The ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee questioned the head of the Federal Communications Commission in a Monday letter, criticizing his approval of Nexstar Media Group Inc. ’s merger with Tegna Inc. without a vote of the full commission. Senator Ted Cruz , a Texas Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell , a Washington Democrat, jointly told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that he improperly...
The ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee questioned the head of the Federal Communications Commission in a Monday letter, criticizing his approval of Nexstar Media Group Inc. ’s merger with Tegna Inc. without a vote of the full commission. Senator Ted Cruz , a Texas Republican, and Senator Maria Cantwell , a Washington Democrat, jointly told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that he improperly allowed agency staff to green-light the merger even though it involved waiving major anti-consolidation rules, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by Bloomberg. Significant questions of policy must be addressed by the full FCC in a vote, the senators said. The letter pointed out that Carr himself previously criticized deals that were approved on the staff level. Carr recently said the full commission could later address the Nexstar-Tegna deal, but Cruz and Cantwell said it’s likely too late for that. “The Commission has already approved the transaction on delegated authority, effectively determining the outcome,” the letter said. “Under these circumstances, any subsequent vote risks being largely procedural rather than a genuine exercise of commission responsibility.” The FCC’s Media Bureau approved Nexstar and Tegna’s $3.5 billion merger on March 19. Under waivers of the FCC’s rules, the combined companies will be allowed to broadcast to a majority of US households and to own more local stations than is otherwise permissible. Pay-TV provider DirecTV and a number of state attorneys general sued to stop the merger on antitrust grounds, and a federal judge ruled on March 27 that the companies must pause their integration. Cruz and Cantwell wrote that the staff-level approval added another layer of complication. They noted that, because bureau-level decisions aren’t final orders, the involved parties must first seek commission review before involving the courts. “In a transaction of this scale, where integration proceeds quickly and unwinding becomes impractical, delay...
Photo: IC Photo BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. is working with regulators to upgrade the city’s digital yuan wallets following the mainland’s move to allow interest on the currency, a shift that could accelerate its use offshore. BOC Hong Kong, the largest offshore operator of the digital yuan, is in close communication with Hong Kong authorities and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on the upgrade...
Photo: IC Photo BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. is working with regulators to upgrade the city’s digital yuan wallets following the mainland’s move to allow interest on the currency, a shift that could accelerate its use offshore. BOC Hong Kong, the largest offshore operator of the digital yuan, is in close communication with Hong Kong authorities and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on the upgrade, Xing Guiwei, a deputy chief executive, told Caixin. Officials are exploring raising wallet limits and expanding use cases, though no timeline has been set, according to Xing.
Aluminum headed for the biggest monthly gain in nearly two years, as the war in the Middle East disrupted supplies and damaged local production facilities, tightening the global market. The light-weight metal advanced toward $3,500 a ton in London, on course for a monthly gain of 10%. That’s the most since April 2024, and bucks a broader downtrend for metals in March. Commodities including base me...
Aluminum headed for the biggest monthly gain in nearly two years, as the war in the Middle East disrupted supplies and damaged local production facilities, tightening the global market. The light-weight metal advanced toward $3,500 a ton in London, on course for a monthly gain of 10%. That’s the most since April 2024, and bucks a broader downtrend for metals in March. Commodities including base metals have been roiled by the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. Around a tenth of aluminum’s global production is concentrated in the Persian Gulf, with exports choked off by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, Iranian drones and missiles have struck plants run by Aluminium Bahrain BSC and Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC . While both companies have yet to clarify the precise damage to their facilities, there’s speculation on the impact and consequences for market balances. EGA’s Al-Taweelah plant, with capacity of 1.6 million tons a year, can be written off for the long term, analyst Bernard Dadhah at Natixis SA wrote in a note. That could flip the market from a supply surplus of 200,000 tons to a deficit of about 1.3 million tons next year, he wrote, warning of a more severe shortfall if the Bahrain plant had also suffered long-term damage. Read More: Iran’s Attacks on Gulf Aluminum Plants Threaten Supply Crisis Most other metals were flat to slightly higher on Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump told aides he’s willing to end the US campaign even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed. Still, copper, zinc and nickel are still heading for monthly declines as the war lifts energy costs and prompts warnings about global economic growth. The hostilities in the Middle East have had the greatest direct impact on aluminum because of the region’s role as a major source of primary metal, nearly all of which is exported. The disruptions have sent premiums soaring in other locations, including Japan, while prompt...
Volatility from the Iran conflict has resulted in the single largest month of value destruction on record, with $12 trillion in market cap erased across global benchmarks, Bloomberg's China Show reports. Dina Ting, Head of Global Index Portfolio Management at Franklin Templeton, says the key to navigating this "manic" period is diversification. (Source: Bloomberg)
Volatility from the Iran conflict has resulted in the single largest month of value destruction on record, with $12 trillion in market cap erased across global benchmarks, Bloomberg's China Show reports. Dina Ting, Head of Global Index Portfolio Management at Franklin Templeton, says the key to navigating this "manic" period is diversification. (Source: Bloomberg)
White House Intervenes After Israel Closed Church Of The Holy Sepulchre Ahead Of Easter Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed by Israeli authorities earlier this month after Iranian missile fragments hit Jerusalem , with restrictions also being placed on who can enter the walled old city - home to all of the most sacred religious sites. This has resulted in outrage among Christians ,...
White House Intervenes After Israel Closed Church Of The Holy Sepulchre Ahead Of Easter Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed by Israeli authorities earlier this month after Iranian missile fragments hit Jerusalem , with restrictions also being placed on who can enter the walled old city - home to all of the most sacred religious sites. This has resulted in outrage among Christians , however, Israeli officials have said that Al Aqsa Mosque was also closed, and limitations were placed numbers of people visiting the Western Wall - and claimed that all of this was being done as a safety precaution. Source: BiblePlaces.com But closure of the Holy Sepulchre for Lent and Easter is basically unprecedented in recent history , and Church leaders say it violates the church's historic autonomy under an arrangement called the 'status quo'. Things have come to a head after on Palm Sunday, two Catholic leaders were prevented from praying at the Holy Sepulchre by Israeli police. The Vatican was quick to rebuke the police decision as "a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure." Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was the top official kept from entering the church, and his name has previously been in the news over the course of the Gaza war, where he called out Israel's military for shelling Christian sites, including a couple of deadly airstrikes on Palestinian churches. Somewhat surprisingly, the Trump White House has gotten involved, exerting some rare direct pressure on the Israeli government over the church closure . "We did express our concerns with Israel with respect to these holy sites being shut down," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a briefing - as cited in Israeli press reports . " We want worshipers to be able to access these holy sites . Of course, safety is a top priority, but we understand Israel is working on the security measures to reopen the sites throughout Holy Week, and that’s something that we’re apprec...