October 5, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) -A group of French senators including a former defence minister will visit Taiwan this week, the island’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, with the visit coming at a time of soaring tensions between Taipei and Beijing and despite China’s opposition. Their trip comes after China flew almost 150 warplanes https://ift.tt/3FgT9eu […]
Spain plans a 2% pay raise for all civil servants
October 5, 2021 By Belén Carreño and Inti Landauro MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government plans to give all civil servants a 2% pay raise in 2022 to help their wages keep pace with rising consumer prices, a source at the budget ministry said on Tuesday. The pay increase will have to be ratified by […]
Duality nabs $30M for its privacy-focused data collaboration tools, built using homomorphic encryption
Duality, a startup founded by groundbreaking cryptographers and data scientists that is building tools to make it easier for companies to share data and collaborate with each other without compromising sensitive information, has raised some funding on the back of some significant early deals, including a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. The startup, […]
Greece proposes EU-wide mechanism on rising energy costs
October 5, 2021 ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece has proposed an EU-wide mechanism for hedging against steep gas price fluctuations to help households tackle rising energy prices across the bloc. Gas prices have surged so far this year as world economies are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and global demand is picking up much faster than […]
Germany’s Greens meet conservatives for crunch coalition talks
October 5, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Greens met Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on Tuesday for talks to explore whether they and a smaller liberal party could form a new coalition government following last month’s national election. A close result in the election on Sept. 26, when no party won an overall majority, has kicked […]
Afghanistan to start issuing passports again after months of delays
October 5, 2021 KABUL (Reuters) -Afghanistan will start issuing passports to its citizens again on Tuesday, a senior official said, following months of delays that hampered attempts by those trying to flee the country after the Taliban seized control in August. The process, which had slowed even before the Islamist militants’ return to power following […]
Soccer-Facebook outage leaves players twiddling their thumbs
October 5, 2021 (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Moura joked that Monday’s near six-hour social media outage meant he finally had a chance to connect with his wife, while Everton’s Richarlison saw a fresh opening for carrier pigeons, as soccer players saw the funny side of the blackout. Facebook Inc blamed a “faulty configuration change” […]
UK new car registrations slide in weakest September for over 23 years
October 5, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) -British new car registrations fell last month by 34% year on year to 215,312 units, according to industry data on Tuesday that marked the weakest September for at least 23 years. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the auto industry continued to be plagued by a global […]
European business growth hurt by supply issues, pricing in Sept -PMIs
October 5, 2021 By Jonathan Cable LONDON (Reuters) -Business growth across Europe remained strong last month but elevated inflationary pressures put a dent in demand while ongoing supply issues constrained activity, issues which are likely to continue, a survey showed on Tuesday. Although many restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic have now been lifted […]
Cryptocurrencies post inflows for 7 straight weeks, led by bitcoin – CoinShares data
October 5, 2021 By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency investment products and funds recorded inflows for a seventh straight week, as institutional investors warmed to more supportive statements from regulators, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday. Inflows to the sector were $90.2 million last week, led by bitcoin which snagged […]
YC-backed Amenli raises $2.3M to provide insurance to Egyptian consumers
The average penetration rate for insurance in Africa is between 3% to 5%. South Africa makes up a large bulk of it; without it, the continent is on a 1% to 2% rate even with other developed technology and financial markets like Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt. The insurance market is still one of the industries […]
Daimler Trucks production below demand due to chip shortage – CEO
October 5, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) -Daimler Trucks CEO Martin Daum said the truckmaker, set to spin-off from Daimler in December, will continue to sell fewer vehicles than it could have in the coming year as chip shortages hamper production. “We will certainly be delivering less than we could have sold, and that also applies to […]
Canada’s Hydro One seeks bigger M&A targets to boost customers
October 5, 2021 By Maiya Keidan and Shariq Khan (Reuters) – Ontario’s largest electric utility, Hydro One Ltd, is seeking acquisitions worth up to C$500 million ($397 million) to boost its customer base and consolidate the fragmented industry, a spokeswoman told Reuters. The government of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is eager to bring down […]
PepsiCo raises annual revenue forecast as soda demand jumps
October 5, 2021 (Reuters) -PepsiCo Inc raised its full-year revenue forecast on Tuesday, as the easing of pandemic restrictions boosts demand for sodas at theaters and restaurants. Sales in PepsiCo’s North America Beverage unit, the company’s largest business, rose 7% in the third quarter as a reopening economy and the lifting of COVID-19 capacity restrictions […]
Bitcoin hits $50k for first time in four weeks
October 5, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market value, rose above the $50,000 mark for the first time in four weeks on Tuesday, adding to a series of gains since the start of October. The cryptocurrency fell below that level on September 7 amid a broader selloff in shares of […]
Facebook whistleblower to say former employer an ‘urgent threat’ to U.S
October 5, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen will appear before the U.S. Congress Tuesday, where she is set to sharply criticize her former employer as “one of the most urgent threats” facing the country, and to demand transparency about its operations in order to better regulate it. Haugen, a former product manager […]
What to watch for market stress as the U.S. debt ceiling deadline nears
October 5, 2021 By David Randall, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Worries about the debt ceiling are beginning to rattle investors as the deadline nears for Congress to raise the U.S. borrowing limit to avoid a historic default on U.S. debt. With two weeks before the Oct. 18 deadline, President […]
Battery giants face skills gap that could jam electric highway
October 5, 2021 By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean battery giants powering many of the world’s electric vehicles face a skills shortage that could drag on the global race towards zero-emissions transport. The country’s three major players, which command a third of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market, told Reuters they […]
The 2022 Ford Maverick is a compact truck light on capability and chock full of potential
The Ford F-series pickup is America’s truck. At least, that’s what the numbers tell us. It’s been America’s top-selling vehicle for close to half a century. While the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram’s series of pickups are worthy competitors, Ford still sells tens of thousands more units than either one. If you spend any time with […]
Habitual is using digital support plus food replacement to help reverse type 2 diabetes
London-based Habitual, a healthtech startup which offers a weight loss program aimed at people with type 2 diabetes (or prediabetes) that combines “evidence-based” food replacement with digital support to help people manage and even reverse the condition (so they can be medication free), has closed a $2.3 million seed round. The round was led by […]
