Nation and world news in brief for August 29
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway closes above $1 trillion market value
(Reuters) — Berkshire Hathaway’s market value closed above $1 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, reflecting investor confidence in the conglomerate that Warren Buffett built over nearly six decades into what many consider a proxy for the American economy.
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Buffett’s company joined six other U.S. companies, all in or tied to the technology sector, valued at more than $1 trillion: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon.com and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
Buffett, who turns 94 on Friday, has run Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire since 1965.
Two more crew members from Lynch’s yacht under investigation
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) — Italian prosecutors are investigating two more crew members from British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s yacht, along with its captain, in connection with the vessel’s sinking over a week ago, a judicial source said on Wednesday.
Lynch and six other people were killed when the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-foot) yacht, capsized and went down on Aug. 19 within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm while anchored off northern Sicily.
On Monday, the boat’s 51-year-old captain James Cutfield, a New Zealander, was put under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck.
Ship engineer Tim Parker Eaton and sailor Matthew Griffith are being investigated over the same crimes, the source said.
Travelers set to end summer on a high note with record Labor Day air travel
(Reuters) — U.S. airlines and airports are gearing up for the busiest Labor Day weekend, as a record number of travelers pack their bags and prepare to jet off to squeeze one last summer trip before the season ends.
The summer travel season, typically one of the busiest periods for airlines and airports, recorded robust passenger volumes this year, despite harsh weather conditions, including unprecedented heatwaves and hurricanes.
The Labor Day weekend, Thursday, Aug. 29 to Wednesday, Sept. 4, is expected to see 17 million people go through airport security, the busiest on record for the travel period, according to government agency Transport Security Administration.
Chinese, US officials discuss new round of talks between Biden and Xi
BEIJING (Reuters) — Top Chinese and U.S. officials discussed holding fresh talks between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in the near future, the two countries said on Wednesday during high-level meetings in Beijing.
The discussion occurred during lengthy talks between China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan held against the backdrop of sharp disagreements between the superpowers and the 2024 U.S. election race to replace Biden.
Both sides also agreed to hold video calls between their military theater commanders who hold responsibility for hot spots in the Indo-Pacific region “at an appropriate time,” according to the Chinese readout from the meetings, a move that Washington hopes could prevent conflict in areas like the Taiwan Strait.
Sweden to prosecute two men over Koran burnings
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) — Swedish prosecutors said on Wednesday they would put two men on trial for setting fire to the Koran in a series of incidents last year that prompted outrage in the Muslim world and raised fears of attacks by jihadists.
The two men committed “offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group” on four separate occasions when burning Islam’s holy book outside a mosque and in other public places, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement.
Evidence against the two men, named as Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem, consisted largely of video recordings, Hankkio said.
Najem denied any wrongdoing, his lawyer, Mark Safaryan, told Reuters on Wednesday.
The lawyer for Momika did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has said he wanted to protest against the institution of Islam and to ban its holy book.
