September 24, 2021 BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he aimed to speed up an extra month of payment to pensioners as he ramps up a pre-election spending spree. Ahead of what is expected to be a tight election early next year, Orban has showered the electorate with handouts, including […]
Spain says Catalan separatist leader detained in Italy must face Spanish courts
September 24, 2021 MADRID/ROME (Reuters) – Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who was detained by Italian police in Sardinia, must face justice in Spain, the Spanish government said on Friday ahead of an extradition hearing. “Mr. Puigdemont must submit to the action of the courts, exactly like any other citizen,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s […]
Mexico urges Haitians at US-Mexico border to give up and head south
September 24, 2021 By Daina Beth Solomon CIUDAD ACUNA, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexican officials are urging Haitians on the Texas border trying to reach the United States to give up and return to Mexico’s frontier with Guatemala to request asylum, even as discontent grows over the treatment meted out to the beleaguered migrants. Up to […]
Japan factory output seen down again in August on supply chain disruption: Reuters poll
September 24, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s factory output likely fell again in August as the country’s manufacturing sector faced supply chain disruptions driven by a global chip shortage and the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in Southeast Asia. Retail sales also likely eased in August after a sharp rise in July, according to […]
Marketmind: Move over Evergrande, time to watch soaring bond yields
September 24, 2021 A look at the day ahead from Saikat Chatterjee. World markets remain on edge on Friday as simmering concerns about the fate of embattled property developer China Evergrande Group and a sudden spike in bond yields remind investors that the final quarter of 2021 will be tricky to navigate. European and U.S. […]
Doctors scale rockslides, invoke gods to vaccinate Himalayan villages
September 24, 2021 By Adnan Abidi MALANA, India (Reuters) – To visit the Indian village of Malana deep in the Himalayas, a COVID-19 vaccination team scrambled over a landslide that blocked the road the day before, scaled a retaining wall and then began a three-hour trek down and up a river valley. Despite the hostile […]
German millionaires rush assets to Switzerland ahead of election
September 24, 2021 By Oliver Hirt ZURICH (Reuters) – A potential lurch to the left in Germany’s election on Sunday is scaring millionaires into moving assets into Switzerland, bankers and tax lawyers say. If the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), hard-left Linke and environmentalist Greens come to power, the reintroduction of a wealth tax and a […]
Amazon assembles video streaming apps to fight with Netflix and Disney in India
Amazon has launched Prime Video Channels in India, allowing its customers to subscribe to eight streaming services including Discovery+ and Mubi from one hub, the latest in a series of efforts by the U.S. giant to win customers in the South Asian nation. The new offering makes it easier for users to login and pay […]
Daimler takes 33% stake in European battery cell venture ACC
September 24, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz on Friday said it will take a 33% stake in battery cell manufacturer Automotive Cells Company (ACC) alongside the project’s original founders Stellantis and TotalEnergies. The purpose of the partnership is to develop cells and battery modules and “help ensure that Europe remains at the heart of […]
Japan approaching end of COVID-19 emergency in most areas – health minister
September 24, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s COVID-19 infection situation is improving such that emergency conditions could soon be lifted in most parts of the country, the health minister said on Friday. Hospitalisation rates and patient bed availability will factor into whether the state of emergency prevailing over Tokyo and much of the country can […]
Analysis-Red tape, political hurdles hinder Draghi’s drive to reform Italy
September 24, 2021 By Angelo Amante, Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) – Prime Minister Mario Draghi set an ambitious reform timeline to relaunch Italy’s chronically sluggish economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, but political disputes and cloying bureaucracy are starting to get in his way. The government has been trying for weeks to overcome […]
MLB roundup: White Sox wrap up AL Central crown
September 24, 2021 Tim Anderson homered twice to help the visiting Chicago White Sox clinch the American League Central title with a 7-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday in the opener of a doubleheader. Anderson led off the game with a homer and added a three-run shot to highlight a six-run second inning […]
Golf-Fiery Hatton hopes to stay cool for good of Team Europe
September 24, 2021 (Reuters) – Tyrrell Hatton expects to be needled by U.S. fans at the Ryder Cup but the fiery Englishman said on Thursday he will try to keep a lid on his emotions at Whistling Straits for the sake of his European team mates. Hatton, who has said his name would be “Headcase […]
Nomura cuts China 2021 growth forecast to 7.7% from 8.2%
September 24, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – Analysts at Nomura cut their forecast for China’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2021 to 7.7% from 8.2% on Friday, citing the impact of factories pausing operations amid power outages and environmental policies. “Over recent weeks, a surging number of factories across China have been forced to […]
Chinese gaming firms vow self-regulation amid crackdown on teen addiction
September 24, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – Over 200 Chinese gaming companies have pledged to regulate their industry to combat gaming addiction, including through the possible use of facial recognition to identify minors, a state-backed gaming association said on Friday. The statement, published by the CGIGC gaming association, which is affiliated to the online game publishing […]
Some Evergrande offshore bondholders not paid by Thursday deadline U.S. time – sources
September 24, 2021 SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Some of China Evergrande Group’s offshore bondholders have not received interest payment by a Thursday deadline U.S. time, two people familiar with the matter said, as worries about the fate of the property developer mount. A deadline for paying $83.5 million in bond interest ended on Thursday without […]
French Foreign Minister Le Drian held talks with Iraq President Salih
September 24, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held “thorough and confident” talks with Iraq’s President Barham Salih late on Thursday, wrote Le Drian on his Twitter page. “Following on from the Baghdad conference of August 28 and the ministerial meeting in New York on September 21, I reaffirmed the support […]
Wall Street eyes four more years for Powell at Fed
September 24, 2021 By Noel Randewich (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell remains favored for renomination by the White House, and if recent history repeats itself a decision may come at any time before the central bank meets again in early November. Wall Street expects Powell, who was nominated for the role by President […]
ECB’s Lagarde says many causes of inflation spike temporary: CNBC
September 24, 2021 FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Many of the drivers of the recent spike in euro zone inflation are temporary and due to fade in the next year, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in an interview aired on CNBC on Friday. “We think that there will be a return to much more stability […]
Crackdown-hit Alibaba to divest 5% stake in Chinese broadcaster
September 24, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) – An investment arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, targeted in a regulatory crackdown, will divest its entire stake of 5.01% in broadcaster Mango Excellent Media Co Ltd, the media firm said. The sale comes less than a year after the investment in December last year, as […]
