News

September 23, 2021 (Corrects Sept 22 article to add dropped word “not” in quote in paragraph 5) WINDHOEK (Reuters) – During a heated parliamentary debate, Namibian opposition lawmakers on Wednesday criticised a 1.1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) compensation offer from Germany for its 1904-1908 genocide in the southwest African country and called on the government […]

September 23, 2021 By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is poised to command wide support for a second term as head of the World Health Organisation, formally nominated by more than 12 European Union members and also backed by countries in other regions, diplomats said on Thursday. Tedros, a former health and […]

September 23, 2021 ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey’s ties with the United States were not healthy and that Washington needed to “sort out” issues over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems, according to broadcaster Haberturk. Ties between the NATO allies struck a low point earlier this year […]

September 23, 2021 By Tom Kaeckenhoff DUISBURG, Germany (Reuters) -German Social Democrat (SPD) candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Thursday to help the steel industry convert to climate-friendly production if his party, clinging to a narrow lead in polls, wins Sunday’s federal election. Trying to shore up support in the industrial heartland of the […]

September 23, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) -French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday it would take “time and actions” to restore confidence in relations after a crisis triggered by Australia’s cancellation of a submarine contract with Paris. France was incensed by Australia’s decision last week to opt instead […]

September 23, 2021 By Daina Beth Solomon and Doina Chiacu CIUDAD ACUNA, Mexico/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest on Thursday in a letter that blasted the Biden administration for deporting hundreds of migrants back to the crisis-engulfed Caribbean nation from a camp on the U.S.-Mexican border in recent days. Daniel […]

The U.S. Treasury is wading into the fight against ransomware by sanctioning virtual cryptocurrency exchange Suex for its role in facilitating ransomware payments. The sanctions are the first of its kind against a cryptocurrency exchange, and prohibit Americans from doing business with the company. It’s the latest action as part of a U.S. government-wide effort […]

September 23, 2021 By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) – A coalition of defeated parliamentary candidates in Moscow who allege they were cheated of victory in a parliamentary election by a crooked online voting system said on Thursday they would try to overturn the results via lawsuits and public pressure. Some of the defeated candidates, most […]

September 23, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The window is still open to reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but Tehran has yet to indicate whether it is willing to resume talks in Vienna or whether it would do so on the basis of where they left off in June, a senior U.S. official said on […]

September 23, 2021 TEL AVIV (Reuters) – A Tel Aviv family court held its first hearing on Thursday in a custody battle over a six-year-old boy, the sole survivor of an Italian cable car disaster, who was taken to Israel by his grandfather without permission of family in Italy. Family members based in the two […]

September 23, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a closed-door hearing on Sept. 29 to discuss Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which several lawmakers say could harm allies in Eastern Europe. Amos Hochstein, senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. Department of State, will testify, according to […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will likely decide in early October whether to endorse a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be given half a year after the initial two-shot course. “The outcome of this evaluation is expected in early October, unless supplementary information is needed,” the European […]

Making smartphones more accessible is always a good idea, and Google’s latest features bring quick actions and navigation to people whose expressions are their primary means of interacting with the world. Project Activate and Camera Switches let users perform tasks like speaking a custom phrase, or navigating using a switch interface, through facial gestures alone. […]

Tesla broke ground on its “Megafactory,” a new production facility in California, so christened because it will produce the company’s large-scale battery system Megapack. News of the previously unannounced factory was confirmed by the Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal, in a Facebook post that was deleted and re-posted. “We are proud to be the home of […]

Ever been to a multi-day conference only to find the last day to be — how can we put this kindly — less than scintillating? Yeah, that’s not happening on the third and final day of TC Disrupt 2021. You’ll find plenty of exciting, thought-provoking panels, demos and breakout sessions along with actionable tips, advice […]

September 23, 2021 By Alasdair Pal and Jibran Ahmed (Reuters) – A little more than a month after toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers are facing internal enemies who have adopted many of the tactics of urban warfare that marked their own successful guerrilla campaign. A deadly attack on Kabul airport […]

September 23, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Norway has become the first major developed economy to lift interest rates as growth rebounds following a pandemic that unleashed extraordinary stimulus across the globe. As an economic recovery takes hold and inflationary pressures build, some central banks are confident that now is the time to head to the […]

September 23, 2021 By Abdirahman Hussein MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Dozens of Somalis posed for selfies and chattered excitedly in rows of red, plush seats as they waited for the start of their country’s first movie screening in three decades. Among the crowd in the National Theatre was 24-year-old Kaif Jama, the writer and star of […]

September 23, 2021 By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Thursday to order “oligarchs” to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which officials said could have been a response to the reform. The law […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve now says its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases are on the way out as the U.S. economy improves despite the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic. The shift in policy has taken place over several months as the U.S. central bank marked the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, […]