South Pacific Resources Gains 18%

South Pacific Resources Ltd (SPB) shares are gaining more than 186 percent on Friday morning. There have been no corporate announcements today to influence the stock movement. The shares were on a growth path mostly since October end.

Currently, shares are at $62.54, up 18.76 percent from the previous close of $52.66 on a volume of 676,599.

Senate Passes Bill To Avert Rail Shutdown After House Gives Nod

The Senate has passed a bill to implement a tentative agreement aimed at averting a national rail shut down with bipartisan support.

It comes a day after the House of Representatives approved the legislation.

The measure will become law once it is signed by the President.

President Joe Biden thanked Congressional leadership who supported the bill and the overwhelming majority of Senators and Representatives in both parties who voted to avert a rail shutdown.

“Congress’ decisive action ensures that we will avoid the impending, devastating economic consequences for workers, families, and communities across the country. Communities will maintain access to clean drinking water. Farmers and ranchers will continue to be able to bring food to market and feed their livestock. And hundreds of thousands of Americans in a number of industries will keep their jobs,” he said in a statement.

Biden said he will sign the bill into law as soon as Congress sends it to his desk.

The agreement will raise workers’ wages by 24 percent, increase health care benefits, and preserve two person crews.

With many Republican Senators joining Democrats in voting in support, the resolution was approved by a 80-15 vote.

Another resolution, to increase the number of paid sick leave in the contract from one to seven days, failed.

The passage of the main bill has eased concerns of a potential rail strike. The unions had given a December 9 deadline to reach an agreement.

House Passes Bill To Avert Rail Shutdown With Bipartisan Support

The House of Representatives has passed a bill to implement a tentative agreement aimed at averting a national rail shut down with bipartisan support.

With 79 Republican Representatives joining Democrats in voting in support, the resolution was approved by a 290-137 vote.

Another resolution, to increase the number of paid sick leave in the contract from one to seven days, was passed by 221 to 207 votes.

Both the bills will head to the Senate for vote.

The passage of the bills has eased concerns of a potential rail strike. The unions had given a December 9 deadline to reach an agreement.

President Joe Biden has called on the Senate to act urgently. “Without the certainty of a final vote to avoid a shutdown this week, railroads will begin to halt the movement of critical materials like chemicals to clean our drinking water as soon as this weekend,” he warned in a statement.

“Without action this week, disruptions to our auto supply chains, our ability to move food to tables, and our ability to remove hazardous waste from gasoline refineries will begin. The Senate must move quickly and send a bill to my desk for my signature immediately,” he added.

Biden thanked House Speaker Pelosi, House Democrats and Republicans for taking urgent action to prevent a rail shutdown.

Elon Musk Offers General Amnesty To Suspended Twitter Accounts

Elon Musk is offering a “general amnesty” to some suspended accounts on Twitter from next week.

Musk started a poll on Wednesday asking Twitter users whether accounts that had “not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam” should be let back on the social media platform.

Musk, the world’s richest man, had bought Twitter in a $44 billion deal last month.

More than 3.1 million Twitter users responded to Musk’s poll, with 72.4% of them voting “Yes”.

“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week,” Musk, later tweeted. He also tweeted the Latin phrase “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.

Meanwhile, Musk did not reveal details on how the amnesty process would be carried out.

Musk’s announcement comes just days after he reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account as well as the accounts for Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, former professional kickboxer Andrew Tate and rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a campaign group, said “superspreaders” of hateful content would benefit from the move and urged advertisers to stop spending on Twitter.

“Superspreaders of hate, abuse and harassment will be the only people to benefit from this latest decision by Twitter,” said Imran Ahmed, chief executive of CCDH. “The choice for advertisers has never been starker: stick around and back Elon Musk, or protect their brands and ensure their marketing dollars aren’t used to enable the spread of hate, abuse and disinformation.”

Senate Passes Bill To Avert Rail Shutdown After House Gives Nod

The Senate has passed a bill to implement a tentative agreement aimed at averting a national rail shut down with bipartisan support.

It comes a day after the House of Representatives approved the legislation.

The measure will become law once it is signed by the President.

President Joe Biden thanked Congressional leadership who supported the bill and the overwhelming majority of Senators and Representatives in both parties who voted to avert a rail shutdown.

“Congress’ decisive action ensures that we will avoid the impending, devastating economic consequences for workers, families, and communities across the country. Communities will maintain access to clean drinking water. Farmers and ranchers will continue to be able to bring food to market and feed their livestock. And hundreds of thousands of Americans in a number of industries will keep their jobs,” he said in a statement.

Biden said he will sign the bill into law as soon as Congress sends it to his desk.

The agreement will raise workers’ wages by 24 percent, increase health care benefits, and preserve two person crews.

With many Republican Senators joining Democrats in voting in support, the resolution was approved by a 80-15 vote.

Another resolution, to increase the number of paid sick leave in the contract from one to seven days, failed.

The passage of the main bill has eased concerns of a potential rail strike. The unions had given a December 9 deadline to reach an agreement.