2025-09-12 20:52
Fashion brand Chrome Hearts filed suit in Los Angeles It seeks money damages and order blocking use of name Sept 12 (Reuters) - Rock legend Neil Young and his latest band the Chrome Hearts have been sued for trademark infringement by Los Angeles luxury fashion brand Chrome Hearts. The lawsuit , opens new tab, filed on Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles, said the band's name and merchandise will confuse consumers into believing they are connected with the fashion brand. The complaint sought an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a judicial order blocking Young from using the name Chrome Hearts. Sign up here. Representatives for Young at his label Warner Records (WMG.O) , opens new tab did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Attorneys and spokespeople for Chrome Hearts also did not respond to requests for comment. The Canadian-born Young, 79, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1995 and as a member of the band Buffalo Springfield in 1997. He was also a member of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and has toured for decades with backing from the band Crazy Horse. Young announced a tour with a new backing band called the Chrome Hearts last year. The fashion brand Chrome Hearts told the court that the band's name has confused vendors into thinking that the band's merchandise was part of a collaboration. The brand said it has previously collaborated with musicians including the Rolling Stones and Drake, which it said increased the risk of confusion from Young's band name. The brand said it sent Young's representatives a cease-and-desist letter in July, but the band has since continued to tour under the Chrome Hearts name. Young's band is scheduled to play in Mountain View, California, on Friday and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/neil-young-hit-with-trademark-lawsuit-over-band-name-chrome-hearts-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:47
Tether to launch USAT stablecoin for US residents by year-end Bo Hines appointed CEO of new venture, aims for significant US expansion USAT to comply with GENIUS Act, to be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank Sept 12 (Reuters) - Crypto company Tether, the creator of the world's largest stablecoin, plans to launch a U.S.-based stablecoin designed for U.S. residents called USAT, the company's CEO Paolo Ardoino said on Friday. Former White House official Bo Hines will be the CEO of the new venture, which aims to launch by the end of the year, Ardoino said at a press conference in New York. Sign up here. The move is the latest sign of Tether, which is based in El Salvador, looking to bolster its presence in the U.S., where crypto companies have benefited from U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance. “I think it’s a very exciting moment because we were under severe pressure from competitors that want to create a monopolistic environment in the United States,” Ardoino said. “We believe that Tether is the best product in the market." Tether's dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, known as USDT, has a market capitalization of more than $169 billion, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. Trump in July signed a law dubbed the GENIUS Act to create a regulatory regime for stablecoins, a huge win for crypto supporters who had long lobbied for such a regulatory framework in a bid to gain greater legitimacy. The new law requires stablecoins to be backed by liquid assets - such as U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bills - and for issuers to disclose publicly the composition of their reserves monthly. USDT still plans to comply with the GENIUS Act and remain a foreign stablecoin issuer, Ardoino said, adding that the law provides a way for foreign stablecoins to receive reciprocity. "We want people to know that Tether is here to participate in the U.S. economy in a huge way," said Hines, who was appointed as a strategic advisor to Tether in August after he departed his position as executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets. "I think our expansion will be exorbitant over the course of the next 12 to 24 months," Hines said. Ardoino said USAT will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, which has a national trust bank charter with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Anchorage will be one of the shareholders of the new venture, Ardoino said, declining to name the other shareholders. Cantor Fitzgerald will serve as USAT's custodian and preferred primary dealer, Tether said in a press release. USAT will be headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hines said. The move by Tether comes just three months after rival stablecoin firm Circle (CRCL.N) , opens new tab went public in the U.S. in a blockbuster IPO raised more than $1 billion. Shares in Circle were last down 5.8%. Tether said it bought more than $33.1 billion of U.S. Treasury bills in 2024, making it the seventh largest buyer of U.S. government debt. In an April research note, JP Morgan analysts estimated that stablecoin issuers could become the third-largest buyer of Treasury bills in the coming years. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had encouraged lawmakers to pass legislation to create federal rules for stablecoins, arguing that it could lead to a surge in demand for U.S. government debt. Tether has previously come under scrutiny in the U.S. The company agreed to publish quarterly reserve reports under a 2021 settlement with the New York Attorney General's office, which accused Tether and its sister company Bitfinex of commingling client and corporate funds to cover up $850 million that went missing. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that U.S. authorities were probing potential violations by the cryptocurrency firm of sanctions or anti-money laundering rules, but Ardoino said he had not seen any indication that Tether was under investigation. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/tether-unveils-usat-stablecoin-boost-us-market-presence-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:34
Sept 12 (Reuters) - The Trump administration asked a federal judge to cancel the 2024 approval of a wind farm off the coast of Maryland, saying former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration had underestimated threats it would cause to search and rescue operations and commercial fisheries, according to court documents filed on Friday. If approved by the court, the motion would invalidate a years-long federal process that permitted US Wind's Maryland Offshore Wind Project. The facility was expected to generate enough electricity to power 718,000 homes at a time of soaring U.S. demand. Sign up here. The action is the latest in a series of moves the Trump administration has made to stymie development of offshore wind and other clean energy facilities. Attorneys for the Interior Department filed the motion in U.S. District Court in Maryland in a lawsuit brought by the mayor and city council of Ocean City, Maryland, that challenged the agency's approval of the US Wind project. Ocean City officials were not immediately available for comment. In its 2024 complaint, the city alleged the project would threaten its tourism and fishing industries. In justifying its motion, the administration said the project's approval had relied on a Biden-era legal interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that gave the government broad discretion in managing multiple activities in federal waters. That interpretation was withdrawn by Trump Interior Department attorneys this year. US Wind said it would defend the project's permits in court. "After many years of analysis, several federal agencies issued final permits to the project," spokesperson Nancy Sopko said in a statement. "We intend to vigorously defend those permits in federal court, and we are confident that the court will uphold their validity and prevent any adverse action against them." US Wind is a subsidiary of Renexia SpA, the renewable development arm of Italian infrastructure firm Toto Holding. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-asks-federal-court-cancel-permit-maryland-offshore-wind-farm-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:29
US corn supplies expected to swell 59% to 7-year high US corn exports also seen reaching record levels Farmers brace for low corn prices even as costs surge CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. farmers will reap a record corn crop this autumn, eclipsing the previous record set two years ago by nearly 1.5 billion bushels after harvesting their largest acreage in 92 years, the Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The massive crop is due to swell U.S. supplies of the grain by 59% to a seven-year high even as exports are projected to reach record levels, the USDA said in a monthly supply-and-demand report. Sign up here. The grain glut is likely to weigh on the farm economy. U.S. growers have already been struggling with low crop prices and rising costs for inputs such as fertilizer and seeds. Cash crop receipts adjusted for inflation are forecast at the lowest level since 2007. Heftier supplies, however, would benefit livestock producers that use the crop for feed, along with ethanol producers. The USDA lowered its corn yield forecast on Friday but total production rose as it increased its estimate for how many acres will be harvested. In August it surprised grain traders with a large acreage increase. "It didn't matter that USDA reduced the corn yield, because of the amount of corn acreage they found," said Susan Stroud, founder and analyst at No Bull Agriculture. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures shrugged off the harvest outlook as traders anticipated that the USDA could trim its forecasts in upcoming reports. The USDA raised its 2025 U.S. corn production estimate to a record 16.814 billion bushels. It projected a record average yield of 186.7 bushels per acre, down from 188.8 bushels per acre in August. Both figures were above analysts' expectations. Favorable crop weather for much of the summer growing season boosted yield prospects until pockets of disease and dry late-season weather clipped potential, analysts said. End-of-season U.S. corn stocks for the 2025/26 marketing year were projected at 2.11 billion bushels, down slightly from the USDA's forecast a month earlier but still the largest since the 2018/19 season. For soybeans, the USDA projected U.S. yield at a slightly higher-than-expected 53.5 bushels per acre, compared with 53.6 bushels in August. It pegged production at 4.301 billion bushels, up from 4.292 billion bushels a month earlier as the agency increased harvested acres. The agency raised its U.S. soybean ending stocks forecast by 10 million bushels after cutting its export projection to the lowest since a U.S. trade war with top-importer China during President Donald Trump's first term. Export sales have slumped again due to a renewed trade dispute with Beijing, which has not yet booked any new-crop purchases from the U.S. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/usda-projects-record-us-corn-crop-most-harvested-acres-since-1933-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:21
Sept 12 (Reuters) - Agriculture company Corteva (CTVA.N) , opens new tab is exploring a breakup that would separate its seed and pesticide businesses into two separate companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company, with a market capitalization of nearly $50 billion as of last close, is expected to reveal plans soon, the report said. Sign up here. Shares of Corteva, which did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, closed up 1%. Corteva is among the largest crop-protection product makers in the United States, competing with the likes of Syngenta and German firms BASF (BASFn.DE) , opens new tab and Bayer (BAYGn.DE) , opens new tab in the agricultural chemicals sector. https://www.reuters.com/business/corteva-explores-breaking-up-into-two-separate-companies-wsj-reports-2025-09-12/
2025-09-12 20:04
WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed on Friday a rule to end a mandatory program requiring 8,000 facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions - an effort the agency said was burdensome to business, but which leaves the public without transparency around the environmental impact of those sources. The agency said mandatory collection of GHG emissions data was unnecessary because it is "not directly related to a potential regulation and has no material impact on improving human health and the environment." Sign up here. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT The rule responds to a day-one executive order issued by President Donald Trump aimed at removing barriers to unleashing more U.S. energy, particularly fossil fuels. It is the latest in a series of major regulatory rollbacks undoing previous U.S. efforts to combat climate change. Earlier this summer, the EPA announced plans to repeal the "endangerment finding" that enabled the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and stationary sources. If finalized, the proposal would remove reporting obligations for most large facilities, all fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites. The Trump administration has also said it would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, which requires countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and report their progress. KEY QUOTE "The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality," said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. KEY CONTEXT The Trump administration has also taken steps to end the collection of key environmental databases at the EPA, as well as other federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and end greenhouse gas-monitoring satellites operated by NASA. DETAILS The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires 47 source categories covering 8,000 facilities and suppliers, including power plants, refineries, chemical plants, and fossil fuel/industrial gas suppliers, to calculate and submit their greenhouse gas emissions annually. The program also covers CO2 injection sites. The agency will still require submission of methane emissions data for large oil and gas operations for companies subject to a waste emissions charge. REACTION The carbon capture and storage industry, which is supported by the Trump administration, said the proposal will undermine an emerging technology backed by industry. “This announcement from EPA will not advance carbon storage - something Administrator Zeldin has publicly supported," said Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition. "This proposed rule endangers millions of dollars in investments from American businesses in these technologies.” https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-epa-proposes-end-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-reporting-2025-09-12/
