trump for edits to a speech he gave ahead of the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill that made it appear as if he was inciting his supporters to violence.

The British public service broadcaster apologized Thursday night via the corrections page on its website, with the apology the lead story across all of its news platforms on television, radio and online during the evening and first thing Friday morning.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah also penned a personal written apology to the White House, however, the BBC indicated it would not be paying compensation, as demanded by Trump.

The retraction said an edition of Panorama titled Trump: A Second Chance, broadcast on Oct. 28, 2024, used excerpts lifted from different parts of Trump’s speech in a way that inadvertently made it appear they were contiguous.

The BBC’s version had Trump saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell,” when his actual words were, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”

The BBC said it accepted that this “gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.”

“The BBC would like to apologize to President Trump for that error of judgment.”

However, the notice made no mention of compensation, one of President Trump’s key demands in his letter threatening the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit alleging the program had defamed him and giving it until 5 p.m. EST on Friday to respond.

A BBC spokesman said the corporation strongly disagreed “there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

There was no immediate response from either the White House or Trump’s legal counsel.

The Panorama program was not an isolated incident, according to The Telegraph, which said the BBC’s Newsnight program did something very similar with the same speech in a broadcast in 2022.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said that from the latest revelation it was “now clear that the BBC engaged in a pattern of defamation against President Trump” and accused it of attempting to try to influence the outcome of the 2024 election.

The debacle has sparked a furious debate about editorial impartiality at the BBC, which is funded by a $229 annual license that every household with a TV must pay, prompting calls for an overhaul of internal processes and procedures.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy acknowledged the BBC’s editorial rules were “in some cases not robust enough and in other cases not consistently applied,” and appeared to suggest the replacement for director-general Tim Davie, who quit Sunday, must be from a journalism background.

Davie spent the first half of his career as a senior marketing executive at PepsiCo before joining the BBC’s marketing division.

The opposition Conservative’s Shadow Culture Secretary, Nigel Huddleston, said he was waiting to see if Trump accepted the BBC’s response to be the “fulsome apology” he was entitled to receive.

“I do not want the British license fee payer or the rest of the BBC to pay the price for poor editorial decisions made by BBC journalists, he said in a post on X.

“However, we would all be in a better position if the BBC had never made these errors in the first place. The BBC needs a fundamental review of processes and procedures to ensure that such failures in impartiality never happen again.”

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Striking Boeing machinists in St. Louis voted to approve the aerospace company’s latest contract offer and return to work on Monday, ending a three-month strike.

Some 68% of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 voted to approve the contract on Thursday, KSDK reported.

“We are pleased with the results and look forward to bringing our full team back together on Nov. 17th to support our customers,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a prepared statement shared with KSDK.

Workers get a 24% wage increase, which raises their average annual pay from $75,000 to $109,000 over the life of the contract, according to CNBC.

The approved contract includes a $6,000 bonus for ratifying the contract, a general wage increase over five years, including a 1.5% general increase for workers at the top of the earnings scale, plus a lump-sum increase of 2.5% during the contract’s fourth year.

The contract also includes improved benefits, including letting workers cash out vacation time that exceeds the maximum benefit of 80 hours.

“We’re proud of what our members have fought for together and are ready to get back to building the world’s most advanced military aircraft,” IAM District 837 officials said Thursday in a prepared statement.

The contract ends the strike that started on Aug. 4, which was the first since 1996 for the union local.

The St. Louis-area Boeing facility builds F-15 fighters, F/A-18fighter-attack aircraft and missile systems.

Nov. 13 (UPI) — Doubts about a potential third Federal Reserve rate in December triggered an 800-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday after setting a record high a day earlier.

The Dow closed higher than 48,000 for the first time on Wednesday, but Investopedia reported a steep decline on Thursday amid concerns over the Federal Reserve rate.

The Dow reached a daily high or 48,211.83 during morning trading on Thursday but declined steadily afterward to a low of 47,431.43 and closed at 47,457.22, which is a drop of 797.60 and 1.65% for the day.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 likewise posted downturns during the day’s trading, with the Nasdaq closing at 22,870.36, which is a decline of 536.10 and 2.29%.

The S&P 500 dropped by 113.43 and 1.66% when it closed at 6,737.49.

Analysts largely attributed the declines to concerns regarding the Federal Reserve and whether it will approve a third quarter-point rate reduction before the year’s end, according to CNBC.

In October, analysts placed a 95% confidence in a December rate cut, but confidence has declined to about 49% due to a lack of data because of the record 43-day federal government shutdown ended following President Donald Trump‘s signing of a funding measure on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet for two days on Dec. 9 and 10, but committee members have grown more doubtful of another 0.25% rate cut due to the effects of the government shutdown and the president’s often-changing tariff policies.

The current rate is between 3.75% and 4% after the Federal Reserve committee approved a 0.25% rate reduction on Oct. 29.

Nov. 12 (UPI) — Cryptocurrency firm Coinbase said its planning to leave Delaware and reincorporate its business in Texas.

The move to reincorporate in the Lone Star state was unanimously approved and recommended by the Coinbase board of directors.

A rough 78% majority of Coinbase shareholders approved the action.

“Delaware’s legal framework once provided companies with consistency. But no more,” Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, wrote in a Wall Street Journal Journal op-ed.

Coinbase now follows Elon Musk-owned Tesla in exiting Delaware to move its new base to Texas.

The crypto giant’s Texas legal counsel pointed to a state law signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, in May that “strengthens” the state’s corporate legal framework, and supposedly “creates certainty and predictability” that served as the vehicle that helped create the business environment for Coinbase to make the move.

In February, Musk wrote on his X platform that he recommended Delaware-incorporated companies move “to another state as soon as possible.”

Texas’ Senate bill 29 aimed to make the state a “preferred jurisdiction for legal domestication, by creating an environment where ambitious, innovative companies can thrive,” Chris Converse, a partner at international law firm Foley and Lardner’s Dallas office who helped draft and push the law, told UPI in a statement.

It arrived after a Delaware court ruled against Tesla paying the ex-White House DOGE adviser a $56 billion pay package.

Grawal claimed Delaware’s Chancery Court provided “unpredictable outcomes” for the digital currency platform.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, like Musk, was a significant backer of U.S. President Donald Trump and his 2024 presidential campaign.

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (UPI) — South Korea’s leading brokerage houses delivered solid performances in the third quarter of this year, thanks to the recent bullish run in the Seoul bourse.

The country’s business bellwether, Mirae Asset Securities, said early this month that it netted $234 million in profit for the July-September period, up 18.8% from a year earlier.

The Seoul-based company’s sales also jumped 22.5% year-on-year to reach $4.55 billion, the largest in the industry.

Korea Investment & Securities said Tuesday that its third-quarter net profit nearly doubled to $413 million, while turnover just edged up 0.4% to $3.85 billion.

Another major player, Samsung Securities, chalked up $1.86 billion in sales, down 1.5% from a year before, for a net income of $211 million, up 28.7%.

Market observers point out that the strong rally in the Korean stock market underpinned the stellar earnings of local securities companies. During the third quarter, the benchmark KOSPI advanced more than 11%.

Their upward momentum is expected to continue because the KOSPI has surged by over 20% since Oct. 1, surpassing the 4,000-point mark for the first time.

“Steady capital inflows into the equity market are expected for the time being, providing a favorable tailwind for domestic brokerages’ earnings,” Kyobo Securities analyst Kim Ji-young said in a media interview.

The share price of Mirae Asset Securities rose 6.97% on Wednesday, while Samsung Securities soared 8.65%. Korea Investment & Securities, which is unlisted, saw its parent company, Korea Investment Holdings, gain 3.95%.

Nov. 11 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a record high upon closing on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq Composite finished down as investors generally sold their tech holdings.

The Dow is comprised of 30 blue-chip stocks and closed at a record 47,927.96 after posting a 559.33-point rise during the day’s trading amid news that the federal government shutdown likely will end soon, according to CNBC.

The increase represented a 1.18% gain as investors, buoyed by news the shutdown is on track to end, bought shares in leading healthcare companies, including Merck, Amgen and Johnson & Johnson.

A general selloff of tech stocks accounted for the Nasdaq’s relatively poor performance on Tuesday and likely contributed to the Dow’s record close as investors switched to other investments.

“These tech companies, they’re cash-flow machines,” Logan Capital Management portfolio manager Bill Fitzpatrick told CNBC.

“It doesn’t take much, a little bit of negative news, for the sentiment to turn just a little bit, and you get an unwind that is more favorable to value equities,” Fitzpatrick explained.

The S&P 500 also posted a gain of 0.21% as it closed at 6,846.61. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, posted a 0.25% decrease to 23,468.30 by the end of the day’s trading.

Shares in Nvidia, the powerhouse maker of AI processing hardware, dropped by 2.96% as investor SoftBank Group sold all of its holdings in the chipmaker on Tuesday.

Nvidia’s share price closed at 193.16, which is a decrease of 5.89.

CoreWeave also adjusted down its revenue forecast for the year, which triggered a 15% decline in its share price.

The tech firm that specializes in artificial intelligence infrastructure cited delays by a data center affiliate as the cause of its lower revenue forecast.

Nov. 10 (UPI) — The Trump administration is working on a plan to introduce a 50-year fixed-rate mortgage with the goal of making homeownership more affordable for millions of Americans, as some analysts warn of hidden costs.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte confirmed the report, saying the proposed 50-year loan would lower monthly payments to bring more buyers into the housing market.

“Thanks to President Trump, we are indeed working on The 50-year Mortgage — a complete game changer,” Pulte wrote Saturday in a post on X. Trump has compared the plan to the 30-year mortgage from President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s New Deal.

“We hear you. We are laser focused on ensuring the American Dream for young people and that can only happen on the economic level of home buying,” Pulte added. “A 50-year mortgage is simply a potential weapon in a wide arsenal of solutions that we are developing right now: stay tuned.”

The housing market has grown stagnate over the past three years as younger Americans are unable to afford the payments that come with a 30-year fixed rate at more than 6% interest. To add to that, inventory is depleted as homeowners are locked in to their houses with the lower interest rates of the COVID-19 economy.

Both Pulte and Trump have blamed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for hiking interest rates to curb inflation and then keeping rates “artificially high.”

While a 50-year mortgage would lower monthly payments, it would also prevent homeowners from building equity as quickly. Over the life of the loan, the amount of interest paid to lenders would be 40% higher, according to analysts who also warn about the need for congressional approval.

“Fannie and Freddie could establish a secondary market for 50-year mortgages in advance of policy changes. They even could buy mortgages for their retained portfolios,” Jaret Seiberg, a financial services and housing policy analyst at TD Cowen, wrote in a note to clients.

“Yet this would not alter the legal liability for lenders. It is why we believe lenders will not originate 50-year mortgages absent qualified mortgage policy changes,” Seiberg said, adding congressional approval could take up to a year to meet the definition of a qualified mortgage under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Nov. 10 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration on has imposed restrictions on private flights at 12 major U.S. airports, a business aviation trade group said.

The new rule — called a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM — bans all non-scheduled operations at the 12 airports, which “will effectively prohibit business aviation operations,” the National Business Aviation Association said in a statement Sunday. The restrictions went into effect at midnight Sunday.

The organization said the move “disproportionately” impacts private flights, “an industry that creates more than a million jobs, generates $340 billion in economic impact and supports humanitarian flights every day.”

The announcement comes amid shortages in air traffic controller staffing in response to the federal government shutdown. At 41 days Monday, it’s the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Commercial airlines began cutting flights Friday after the FAA ordered a 5% reduction in traffic at 40 major airports in the United States. The government said the restrictions will increase to 10% by Friday if a resolution isn’t passed to fund and reopen the government by then.

It may not get to that point, however, after the Senate on Sunday voted to advance a proposal that, if passed by Congress, would fund the government through January.

NBAA President and CEO Ed Belen said the announcement Sunday “underscores the need to reopen the government to serve all Americans.”

“NBAA stands with the rest of the aviation community in calling upon Congress to end the shutdown immediately, and for the NOTAMs to be repealed when the government opens,” he added.

The NBAA said the new restrictions apply to private flights at:

— Chicago O’Hare International Airport

— Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

— Denver International Airport

— General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport in Boston

— George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston

— Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

— John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City

— Los Angeles International Airport

— Newark Liberty International Airport

— Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

— Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

— Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

When e-commerce company Jumia wanted to go public in 2019, Africa’s most celebrated start-up didn’t list in Lagos, Nairobi, Kigali or Johannesburg. It went to New York instead. That tells you everything about Africa’s start-up problem: It’s not a money problem; it’s an exit problem.

African entrepreneurs can build world-class businesses, but investors hesitate because they cannot see how or when they will get their money back. Initial public offerings (IPOs) remain extremely rare, and most exits take the form of trade sales – often unpredictable and slow to clear. Our stock exchanges offer little comfort either with liquidity outside the largest firms still limited.

Start-ups here can remain “start-ups” for decades with no clear path to maturity.

By contrast, Silicon Valley hums along because everyone knows the playbook: build fast, scale up and within five to seven years either list on an exchange or get acquired. Investors know they will not be stuck forever. That certainty, not just the capital, drives the flow of billions.

If Africa wants its tech ecosystems to thrive, we need a parallel play alongside any new funds. Yes, let’s mobilise sovereign wealth, pensions, banks and guarantees. But equally, let’s change the rules of the game. Let’s build an exit clarity framework that gives investors confidence.

That means fast-track “growth IPO lanes” on our exchanges with lighter costs and simpler disclosures. It means standardised merger templates that guarantee regulatory reviews within clear time limits.

It means regulated secondary markets where early investors and employees can sell shares before an IPO.

It means modernising employee stock ownership rules so talent can build wealth too.

And it means creating anchor-exit facilities where big domestic players like South Africa’s Public Investments Corporation or IDC commit to buy into IPOs with risk-sharing from development partners.

The evidence shows why these matter. More than 80 percent of startup funding in Africa comes from abroad. African unicorns are overwhelmingly funded by foreign venture capital, with several having foreign co-founders or being incorporated outside the continent. This means exits and wealth creation largely flow offshore. When global shocks hit, whether interest rate hikes in Washington or political turmoil in Europe, our ventures shake.

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, small-cap boards make up only a sliver of daily trading activity, underscoring how limited liquidity is outside the blue chips.

In Kenya, the Growth Enterprise Market Segment, set up to serve fast-growing firms, has struggled to gain traction with only five companies currently listed as of 2024 – more than a decade after its 2013 launch.

To be sure, there are those who will argue that exits already exist: Trade sales are happening, holding periods in Africa are shorter than in many markets and capital is trickling in regardless.

That is true, but partial. Trade sales can be an option, but they are often unpredictable. Regulatory approvals take time, and deal terms are not always transparent enough for investors to build them confidently into their models.

This is not a system that inspires confidence from our own pension funds or sovereign wealth managers.

The response, then, is not to simply wait for more money to arrive but to fix the structures that govern its movement. If we could walk into investor meetings and say, “Here’s the pipeline of companies. Here’s the capital vehicle, and here is a clear five-year exit pathway,” we could shift the conversation entirely.

We could make African innovation not only attractive to foreign investors but also bankable for African ones. South Africa is uniquely positioned to lead this change. It has deep capital markets, capable regulators and institutional pools of capital looking for new growth opportunities.

The ask is not just to invest in start-ups but to invest in a new rulebook that makes exits real. If we succeed, we will have built more than another fund. We will have built a system that recycles African savings into African innovation, creating African wealth.

For too long, the debate has been framed around scarcity of money. But the truth is less about scarcity and more about certainty. Investors do not only chase returns. They chase predictable exits. Without exits, funds hesitate. With exits, funds multiply.

So, yes, let us mobilise capital and launch new funds. But let us also do the harder, braver thing: change the rules, not just the money. That is how we ensure our unicorns aren’t built on foreign capital alone. That is how we give our own savers and pensioners a stake in Africa’s growth.

And that is how we finally write a new playbook under which African innovation, African capital and African ownership all run on the same page because, in the end, the real lesson of Jumia is not that Africa cannot produce billion-dollar start-ups. It is that until we change the rules of exit, we risk exporting the wealth that should be owned and grown at home.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

Nov. 8 (UPI) — Federal officials on Saturday canceled more than 800 flights at airports across the United States as the federal government shutdown entered its record-long 39th day on Saturday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford jointly announced a temporary 10% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports.

They said the reduction in flights is necessary to ensure safety and ease the strain on air traffic controllers, who are working without pay.

“My department has many responsibilities, but our number one job is safety,” Duffy said.

“It’s safe to fly today, and it will continue to be safe to fly next week because of the proactive actions we are taking.”

More than 1,700 flights have been canceled through Sunday — and more than 800 were cancelled on Saturday alone — as commercial airlines reduced their respective flights by 4% at the nation’s busiest airports, according to CNN.

Washington’s Reagan National Airport is affected the most by the flight reductions, with 151 flights canceled among 869 initially scheduled there for a reduction of 17.4%, The New York Times reported.

Louisville, Ky., has an 8% reduction with 12 canceled among 150 flights, followed by Cincinnati, 7.2% and 18 canceled flights among 250 scheduled.

Houston Hobby has 20 of 336 flights canceled for a 6% reduction, followed by Indianapolis, with 17 of 297 flights canceled for a 5.7% reduction, to round out the five most impacted airports.

The flight reductions come after many air traffic controllers and other essential airport staff have called in sick due to increased stress, to work other jobs and to care for their children, among other reasons.

They have missed one paycheck and will again next week if the federal government is not funded and reopened by then, according to CNBC.

The reduced staffing levels are putting more pressure on commercial air operations, especially at the nation’s busiest airports.

“We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” Bedford said.

“The FAA will continue to closely monitor operations, and we will not hesitate to take further action to make sure air travel remains safe.”

Nov. 8 (UPI) — Wendy’s is closing about 300 locations over the next year as the fast-food chain seeks to revitalize its business model and become more profitable.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Ken Cook announced the pending closings on Friday and said they represent a small fraction of the popular restaurant chain’s 6,000 locations in the United States, CNN reported.

Cook told analysts that “consistently underperforming” locations will be closed so that they won’t reflect poorly on the Wendy’s brand.

“These actions will strengthen the system and enable franchisees to invest more capital and resources in their remaining restaurants,” Cook explained.

“Closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations.”

The restaurant closures will start this year and continue through next year.

The fast-food chain last year closed 140 restaurants for similar reasons, but it still reported a 4.7% decline in sales during the third quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, Burger King, McDonald’s and Shake Shack reported revenue increases during the quarter.

Among the thousands of remaining Wendy’s locations, Cook said many will benefit from improved equipment and technology, and several also will be transferred to new owners, according to USA Today.

Wendy’s has not posted a list of locations targeted for closure or indicated how many in each respective state.

Nov. 5 (UPI) — The crash of a UPS plane in Louisville, Ky., has disrupted the shipper’s air cargo headquarters, delaying some deliveries.

UPS Worldport halted processing of packages on Tuesday night after the crash.

The first flights resumed about 24 hours after the crash. CNN reported 10 flights took off within 30 minutes just before 5 p.m. CST.

The Louisville site serves as UPS’ main processing location in the United States. Planes arrive from throughout the nation. The packages are sorted and then they go on other planes to their destinations.

The air cargo operations are also connected to the ground network.

On a typical day, more than 300 UPS flights depart from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport with about 2 million packages.

They are processed at the 5.2 million-square-foot facility, according to UPS.

Each hour, more than 400,000 packages are sorted with 20,000 workers at the site.

A spokesperson told The New York Times that the company’s goal is to be back to normal Thursday morning.

On Wednesday morning, the carrier said its Second Day Air shipping service was canceled for the day.

Later Wednesday, UPS said delivery commitments were pushed back.

The money-back guarantee “is suspended for all packages either shipped from or delivered to the United States until further notice,” UPS said.

UPS said contingency plans are in place “to help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as conditions permit.” The plans weren’t explained.

The company has regional hubs in Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia and Rockford, Ill. In past disruptions, including bad weather, flights were rerouted to other facilities, the Lexington Herald Tribune reported.

“UPS is committed to the safety of our employees, our customers and the communities we serve,” the carrier said. “This is particularly true in Louisville, home to our airline and thousands of UPSers. Everyone in our company is deeply saddened by this horrible aircraft accident and our airline’s first duty is to recovery, aid and victim support.”

The U.S. Post Office and Amazon use UPS for some of their shipments.

The disruption occurred ahead of the busy holiday shipping season.

The other main carrier, FedEx, has a hub in Memphis, Tenn., with 484,000 packages handled each day. Last October, the company unveiled a new automated sorting facility that spans 1.3 million square feet, including handling bulky, non-conveyable shipments.

Nov. 7 (UPI) — A 4% reduction in flights took effect Friday after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered the reduction to ease stress on air traffic controllers during the federal government shutdown.

About 1,000 flights across 40 airports were canceled Friday. There also are delays amid controller shortages with flight reductions at the mandated airports by the Federal Aviation Administration. A 10% reduction is planned for next Friday.

Through Friday night nationwide, there have been 1,494 cancellations and 5,543 flight delays, according to FlightAware. The most cancellations were at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: 83 departures at 18% and 75 arrivals at 16%. This includes ones not linked to tower staffing issues, such as equipment problems or weather.

Flights were delayed an average of four hours tonight heading to Reagan, according to the FAA. There were 148 arriving delays, or 32% of flights, and 204 departure delays, or 45%.

United Airlines and American Airlines announced they have cut their flights by 4% for Saturday. This means 220 for American, which has the most flights, and 168 for United the third-biggest airline.

Delta Airlines, with the second-most flights, didn’t announce plans but canceled 170 on Friday.

And Southwest Airlines said about 100 flights will be canceled Saturday.

Control towers at several airports Friday are facing staffing shortages, including in San Francisco, Atlanta and others, CNN reported.

On Friday, there were staffing shortages at nine towers; 12 at TRACONs, which handle flights arriving or departing airports; and eight at the Air Route Traffic Control Center that handle flights at high altitudes.

USA Today reported that Duffy told Democrats who criticized his decision to cut flights, “Open the damn government.”

The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1, and the shutdown is now the longest in history at 38 days.

The staffing shortage is getting worse because air traffic controllers are quitting, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, to CNN.

“Controllers are resigning every day now because of the prolonged nature of the shutdown,” Daniels said. “We’re also 400 controllers short – shorter than we were in the 2019 shutdown.”

Daniels told CNN that controllers have to be “perfect” at work, and financial concerns can cause issues with their concentration.

“We are always being used as a political pawn during a government shutdown,” Daniels said. “We are the rope in a tug-of-war game.”

In one city, pilots have stepped in to help. At North Las Vegas Airport, a group of pilots delivered food and supplies for controllers and their families.

“I’ve been in the situation where I’ve had an in-flight emergency, and the air traffic controllers make a difference,” pilot Jeffrey Lustick told CNN affiliate KTNV. “They help you get to the ground safely. They alert people that you need help … air traffic controllers save lives.”

The pilots have made two deliveries to the controllers.

“The relationship between air traffic controllers and pilots is one of trust … they have to be able to survive, and we want them to stay here and continue to provide support to our community,” he said.

Airlines will decide which flights to cancel based on revenue, Michael Taylor, senior travel advisor at JD Power, told USA Today.

“All these airlines have shareholders, and their job as managers is to maximize revenue and margin and profit to the airline sales and keep your airline stock up,” Taylor said. “So they’re going to start first at looking – if you want 10% reduction in number of aircraft, well then we will cut those markets out that we’re not going to make the most money.”

There are other considerations, such as crew and aircraft placement, Taylor said. But the money is the bottom line.

“It won’t seem to travelers that there’s any rhyme or reason to it at all. It’ll seem random, but what’s really driving it is someone in corporate headquarters saying, ‘OK, you want the number of aircraft lowered? Fine. I’ve got to keep my revenue high. I’m going to take out the ones I don’t make any money on. It’s as simple as that,'” Taylor added.

Some travelers are making multiple backup plans, including different days and routes.

“What I’m worried about is getting to Houston in time for a procedure that’s been scheduled for quite some time and there’s some urgency,” Neil Lyon told CNN about flying from Santa Fe, N.M. I’m dealing with this, and I’m just thinking about the tens of thousands, or millions, who are dealing with other really serious circumstances that are impacted by what the situation is.”