London (CNN Business) Just seven months after singing its praises , British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is attempting to rewrite the Brexit deal he signed with the European Union. It's a risky move that will undermine Britain's credibility as a trustworthy trading partner at the very moment that the UK government is seeking to forge economic alliances far beyond Europe to justify its "global Britain" sales pitch for Brexit, according to experts. EU officials have already rejected the UK call for a renegotiation , which trade experts say amounts to a brazen attempt to press the European Union to agree to demands that it already rejected during several rounds of talks. Other countries watching the drama unfold will proceed with caution when it comes to dealing with the United Kingdom, according to L. Alan Winters of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex in England. "It certainly does raise questions about the … [Read more...]

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump has begun carrying out his campaign pledges to undo America's trade ties -- starting Monday with executive action to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. "Great thing for the American worker, what we just did," Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office as he signed the order. TPP vs RCEP: Key trade deals explained Here's what you need to know about Trump's move: What did Trump do Monday? Read More Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a 12-nation deal that had been negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Nothing changes because of Trump's move. Congress had not yet approved the TPP -- its fate was bleak on Capitol Hill no matter what the White House did -- and the deal had not yet taken effect. However, by pulling the United States out of the deal, Trump fulfilled a campaign promise. And in doing so, he ends … [Read more...]

0 Restaurants & Bars Wine countries from NorCal to SoCal are in the running for top 10 status. Have a favorite? Cast your vote online. Susan C. Schena Posted | Updated Reply CALIFORNIA — Congrats, California wine countries! Golden State grape-growing communities, including Sonoma, Lodi, Monterey, Mendocino, Napa, Paso Robles and Temecula, are among 20 nationwide to be nominated by USA Today as contenders for 10Best Readers' Choice for "Best Wine Region." The 20 nominees, selected by wine-industry experts, will be whittled down to the top 10 via readers' online voting , which ends Monday, Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. The 2021 competition is stiff, particularly among California regions. In the running for "Best 10" from the Golden State: Anderson Valley; Lodi; Mendocino; Napa Valley; Paso Robles; Russian River Valley; Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County; Sonoma Coast; and Temecula Valley; along with Valle de … [Read more...]

House Democrats’ frustration is mounting as they wait for the Senate to act on infrastructure legislation and on the ever-growing pile of bills they’ve passed that are stalled in the face of the filibuster. This week marked 200 days since the start of the current session of Congress, in which House Democrats have passed dozens of bills ranging from pandemic relief, expanded background checks for gun sales, voting rights, labor union protections, immigration reform, addressing the gender pay gap and infrastructure investments. Yet all but a handful of those bills are gathering dust in the Senate, where Republicans can use the filibuster to block them despite Democrats’ control of Congress. ADVERTISEMENT And when it comes to infrastructure, many House Democrats are irritated by the prospect of potentially being asked to rubber-stamp whatever legislation comes out of the delicate bipartisan Senate negotiations. A group of 31 Democrats, led by House Transportation and … [Read more...]

AS A BOY visiting his family in the early 1980s, Tommaso Fantoni would dash through the garden of the villa completed in 1945 by his grandfather, the designer and architect Osvaldo Borsani . Along with his older brother, Giacomo, he raced bicycles on the stone paths behind the 30-foot-high ivy-covered wall shielding the estate from a main street of Varedo, a 20-minute drive north of Milan . They swam in the small pool by the austere stucco-and-brick manor, with its flat tile roof and 13-foot-tall living-room windows, through which slashes of light fell onto geometric parquet floors as well as the angular modern furnishings that their grandfather had designed and a towering ceramic fireplace sculpted by Osvaldo’s friend, the artist Lucio Fontana . The paterfamilias himself was rarely there to witness his grandsons play; though he was in his 70s by then, nearing the end of a half-century career, he still worked full time, conceptualizing new pieces and determining how to … [Read more...]