News

October 6, 2021 By Carolyn Cohn and Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – British ships ferried over 3 million enslaved African people across the Atlantic Ocean. Lloyd’s of London insured many of those vessels, the people chained below deck sometimes categorized as “perishable goods”, alongside cattle, by the market’s underwriters. Lloyd’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave […]

October 6, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) -The world is on the brink of a global corporate tax deal but compromise is still needed over the final details, France’s finance minister said on Wednesday as countries that have been holding out begin to lay out their positions. Some 140 countries aim to finalise the first major overhaul […]

October 6, 2021 By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) – Shares fell and government bond yields rose across the world on Wednesday as oil prices hit their highest in seven years, fuelling concerns about rising inflation. The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 1.9%, denting gains made in its best day in 11 weeks on Tuesday, with […]

Rigetti Computing, one of the most visible quantum hardware startups, today announced that it is going public through a merger with the Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II SPAC. Once the transaction closes, Rigetti’s ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange will be ‘RGTI.’ The transaction values Rigetti at about $1.5 billion and the company […]

Pattern, a Lehi, Utah-based e-commerce accelerator that helps brands optimize sales on marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Target, eBay and Google, brought in $225 million in growth funding to continue developing its technology and expand its global presence. The new round was led by Knox Lane. Pattern co-founder and CEO David Wright said this round brings […]

Venture studio High Alpha launched its third studio Wednesday, continuing to create, launch and scale enterprise cloud companies. The Indianapolis firm typically begins a new studio every three years, and is a model of entrepreneurship that combines startup creation with venture funding. Co-founder and managing partner Scott Dorsey told TechCrunch this is coming at a […]

Kyte, a fleet-logistics platform that allows customers to order rental cars delivered right to their doors, has raised a $30 million Series A round. In the short term, the startup wants to expand into new cities, countries and verticals, but the long-term goal is to build out a platform that can deliver vehicles via teleoperation […]

October 6, 2021 By John Revill and Ryan Woo ZURICH/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi began talks in Switzerland on Wednesday, in a bid to improve communication despite a deepening strategic rivalry and tensions over hotspots including Taiwan. A source close to the Zurich talks told […]

October 6, 2021 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Wednesday it would increase support and extend existing measures for the wine, fruit and vegetable sectors after they suffered from spring frosts, floods and heat waves this year. Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said the sectors’ problems had come on top of a difficult 2020 […]

October 6, 2021 By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed to pardon an academic jailed last month for defamation under a controversial internet law, a minister said, following an outcry from human rights groups who say the law risks curtailing free speech. Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer from Aceh province, was […]

October 6, 2021 By John Shiffman SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T Inc, the world’s largest communications company. A Reuters review of court records shows the role AT&T […]

October 6, 2021 By Sheila Dang (Reuters) – Pinterest will roll out new features for brands to promote products and ideas to users, the digital pinboard company said Wednesday, part of an effort to grow online shopping on its site. The features come as social media rivals including Facebook, TikTok and Snap Inc compete for […]

October 6, 2021 By Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – After two deadly dam disasters that made Vale SA a pariah of the global green movement, Brazil’s largest mining company is striving to put the environment and climate at the heart of its business, Chief Executive Eduardo Bartolomeo told Reuters. Bartolomeo, speaking in an […]

The European Parliament has voted to back a total ban on biometric mass surveillance. AI-powered remote surveillance technologies such as facial recognition have huge implications for fundamental rights and freedoms like privacy but are already creeping into use in public in Europe. To respect “privacy and human dignity”, MEPs said that EU lawmakers should pass […]

October 6, 2021 LAGOS (Reuters) – Google plans to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years to ensure access to fast and cheaper internet and will back startups to support the continent’s digital transformation, it said on Wednesday. The unit of U.S. tech company Alphabet Inc made the announcement at a virtual […]

October 6, 2021 LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German airline Lufthansa received strong investor backing for a 2.14 billion euro ($2.47 billion) rights issue, providing some encouragement for travel companies looking to weather the after effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The company said on Wednesday that its rights issue was 98.36% subscribed by investors and that it […]

October 6, 2021 By Andy Sullivan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Democrats are set to try again on Wednesday to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority to head off a catastrophic default, after President Joe Biden suggested they could change the chamber’s rules to bypass a Republican roadblock. Republicans for months have refused […]

October 6, 2021 By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The chief judge at a Vatican trial of 10 people accused of financial crimes, including a cardinal, on Wednesday ordered the prosecution to give the defence more access to evidence and to question defendants who were not given the right to speak earlier. Court president […]

October 6, 2021 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The top European Union court ruled on Wednesday that Poland violated a key democratic tenet of judicial independence in forcing the transfer of a judge critical of the government, as well as denying him the right to appeal to an independent court. The ruling by the Luxembourg-based Court of […]

October 6, 2021 (Reuters) – UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings into “potential discriminatory incidents” during Rangers’ 1-0 Europa League defeat at Sparta Prague last week, European soccer’s governing body said in a statement on Tuesday. Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara was jeered throughout Thursday’s game at the Letna Stadium, which UEFA had initially ordered closed for […]