News

September 10, 2021 By Alicia Powell (Reuters) – A Hublot watch designed and signed by basketball great Kobe Bryant is hitting the auction block, along with a sneaker and digital art, a package the seller values at $10 million. The timepiece is a limited edition 18K rose gold King Power ‘Black Mamba’ Tourbillon that Bryant […]

September 10, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and ex-Soviet ally Belarus on Friday launched the active phase of vast military exercises involving 200,000 personnel that have alarmed Ukraine and some NATO nations. The “Zapad-2021” war games, taking place on Russia’s and Belarus’s western flanks, are due to run until next Thursday. Moscow released footage of […]

September 10, 2021 ESTEPONA, Spain (Reuters) – Unusually strong winds and high late-summer temperatures hindered efforts on Friday to tame a wildfire near a popular resort in southern Spain that has forced over 1,000 people out of their homes and killed an emergency worker. Since erupting on Wednesday evening, the blaze has burned through around […]

September 10, 2021 By Alasdair Pal and Uditha Jayasinghe COLOMBO (Reuters) – Political detainees in Sri Lanka are being tortured while in police and military custody, a human rights lawyer who wrote a report on alleged abuses said on Friday, days ahead of a U.N. human rights summit. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), […]

September 10, 2021 By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican has rejected criticism from senior Israeli rabbis over remarks by Pope Francis about Jewish books of sacred law, saying he was not questioning their continuing validity for Jews today. Last month Reuters reported that Rabbi Rasson Arousi, who is in charge of the […]

September 10, 2021 By Tom Sims and Chris Prentice FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into German insurer Allianz is looking at possible misconduct by fund managers and misrepresentation of risk to investors, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The probe, disclosed by the company on Aug. 1, […]

September 9, 2021 By Jon Nazca ESTEPONA, Spain (Reuters) -A wildfire has forced the evacuation of more than 900 people from around the southern Spanish resort of Estepona, local authorities said on Thursday. A 44-year-old firefighter died while working on the wildfire, regional environment chief Carmen Crespo told journalists. The blaze started on Wednesday around […]

September 10, 2021 (Reuters) – Candidates who could become Japan’s next premier have begun to emerge following the announcement last week by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that he was stepping down as leader of the Liberal Democrat Party. The LDP will vote on Sept. 29 for a new leader, and Suga’s successor will take the […]

September 10, 2021 By Lucila Sigal BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentines will go to the polls on Sunday in a primary election that is a litmus test for the November legislative midterms, with the vote marked by political apathy, concerns about the economy and the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-election polls show the center-left […]

September 10, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – Steadying himself on a crutch, veteran French film star Alain Delon made a rare public appearance on Friday at the funeral of a fellow giant of French cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo, who died on Monday at the age of 88. Belmondo, a charismatic actor who often performed his own daring […]

September 10, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan accused China on Friday of seeking to use the Honduran election to “create controversy” and undermine Taiwan’s long-standing ties with the country, saying it would strive to win support for Honduras’ relations with Taipei. Honduras’ main left-wing opposition party, led by ousted former president Manuel Zelaya, said on […]

September 10, 2021 By Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a luxury hotel along Doha’s coastline last year, Zalmay Khalilzad smiled as he shook hands with the Taliban’s co-founder Mullah Baradar in front of journalists and diplomats from around the world. “We have signed an agreement with the Taliban that […]

September 10, 2021 HONG KONG (Reuters) – Struggling property giant China Evergrande Group repaid matured wealth management products of less than 100,000 yuan ($15,531) on Sept. 9 as part of an interim repayment plan for retail investors, financial information provider REDD reported on Friday. Citing three product holders who were briefed by investment representatives, REDD […]

September 10, 2021 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU competition regulators on Friday gave the green light to Alitalia’s successor Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) and also ordered the Italian flag carrier to repay 900 million euros ($1.1 billion) in illegal state aid. The European Commission said a 1.35 billion euro capital injection by Italy into ITA over […]

September 10, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Chinese government officials, in the latest show of regulatory vigour, told leading delivery and ride-hailing companies on Friday to improve how they distributed incomes and ensure rest periods for workers. The officials delivered that message during a meeting with ten companies, including Meituan, Didi Global, Alibaba Group’s Ele.me and Tencent […]

September 10, 2021 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU competition regulators on Friday gave the green light to Alitalia’s successor Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) and also ordered the Italian flag carrier to repay 900 million euros ($1.1 billion) in illegal state aid. The European Commission said a 1.35 billion euro capital injection by Italy into ITA over […]

September 10, 2021 By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan is expected to offer a slightly bleaker view on exports and output this month, or warn of heightening risks from supply disruptions caused by factory shutdowns in Southeast Asia, said sources familiar with its thinking. The gloomier assessment, combined with weaker-than-expected consumption […]

September 10, 2021 GENEVA (Reuters) – The U.N. rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons and whips that have resulted in at least four protester deaths. Ravina Shamdasani, U.N. rights spokesperson, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that […]

September 10, 2021 By Joyce Zhou HONG KONG (Reuters) – Guide Michael Tsang was able to take tourists freely around Asia’s financial hub in 2019, introducing them the city’s protest movement, explaining “one country, two systems” and showing them scenes of economic inequality. Since the coronavirus pandemic cut off foreign visitors and a sweeping national […]

September 10, 2021 By David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, facing potential defeat in a Sept. 20 election, on Thursday used a key leaders’ debate to take aim at his main rival, portraying him as weak and ineffective. Polls show Erin O’Toole’s Conservative Party has a chance of winning […]