Lobbyists in frenzy over looming bill deadline
WASHINGTON – Congress is racing toward a Friday deadline to renew the law that pays for national transportation programs, and lobbyists trying to shape the legislation are in a frenzy.
Among the issues: the length of trucks allowed on roads, whether recalled used cars must be repaired before they can be sold and how to pay for bridges and highways.
The bill is the lobbyists’ best shot in years at getting policies their clients’ like or blocking regulations they don’t.
Congress hopes to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, and send a compromise to President Barack Obama before the government’s authority to process highway and transit aid payments to states expires.
Paris attacks worry some on Wall Street
NEW YORK – The value of stocks, crude oil and the European currency is likely to fall this week as investors worry about what the Paris terror attacks will do to consumer confidence and key parts of the global economy.
The public nature of the targets – cafes, a stadium and a concert hall – could make travelers hesitant about visiting Paris or other major cities. A drop in tourism in Europe could weaken the euro, while oil prices could fall below $40 per barrel once again on fears that demand will drop. The attacks also could hurt the stocks of major airlines in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Friday night’s suicide-bombing attacks, which left at least 129 people dead and more than 350 injured, come as investors are already nervous about slowing economic growth in China and the future of the eurozone.
Turkey ends missile deal talks with China
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s state-run news agency says Turkey has ended negotiations with China on building a missile defense system.
The Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed officials, said Sunday that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu decided to abandon the missile tender over the possibility that Turkey may construct its own “national” defense system.
The deal with China had been a source of tension with NATO partners, who said they would not integrate Chinese-made hardware with a European-wide system.
Plan for Syrian peace ambitious, incomplete
VIENNA – Invoking the need for joint action after the terrorist attacks on Paris, foreign ministers of nearly 20 nations agreed Saturday to an ambitious yet incomplete plan for bringing peace to Syria and ending its role as a breeding ground for ISIS and other radical Islamic groups.
Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of Saturday’s full ministerial meeting, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the attacks “the most vile, horrendous, outrageous, unacceptable acts on the planet”. He said they “encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face.”
The plan presented by the two appeared to draw heavily on a recently circulated Russian initiative. With just two weeks elapsed since the Syria talks first convened, it could mark a significant advance, if successful.
Associated Press
