September 9, 2021 VENICE (Reuters) – Looking radiant and holding hands, singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Ben Affleck arrived for the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, getting into a water taxi to be whizzed off to their luxury hotel in the lagoon city. Affleck is in Venice for the festival premiere of Ridley Scott’s medieval epic […]
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Biden to lay out ‘path ahead’ in COVID-19 fight
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Thursday will press for new approaches to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which rages on despite the wide availability of vaccines, with surging cases in some U.S. states overwhelming local hospitals. In a speech, Biden will focus on new plans to get more […]
Varo Bank raises massive $510M Series E at a $2.5B valuation as it eyes the public markets
Varo Bank, which last year became the first U.S. neobank to be granted a national bank charter, announced this morning it has raised a staggering $510 million in a Series E funding round at a $2.5 billion valuation. The massive “oversubscribed” financing comes nearly seven months after the fintech startup raised $63 million in a […]
IAEA to send experts to Japan in December to review Fukushima water release plan
September 9, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – A plan to release radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean will be examined in December by international experts sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Japan’s industry ministry said on Thursday. In a move that angered local fishermen as well as China and […]
West African leaders due in Guinea to assess situation after coup
September 9, 2021 By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) – A delegation of West African leaders was due in Guinea on Thursday to assess the situation following a military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde and raised fears of a backslide towards military rule in the region. An elite army unit led by Mamady Doumbouya, a […]
Golf-Aphibarnrat sets pace at Wentworth as Ryder Cup hopefuls begin quest
September 9, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat produced a scorching eight-under-par opening round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Thursday as behind him those vying for Ryder Cup spots suffered mixed fortunes. Aphibarnrat’s round of 64 gave him a one-stroke lead over Australian Adam Scott with England’s Justin Rose, hoping to […]
GM extends Michigan plant shutdown over Bolt EV recall
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co said Thursday it will extend a shutdown of a Michigan assembly plant by two weeks in the aftermath of a new recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles over battery issues. The largest U.S. automaker said the extension of the production halt and its Orion Assembly […]
European bonds rally as ECB keeps stimulus cut to a minimum
September 9, 2021 By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone bonds were on course for their best day in months on Thursday as the European Central Bank took its first tentative step in withdrawing COVID-era stimulus, though stocks were kept back after Beijing took another swipe at its tech giants. Europe’s STOXX 600 was […]
Wall St flat as jobless claims fall to near 18-month low
September 9, 2021 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes opened nearly flat on Thursday after data showed weekly jobless claims fell to a near 18-month low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.99 points, or 0.05%, at the open to 35,013.08. The S&P 500 opened lower by 1.05 points, or 0.02%, at 4,513.02, while the […]
Merkel says her conservatives face tough battle after 16 years in power
September 9, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) -Angela Merkel said on Thursday nobody in her conservative bloc ever doubted that they faced a tough battle to hold the chancellery after her 16 years in office, declining to speculate on the outcome of Germany’s Sept. 26 national election. “That after 16 years one does not automatically … return […]
Paris attacks trial disrupted after main defendant defies judge
September 9, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – A judge trying suspects in a major jihadist attack in Paris that killed 130 people briefly suspended the hearing on Thursday after the main defendant tried for a second consecutive day to make political points from the dock. The judge granted suspect Salah Abdeslam the right to speak in […]
Japan extends COVID-19 emergency curbs in Tokyo, other areas
September 9, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan extended emergency COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday in Tokyo and other regions until the end of this month to curb infections and prevent hospitals being overwhelmed. Announcing the extension, ratified earlier by an advisory panel, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said it was needed to shore up a medical system […]
El Salvador president steps in to fix bitcoin rollout snags
September 9, 2021 By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele stepped in on Wednesday to manage the fraught roll-out of a payments app that underpins the nation’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, and called on users to report any problems on his Twitter feed. Adopting language similar to IT departments in […]
Tigray forces killed 120 civilians in village in Amhara – Ethiopia officials
September 9, 2021 ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -Rebellious forces from the Tigray region killed 120 civilians over two days in a village in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, local officials told Reuters on Wednesday. The killings in a village 10 km (six miles) from the town of Dabat took place on Sept. 1 and 2, said Sewnet Wubalem, […]
Bolsonaro to meet striking Brazil truckers, exporters on edge
September 9, 2021 By Lisandra Paraguassu and Ana Mano BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will meet by videoconference on Thursday with truckers leading blockades of highways in some 15 states, the Infrastructure Ministry said on social media, raising hopes he could end protests threatening export routes. Stirred up by the president’s call to […]
Tinder adds a new home for interactive, social features with launch of Tinder Explore
Tinder is redesigning its app to put a larger emphasis on its social, interactive features with the launch of “Explore,” a new section that will feature events, like the return of the popular “Swipe Night” series, as well as ways to discover matches by interests and dive into quick chats before a match is made. […]
Factbox: The embattled agency at the heart of the German ministry raids
September 9, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – German prosecutors on Thursday raided https://ift.tt/3yXKfOv the country’s fraud-busting agency, the Financial Intelligence Unit, saying they suspected the unit, which is under the Finance Ministry, had failed to act on anti-money-laundering tip-offs. The development, three weeks before a national election, has the potential to damage Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, […]
Explainer: How Indian farmers’ protest turned into a country-wide movement
September 9, 2021 By Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A group of influential farmer leaders ratcheted up pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to roll back three new farm laws by organising a mammoth rally in India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh last week. After the successful mass meeting – the biggest rally […]
Better.com acquires UK-based Property Partner ahead of SPAC close
Online mortgage company Better.com has acquired U.K.-based startup Property Partner as it seeks to expand into new markets and offer new product lines. The deal could give Better a way to augment its lending business with the potential to enable fractional ownership of properties in the U.S. and other markets. Better plans to go public […]
Anatomy of a SPAC: Inside Better.com’s ambitious plans
When executives at online mortgage company Better.com decided to take their company public earlier this year, they elected not to go the traditional IPO route or direct listing. Instead, Better will hit the public markets by merging with blank-check company Aurora Acquisition Corp in a SPAC deal that values it at $7.7 billion. While the stock […]
