World
President Michel looks to capital markets to solve economic woes
A summit next week could look at alternatives to bank finance in a bid to boost Europe’s fortunes – but previous attempts haven’t met with much success.
A summit of EU leaders meeting next week will likely agree “ambitious” measures to boost non-bank financing, its President Charles Michel has told reporters.
Europe is looking to improve its fortunes as it faces up to war, costly climate change policies and economic competition – and hopes integrating its capital markets could help.
“There is in my opinion a way, based on common sense, to mobilise a lot of money to fuel the European economy,” European Council President Michel told Euronews as part of a group interview. “This is by making possible and easier for companies to mobilise many of the Europeans’ €9 trillion of savings.”
EU leaders will be searching for ways to pay for the soaring costs of defence after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, of adapting to a zero-carbon world, and of responding to trade-distorting measures such as the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act.
Funding options such as eurobonds or expanding the capital of the European Investment Bank will prove politically tricky, Michel acknowledges; frugal governments generally worry joint sovereign debt could encourage profligacy among the less disciplined.
Michel may see regulatory measures to integrate national stock markets and harmonise insolvency law as politically more straightforward – but that project, known as a capital markets union, has problems of its own.
European policymakers have long bemoaned how dependent domestic their companies are on bank financing, while US counterparts enjoy alternatives such as stock issuance.
In a speech last November, European Central Bank chief Chrisine Lagarde called for a “Kantian shift” in thinking, pointing out that, compared to the US, EU bond markets are three times smaller, and venture capital just one fifth of the size.
That means that EU companies often have to flee the bloc to places like Silicon Valley to find the funding they need to grow.
Yet national ministers have previously gutted plans to create a euro-supervisor on the lines of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and harmonising tax rules or property law is complex and controversial.
Even more modest plans to offer EU-wide pensions or smooth over stock-market listing rules haven’t met with huge success either, though national leaders pushed for more integration as long ago as 2014.
“I regret it wasn’t possible to make significant progress in this field earlier,” Michel said. “I’m confident that now it can be different … the draft we have on the table for next week is rather ambitious.”
World
Foul play ruled out month after body of Walmart employee found inside walk-in oven at Canada store
A month after the body of a Walmart employee was found inside a walk-in oven of a store in eastern Canada, police have determined that her death was not suspicious.
The Halifax Police Department released a statement to announce that an investigation into the death of the 19-year-old woman, who was found inside the walk-in oven of the Halifax Walmart on Oct. 19, was not suspicious and there was no evidence of foul play.
“We do not believe anyone else was involved in the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death,” Halifax Regional Police Constable Martin Cromwell announced in a video update on the department’s Facebook page on Monday.
Cromwell added that they did not have many details they could share and did not expect any other updates anytime soon.
WALMART EMPLOYEE FOUND DEAD INSIDE WALK-IN OVEN AT CANADA STORE: POLICE
“We acknowledge the public’s interest in this case and that there are questions that may never have answers,” said Cromwell. “Please be mindful of the damage public speculation can cause. This woman’s loved ones are grieving.”
Police have not yet released the name of the victim. However, the Gurudwara Maritime Sikh Society, an organization for Sikh immigrants, has identified the woman as Gursimran Kaur.
The group also created a GoFundMe page, which is no longer running, that raised more than $194,000 for Kaur’s family.
“Gursimran Kaur was only 19 years old, a young beautiful girl who came to Canada with big dreams,” a post on the website read.
IDENTITY OF ‘BADLY DECOMPOSED’ BODY FOUND IN OHIO CAR WASH RELEASED: REPORT
According to the post, Kaur and her mother both worked at Walmart for the last two years.
During the evening of her daughter’s disappearance, the society executive said Kaur’s mother tried to find her after not having contact with her for an hour but brushed it aside, assuming she was helping a customer.
Kaur’s phone was reportedly also not reachable.
“Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day. She reached out to the onsite admin for help,” the post continued.
MISSOURI INFANT DIES AFTER MOTHER ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ PLACES BABY IN OVEN INSTEAD OF CRIB: POLICE
Sadly, after a few hours, her daughter’s body was found inside a walk-in oven in the store’s bakery.
“Imagine the horror that her mother experienced when she opened the oven, when someone pointed it out to her!” the society executive described. “This family’s sufferings are unimaginable and indescribable.”
Both Kaur’s father and brother were both reportedly in India at the time of her death.
“Investigators met with family to share this update and extend condolences,” Halifax police said. “Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.”
A spokesperson for Walmart previously told Fox News Digital that the store “will be closed until further notice.”
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the store reopened on Monday and that the bakery oven was being removed from the store.
Fox News Digital reached out to Walmart for comment on the latest news but did not immediately receive a response.
Stepheny Price is writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com.
World
Hong Kong jails all 45 pro-democracy activists in largest security case
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Academic Benny Tai sentenced to 10 years, while others receive sentences of between four and seven years.
Taipei, Taiwan – A Hong Kong court has sentenced a leading pro-democracy advocate to 10 years in prison and handed dozens of other activists jail terms of between four and seven years in the Chinese territory’s largest national security case.
Benny Tai, a legal scholar who played a leading role in Hong Kong’s 2019 antigovernment protests, was handed the lengthy sentence on Tuesday after prosecutors cast him as the “organiser” of a conspiracy by pro-democracy activists and politicians dating back to July 2020.
Tai and 44 others were previously found guilty of offences related to organising an official primary election to choose pro-democracy candidates for the city’s legislature.
The would-be legislators had hoped to vote down the city’s budget and force the city’s leader to dissolve the legislature.
Prosecutors alleged that the group plotted to “overthrow” the government.
Many of those arrested have been on remand since 2021, when they were first charged, due to numerous legal delays and the disruption caused by COVID-19.
Out of 47 defendants, 31 pleaded guilty.
In May, a court found 14 of the remaining activists guilty of subversion and acquitted two others, former district councillors Laurence Lau and Lee Yue-shu.
Under Hong Kong’s national security laws introduced in 2020, defendants charged as “primary offenders” face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, while lower-level offenders and “other participants” face sentences of between three and five years and up to three years, respectively.
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