Author: News Room
As the Trump administration advances a trade war with global consequences, the Kun Shoulder Rest factory in the Canadian capital does not immediately stand out as the front line.A family-owned business that operates out of a labyrinthine Victorian home in downtown Ottawa, Kun makes ergonomic shoulder rests used by violinists from New York to Berlin.“We’re operating in this rarefied world of mostly orchestral stringed instruments,” said Juliana Farha, 58, the company’s director. “If you play the violin, you know about it. And if you don’t, it’s just some weird widget that you’ve never heard of.”Yet that widget is among the…
As part of its marketing campaign for the Nintendo Switch 2, company executives on Wednesday announced new details about its next video game console, whose initial lineup will include fresh entries in popular franchises like Mario Kart.The Switch 2 will be released on June 5.The new console will include a microphone to chat with other players, screen-sharing and the option to add a separate camera for streaming. The service known as Game Chat will eventually require a subscription and include parental permission controls.Along with a bigger screen measuring 7.9 inches long with higher resolution, the Switch 2 will have the…
Tariffs in the Rose Garden Global markets are mostly lower ahead of President Trump’s big tariffs rollout today, but it’s not the tumult that has rocked stocks in recent weeks.S&P 500 futures are holding steady, in the red, as economists warn that Trump’s protectionist policies could set off a global trade war that slams growth and raises prices.Business leaders and policymakers are on tenterhooks over what the president might introduce this afternoon. As of yesterday, Trump’s team was still debating what the reciprocal tariffs would look like, Bloomberg reports.The big questions: Will they involve a blanket flat rate — say,…
Ever since the elite law firms Paul Weiss and Skadden reached deals with President Trump to scuttle executive orders that could have crippled their businesses, the firms’ top partners have closed ranks in support of the agreements.But there is discontent among the vast army of lawyers who may not have much sway in decision-making at the two firms but who do much of the work: their associates.Some of these young lawyers are saying both privately and openly that their leaders betrayed their firms’ principles with deals that could undermine a commitment to provide free legal work to public interest groups…
If there is anyplace Tesla should be thriving, it’s Norway. Electric vehicles account for more than 90 percent of new car sales in the Scandinavian country, and buyers here are among the most sophisticated in the world when it comes to understanding the nuances of batteries, charging and range.So it hardly bodes well for Tesla that its sales in Norway have declined more than 12 percent so far this year. Sales for the first three months of the year were even worse in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Analysts expect the downward trend to be reflected when the company…
Chuck Todd is sleeping in. Kind of.For nearly a decade, Sunday mornings meant waking up at 3:30 and putting on a suit and tie while preparing for his work as moderator of “Meet the Press,” where Mr. Todd would interview presidents, senators and the occasional movie star on America’s longest-running TV show.No longer. His 5:30 a.m. alarm these days is his 14-year-old poodle, Ruby, and his work uniform is more understated — jeans and a quarter-zip maroon fleece for a recent trip to the Capitol. But he’s still interviewing senators.After leaving the corporate home of “Meet the Press” in January,…
President Trump is set to unveil his most expansive tariffs to date on Wednesday afternoon, when he will detail potentially punishing levies on countries around the globe, including America’s largest trading partners.Mr. Trump has promised for months to impose what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs, which the president says will correct years of “unfair” trade in which other countries have been “ripping off” America.“We helped everybody, and they don’t help us,” Mr. Trump said on Monday.Exactly how he plans to structure the new tariffs is not yet clear. The White House press secretary said Tuesday afternoon that Mr. Trump had decided…
It’s not just the high price of eggs or the rising cost of housing that is contributing to Americans’ unhappiness over the cost of living. Health care remains stubbornly unaffordable for millions of people, according to a new survey released Wednesday that underscores the struggle many people have in paying for a doctor’s visit or a prescription drug — even before any talk of cutting government coverage.In the survey, 11 percent of people said they could not afford medication and care within the past three months, the highest level in the four years the survey has been conducted. More than…
President Trump plans to meet with top White House officials on Wednesday to discuss a proposal that could secure TikTok’s future in the United States, two people familiar with the plans said.Mr. Trump will consider a proposal for a new ownership structure for the popular video app, which is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance. Lawmakers and other U.S. officials have argued that the app’s ties to China raise national security concerns, and a federal law that was passed last year requires TikTok to change its ownership or face a ban in the United States. The latest deadline for…
More than 230 passengers and crew members have been sickened in an outbreak of norovirus during a 29-day round-trip luxury cruise from England to the Eastern Caribbean, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The Queen Mary 2, the flagship ocean liner of Cunard Lines, left from Southampton, England, on March 8, according to Cruise Mapper, a tracking site. An outbreak was reported on March 18, the C.D.C. said, after the ship had stopped in New York City. Passengers and crew had reported symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, the agency said.The C.D.C. said the outbreak spread to 224 passengers,…