September 29, 2021 By David Shepardson and Ben Klayman WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) – The plan for Ford Motor Co and Korean battery partner SK Innovation to build three battery plants in the United States, announced this week, will prompt a furious drive by labor leaders to organize the plants, potentially setting the tone for future union […]
Toronto’s underground PATH mall shops fret about hybrid work in towers above
September 29, 2021 By Nichola Saminather TORONTO (Reuters) – Business is slowly starting to percolate again at the Second Cup coffee shop franchise in Toronto’s PATH shopping mall as workers trickle back to major downtown office buildings above the world’s biggest underground retail hub. The pandemic slashed sales by 80%, said Bryan Archee, who has […]
WeChat blocks China Evergrande messaging groups, some users say
September 29, 2021 By David Kirton ZHUHAI, China (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings’ WeChat platform has blocked at least eight instant messaging groups used by people in China owed money by cash-strapped property giant China Evergrande Group, group members said on Wednesday. The groups, of around 200 to 500 people each, had discussed members’ claims and […]
Clock ticking for U.S. Congress as Friday government shutdown looms
September 29, 2021 By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress on Wednesday had just two days left before the federal government begins shutting many of its operations unless Democrats manage to pass a bill providing new funding for the fiscal year that begins on Friday. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives and […]
Russia opens new criminal case against Kremlin critic Navalny, threatens more jail time
September 29, 2021 By Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia sharply escalated a campaign against jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, opening a new criminal case against President Putin’s fiercest domestic critic that could allow the authorities to hand him another decade in jail. In a case condemned by the West, Navalny, […]
Indian online learning platform Vedantu becomes unicorn with $100 million funding
Online learning platform Vedantu has raised $100 million in a new financing round and has become the latest Indian startup to become a unicorn following a year of strong growth. Vedantu, which last month refuted rumors of it considering a sale to Byju’s, said on Wednesday it has raised $100 million in its Series E […]
Egypt forges new plan to restore Cairo’s historic heart
September 29, 2021 By Patrick Werr CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt is pushing ahead with a new project to restore historic Cairo, a sprawling but now rapidly crumbling thousand-year-old world heritage site home to many a tale in the Thousand and One Arabian Nights. The plan aims to revitalise and promote Cairo as a tourist attraction […]
Boxing-Pacquiao quits ‘greatest sport in the world’ to contest Philippines presidency
September 29, 2021 By Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) -World boxing icon Manny Pacquiao announced his retirement from what he called the “greatest sport in the world” on Wednesday to focus on a run for the Philippines presidency, the biggest fight of his career. In a 14-minute video posted on Facebook and […]
Lynk demos global satellite connection for ordinary phones and prepares for commercial launch
The days of “no signal” may be behind us with the advent of Lynk’s satellite network that lets any modern phone exchange data directly with a satellite overhead, no special antenna or chip required. The company just demonstrated a two-way data link this week and announced its first network partners in Africa and the Bahamas […]
DroneSeed’s $36M A round makes it a one-stop shop for post-wildfire reforestation
DroneSeed started as a tech-powered alternative to the backbreaking work of large-scale tree-planting, but this important task is only one small part of forest restoration, the infrastructure for which is being pushed to the breaking point by wildfires. Armed with $36M in new funding, the company is reimagining reforestation from root to crown in a […]
Customer success company Totango lands $100M growth investment
Totango, a company that helps SaaS companies track customer engagement to find and fix user flow errors and friction, announced Wednesday that it has raised $100 million in Series D funding, led by Great Hill Partners. Existing investors BGV, Pitango Ventures and Canvas also participated in the round, which gives the company $132 million in […]
UK mortgage lending resumes after tax break blip
September 29, 2021 (Removes extraneous words in second paragraph) LONDON (Reuters) – British lenders increased their mortgage lending last month after the scaling back of a tax break for homebuyers at the end of June led to a rare net repayment by borrowers in July, Bank of England data showed on Wednesday. Net mortgage lending […]
Russia arrests top cybersecurity executive in treason case – court
September 29, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has arrested Ilya Sachkov, the chief executive of top Russian cybersecurity company Group IB, on suspicion of state treason and will hold him in custody for two months, a Moscow court said on Wednesday. Russian law enforcement officers searched the Moscow offices of Group IB on Tuesday, the company […]
Mediobanca’s top investor Del Vecchio seeks more clout
September 29, 2021 By Elisa Anzolin and Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) – Mediobanca’s top investor Leonardo Del Vecchio has proposed changing the Italian merchant bank’s by-laws to give more power to its board and shareholders over executives, but said he was not pushing for management or board changes. Two years ago, Italian eyewear billionaire Del […]
Funds demand science-based emissions targets from 1,600 firms
September 29, 2021 By Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) -Funds managing nearly $30 trillion in assets called on Wednesday for 1,600 of the world’s most polluting companies to “urgently” set science-based emissions reduction targets. The 220 investors, including Fidelity International and Amundi, said they had written to CEOs of firms they invest in demanding targets that […]
Cricket-Australia to postpone Afghanistan test this week – official
September 29, 2021 MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia will postpone its test match against Afghanistan indefinitely this week to prompt the Asian nation to “rethink” their approach to women’s sport, Cricket Tasmania boss Dominic Baker said on Wednesday. The match against the Afghan men’s team was scheduled for Nov. 27 in Hobart. “It’ll be formally postponed […]
Spain allows up to 100% occupancy in outdoor sports venues
September 29, 2021 MADRID (Reuters) – Fans in Spain will be allowed from Oct. 1 to fill open-air stadiums up to full capacity and indoor facilities up to 80%, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Fans will need to keep a distance of 1.5 meters (4.92 ft)between them and wear a face mask, and will […]
Column: Dethroned cash can still rule in stressful times
September 29, 2021 By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) – Cash may no longer be king, but it can still rule sometimes. With central bank interest rates at historic lows for much of the past decade, most long-term investors have found “cash is trash”, quickly burning a hole in their returns. Meanwhile, policy rates of the […]
European stocks stabilise after tech-driven rout
September 29, 2021 (Reuters) – European stocks steadied on Wednesday after one of the worst market routs this year, with investors turning to defensive healthcare stocks amid lingering concerns about growth and inflation. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.8% after shedding 2.2% on Tuesday in their biggest percentage daily decline since mid-July. In a […]
Vietnam posts record GDP slump in Q3 due to COVID-19 curbs
September 29, 2021 HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s gross domestic product contracted 6.17% in the third quarter of 2021 from a year earlier as pandemic restrictions hit, the sharpest quarterly decline on record, government data released on Wednesday showed. The services sector contracted 9.28% from a year earlier in the period, while the industrial and construction […]
