September 23, 2021 By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tech firm Honeywell International Inc and consulting and engineering company Wood are set to launch a technology solution to help companies reduce carbon intensity when making sustainable aviation fuel, the partners said on Thursday. The solution could benefit producers of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, […]
Cigna names new CEO of pharmacy benefit management business
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – Health insurer Cigna Corp on Thursday named Eric Palmer as president and chief executive officer of Evernorth, its health services unit that mainly houses its pharmacy benefit management business. The health insurer also announced several other leadership changes to help accelerate growth across its business portfolio. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy […]
Euro zone business activity slowed in Sept, input costs hit over two-decade high
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – Euro zone business activity grew at its weakest pace in five months in September as curbs to limit the Delta variant of coronavirus hit demand and supply-chain constraints pushed input costs to a more than two-decade high, a survey showed on Thursday. Despite daily infection rates slowing significantly over the […]
Evergrande debt problems not just a local issue – Swiss National Bank
September 23, 2021 ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank is closely monitoring the situation at China’s Evergrande Group, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Thursday, amid concerns that its debt problems could pose risks to China’s financial system. “It is wrong to be alarmist, but it is also wrong to dismiss it as a […]
Cricket-British PM Johnson asks Australia to help resolve Ashes stand-off
September 23, 2021 MELBOURNE (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison to help ease strict quarantine rules to allow the families of England’s cricketers to tour with the players during the upcoming Ashes series. England players are seeking assurances their family members will be allowed to join them in […]
Dodging lorries, lava and war, Congo’s skaters feel reborn
September 23, 2021 By Djaffar Al Katanty GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – When the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in May, Serge Makolo only had time to grab his roller skates and a fistful of medals before the magma swallowed his house on the outskirts of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Everything […]
Soccer-UEFA doubles prize fund for Women’s European Championship
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – UEFA said on Thursday it has doubled its prize fund for the 2022 Women’s European Championship to 16 million euros ($18.75 million) with increased guaranteed payments for the 16 qualified teams. European soccer’s governing body said in a statement it had also approved the introduction of a programme which will […]
Power price surge threatens Spanish recovery
September 23, 2021 By Belén Carreño MADRID (Reuters) – Surging natural gas prices across Europe could hinder the economic recovery in Spain, where small businesses crucial to local employment are more exposed than elsewhere on the continent to steep rises in power bills. Energy bills have more than doubled in Spain and other European countries […]
Don’t panic buy, Britain tells consumers
September 23, 2021 By Guy Faulconbridge, James Davey and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) – Consumers should not panic buy products as Britain is not heading back into a 1970s-style “winter of discontent” of strikes and power shortages, a junior minister said on Thursday. Soaring wholesale European natural gas prices have sent shockwaves through energy, chemicals […]
UK’s slow growth and rising inflation gives BoE headache – PMIs
September 23, 2021 By Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy lost more momentum this month as businesses grappled again with rising costs, a survey showed, highlighting the difficult backdrop for Bank of England officials ahead of Thursday’s interest rate decision. The preliminary “flash” IHS Markit/CIPS flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped for a fourth […]
Norway raises interest rates, says another hike likely in December
September 23, 2021 By Victoria Klesty and Nerijus Adomaitis OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate on Thursday as expected, and said more hikes will follow as it joins a short but growing list of nations moving away from emergency-level borrowing costs. Norges Bank’s monetary policy committee raised the sight deposit rate […]
Apollo to sell Italy’s Amissima Vita to life insurer Athora
September 23, 2021 MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management has signed an agreement to sell all of Italy’s Amissima Vita to Bermuda-based Athora Holding Ltd, the Italian insurance company said on Thursday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and its closing is expected in the first half of 2022, Amissima […]
S&P Global lifts euro zone growth, inflation forecasts
September 23, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – S&P Global said on Thursday it has lifted both its euro area economic growth and inflation forecasts for this year, but expected to inflation to fall back below its 2% target next year. The ratings agency said that Europe’s economic recovery since lockdown restrictions were lifted in March-April had […]
Oil prices rise on tight supply, renewed risk appetite
September 23, 2021 By Sonali Paul and Koustav Samanta SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices extended gains on Thursday, riding higher on growing fuel demand and a bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude inventories as production remains hampered in the Gulf of Mexico after two hurricanes. The market was also supported by a return of appetite for risk […]
German Solarwatt opens new production line in Dresden
September 23, 2021 FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Solarwatt opened a new production line for photovoltaic modules on Thursday as part of a 100 million euro ($117 million) investment, as it promotes the convergence of the renewable power, smart home, heating and e-mobility. The line will produce one million modules per year, enough to allow 80,000 […]
Facebook explains content it demotes in news feed in bid for transparency
September 23, 2021 By Sheila Dang (Reuters) – Facebook Inc on Thursday said it reduces the distribution of certain content including clickbait, posts with “sensationalist” or exaggerated health claims or low-quality videos on its news feed, and outlined its content guidelines as the social media platform faces increased scrutiny over how it displays content to […]
White House seeks to address semiconductor chips crisis harming automakers
September 23, 2021 By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will discuss ways to overcome a semiconductor chip supply crisis that is cutting auto production around the world in a new round of meetings with major companies on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and White House National Economic Council director will host companies […]
Vietnam willing to share information with China for its bid to join CPTPP
September 23, 2021 HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam said on Thursday it is willing to share its experience and information with China for the world’s second largest economy’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). “The CPTPP is an open free trade agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said […]
German economic recovery loses momentum in Sept – flash PMIs
September 23, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic lost momentum in September as activity in both the manufacturing and services sectors slowed amid supply bottlenecks and waning catch-up effects, a survey showed on Thursday. IHS Markit’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed growth in the manufacturing sector slowed to an […]
French business activity weaker than expected in September – flash PMI
September 23, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – The rate of growth in French business slowed further in September and missed market forecasts, a monthly survey showed on Thursday, as concerns over supplies of key goods weighed on the euro zone’s second-biggest economy. Problems with global shipping and transport, caused partly by strict COVID-19 checks at Chinese […]
