Venezuela to cut five zeros from currency
ME DELL Í N, Colombia— Faced with nearly incomprehensible inflation —32,714 percent as of Wednesday — Venezuelan officials thought they had a solution: They changed the color of the bank notes and increased their de nomination. Then they said they would lop off three zeros. Andw hen that didn’t seem enough, they announced they would cut off two more.
The tactics have left Venezuelans like Yosmar Nowak, theowner of a coffee shop in Caracas, convinced that thereis no solution in sight andthat the government cannot even bring down the price of a cup of coffee, an eyewatering2 million bolivars.
Slashing zeros from Venezuela’ s inflation-cursed currency, the bolivar, is the tent pole of a set of economic changes by President Nicolas Maduroas he tries to right his country’ s cap sized economy. Thef ive-digit inflation has earned Venezuela comparisons to the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe and Weimar Germany from the International Monetary Fund.
Iran task force created
WASHINGTON— In an effortto ramp up pressure for political changes in Iran, the State Department has set up a taskforce to coordinate punitive measures, including sanctions and oil boycotts, Secretaryof State Michael R. Pomeo said Thursday.
Mr. Pompeo said the Iran Action Group would “closely synchronize” policy across thegovernment, the latest step the Trump administration has taken since it with drew the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May with the stated goal of ending Tehran’s support for militant groups in the Middle East, among other “malign behavior.”
Mr. Pompeo said the administration is willing to talk to Iranian leaders, but “we must see major changes in the regime’s behavior, both inside and outside of its borders.”
Google workers protest
Hundreds of Google employees, upset at the company’s decision to secretly build a censored version of its search engine for China, have signed a letter demanding more transparency to understand the ethical consequences of their work.
In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, employees wrote that the project and Google’s apparent willingness to abide by China’s censorship requirements “raise urgent moral and ethical issues.”
The letter is circulating on Google’s internal communication systems and is signed by about 1,400 employees, according to three people familiar with the document, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The internal activism presents another obstacle for Google’s potential return to China eight years after the company publicly withdrew from the country in protest of censorship and government hacking.
Ryanair, pilots to negotiate
Talks between Ryanair Holdings and striking Irish pilots are set to resume Friday as the sides seek to reach an agreement that could hold the key to resolving a wider European dispute over pay and contracts.
Afourth round of negotiationsshould start at 10:30 a.m., accordingto the Forsa union, whichended the last session inthe early hours of Thursday morningafter more than 12 hoursof deliberations.
The discussions, mediated by labor relations veteran Kieran Mulvey, represent the best chance yet of halting walkouts that have weighed on Ryanair earnings and disrupted travel for thousands of people. While the strike spans Europe, a breakthrough in Ireland is seen as key to resolving the clash, since it was staff there who initiated a push for unionization and better employment terms.