October 8, 2021 PRAGUE (Reuters) – Ailing Czech President Milos Zeman has cancelled a live TV interview planned for Sunday after weekend elections and may also put off a meeting with the prime minister that would start consultations on a new government, his office said on Friday. His office had earlier announced that Zeman, 77, […]
News
From cars to ‘ARMY bombs’: Chip crunch creeps into K-pop world
October 8, 2021 By Noor Zainab Hussain and Nivedita Balu (Reuters) – As top K-pop bands get ready to go back on stage or live stream new shows after being sidelined by the pandemic, their fans discover the global chip crisis has also caught up with the world of catchy tunes, glitzy outfits and elaborate […]
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa: “I’m in shock”
October 8, 2021 OSLO (Reuters) – Philippines journalist Maria Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, said she in live broadcast by Rappler, says she was stunned by the news. “I am in shock,” Ressa told a live broadcast by Rappler, the online news website she co-founded. (Reporting […]
Insuretech, on the heels of a fintech boom, heats up in Africa
Insurance in Kenya and Africa at large remains a marginal product, with levels of penetration across the continent half the world average as a percentage of GDP, and premiums per capita 11-fold lower than the world average, according to a recent report by McKinsey and Co. (and that’s including the outsized market of South Africa; […]
Global money market funds attract big inflows on inflation concerns -Lipper
October 8, 2021 (Reuters) – Global money market funds saw huge inflows in the week to Oct. 6, as investors favoured safety amid concerns over higher inflation, supply shortages and distress in the China property sector. According to data from Lipper, investors purchased a net $13.95 billion in global money market funds in the week, […]
Blinken bids to revive fraught U.S.-Mexico relations amid new security accord talks
October 8, 2021 By Drazen Jorgic MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a visit to Mexico, on Friday will try to mend frayed ties between the neighbors, who are thrashing out a major new security cooperation agreement and wrestling over how to deal with a spike in immigration. The top […]
Berlin police investigating ‘Havana syndrome’ cases at U.S. embassy – Spiegel
October 8, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Police opened an investigation in August into several cases of so-called Havana syndrome among staff at the U.S. embassy in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported on Friday. The syndrome – a mysterious set of ailments that include migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness – first came to public attention in […]
Budapest mayor pulls out of opposition contest to take on Hungary PM Orban
October 8, 2021 BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony quit the race on Friday to be the Hungarian opposition’s candidate in a national election next year, saying he would back conservative Peter Marki-Zay in a bid to unseat Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The move could weaken the chances of Klara Dobrev, the leftist Democratic […]
‘You are playing with fire’: EU faces crisis after Polish court ruling
October 8, 2021 By Joanna Plucinska and Sabine Siebold WARSAW (Reuters) -A Polish court ruling challenging the supremacy of EU law plunged the European Union into an existential crisis on Friday and raised the possibility of Poland leaving the 27-nation bloc. Politicians across Europe voiced dismay at the court’s move to undermine the legal pillar […]
U.S. airlines look for holiday boost after Delta variant interrupts recovery
October 8, 2021 By Rajesh Kumar Singh BOSTON (Reuters) – U.S. airlines are looking at the upcoming holiday season and the reopening of vital trans-Atlantic route to recover the momentum lost in the last quarter following a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. After a strong summer travel season, air-carriers had to temper their outlook last month […]
TSMC and Sony considering joint chip factory, Japan gov’t to help -Nikkei
October 8, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) -Taiwan’s TSMC and Japan’s Sony Group Corp are considering jointly building a chip factory in Japan, with the government ready to pay for some of the investment of about 800 billion yen ($7.15 billion), the Nikkei reported on Friday. The plant in Kumamoto, southern Japan, is expected to produce semiconductors […]
Despite preparation, California pipeline operator may have taken hours to stop leak
October 8, 2021 By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Nichola Groom LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The company that operates the pipeline that spilled an estimated 3,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean off California has an 800-page manual on handling an oil spill – but it is unclear whether its employees followed those procedures. Houston-based Amplify Energy […]
Hungary agrees to global tax deal, finance minister says
October 8, 2021 BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary has agreed to join the agreement on a global corporate minimum tax as the conditions it proposed, which included a 10-year transitional period, have been met, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga told reporters on Friday. “We have managed to reach a breakthrough on the global minimum tax deal … […]
Tennis-Murray reunited with wedding ring, stinky shoes
October 8, 2021 (Reuters) – Andy Murray was “back in the good books” with his wife on Thursday after his wedding ring and stinky shoes were returned to him. Murray said on Twitter that his shoes reeked so badly in his car that he decided to leave them under the vehicle outside his hotel in […]
Corteva faces slow start as it takes aim at Bayer’s Brazil soy reign
October 8, 2021 By Ana Mano SAO PAULO (Reuters) – U.S. pesticide and seed maker Corteva Inc will take up to three times longer to break into Brazil’s genetically modified soy seed market than it did in the United States, where Corteva’s sales grew rapidly in recent years, the company said. Corteva is launching new […]
China’s ICBC to restrict some forex and commodities trading
October 8, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said on Friday it will restrict certain types of retail businesses involving foreign-exchange and commodities trading. The move by China’s biggest bank comes alongside a range of actions by regulators to curtail financial risks that include dampening commodity price rises, banning cryptocurrency […]
Markets could face sharp correction, Bank of England warns
October 8, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) -The high value of financial assets could correct sharply if investors reassess the prospects for the economy’s recovery from COVID-19 and there are signs of increased risk-taking at investment banks, the Bank of England said on Friday. The BoE’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said in a statement after its October […]
Russia says it will protect Tajikistan in case of incursion from Afghanistan
October 8, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is ready to protect its ally Tajikistan in the event of any incursions from neighbouring Afghanistan, a senior diplomat was quoted on Friday as saying, amid Russian media reports of a militant Tajik group preparing a cross-border attack. Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and […]
Soldiers, prisoners, displaced people vote early ahead of Iraq election
October 8, 2021 By John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Soldiers, prisoners and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq on Friday as the country prepared for a Sunday general election where turnout will show how much faith voters have left in a still young democratic system. Many Iraqis say they […]
Take Five: Inflation, energy and earnings
October 8, 2021 Inflation angst and soaring energy prices form the backdrop to the start of third-quarter U.S. earnings season in the coming week. Annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) kick off too from Monday, but the event is overshadowed by a data-rigging scandal that threatens the career of IMF […]
