Trump says gas prices are up, OPEC ‘doing little to help’

Trump says gas prices are up, OPEC ‘doing little to help’

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump says OPEC is “doing little to help” rising gas prices and claims “if anything, they are driving prices higher.”

Trump tweeted Wednesday: “The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help. If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s. This must be a two way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!”

Last month, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel agreed to pump 1 million barrels more crude oil daily, a move that should help contain the recent rise in global energy prices. However, summer months in the U.S. usually lead to increased demand for oil, boosting the price of gasoline in a midterm election year.

Renewable energy push in Arizona draws political fight

PHOENIX

The state’s largest utility is fiercely opposing a push to mandate increased use of renewable energy in sun-drenched Arizona.

Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona aims to ask voters whether they want the state Constitution to require half of Arizona’s electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2030.

The group plans to file more than 225,000 signatures today to get the question on the November ballot.

California billionaire Tom Steyer is financing the initiative through his NextGen Climate Action group, which supported similar efforts in Nevada and Michigan. Only the Arizona measure spawned a political fight.

Arizona Public Service Co. says the proposed constitutional amendment will cause customers’ utility rates to skyrocket and harm reliability.

Its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., spent $1.18 million to oppose the initiative in the first three months of the year.

Lopez Obrador sets $7.5 billion for youths, elderly

MEXICO CITY

Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is promising that jobless youths, the elderly and Mexico’s business sector will be the biggest beneficiaries of his first year in office.

Lopez Obrador is pledging to pay the salaries of apprentices employed by Mexican companies as part of a $5 billion packages of scholarships and job training.

The once-fiery leftist met with Mexican businessmen on Wednesday and pledged another $2 billion to extend and increase old-age supplementary payments to the elderly nationwide.

Lopez Obrador said the two programs will be the central themes of his first year in office. He said the $7.5 billion package will be paid for by government cost-cutting, “even if we are left without a shirt on our backs.”

Brazil police search Philips office in fraud probe

SAO PAULO

Police have searched the offices of Philips in Brazil and are executing arrest warrants for two people linked to the Dutch electronics company.

Wednesday’s operation is part of an investigation into suspected fraud in the supply of medical equipment to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics and the Rio de Janeiro Health Department.

Prosecutors allege that several companies formed a cartel to win and inflate contracts. In all, 22 arrest warrants were issued and 44 addresses searched.

Prosecutors say two warrants are for people linked to Philips. The company says one had been an executive who has left the company, while the other works in sales. It says the current employee was brought in for questioning and that the company is cooperating with the authorities.

Associated Press