September 23, 2021 By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc on Thursday struck a deal with the firm behind Imperial College London’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine to develop and sell drugs based on its self-amplifying RNA technology platform in other disease areas. Under the deal, VaxEquity, a startup founded by Imperial vaccinologist Robin Shattock, could […]
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Italy’s Enel spins off new firm for digital grid services – report
September 23, 2021 ROME (Reuters) -Europe’s biggest utility Enel has set up a new company dedicated to digital grid services, which aims to have a revenue of 1.5 billion euros ($1.76 billion) by 2030, newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Wednesday. The spinoff, Gridspertise, will manage all activities related to digital meters and intelligent […]
Australians find silver lining in lockdowns as wealth booms
September 23, 2021 SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australians are finding a silver lining to lockdowns as super-cheap credit lifts the value of homes and shares to record highs, a windfall of wealth that gives consumers the means to spend big once restrictions ease. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Thursday showed net household […]
Brazil raises interest rates, signals third big hike next month
September 23, 2021 BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday raised interest rates by 100 basis points and flagged a third straight hike of that size in October as it battles surging inflation with the world’s most aggressive monetary tightening. The bank’s rate-setting committee, known as Copom, decided unanimously to raise its benchmark rate […]
Quotes: China Evergrande nears interest payment deadline
September 23, 2021 HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Evergrande Group has agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond, while the central bank injected cash into the banking system, soothing fears of imminent contagion from the debt-laden property developer. CARLOS CASANOVA, senior economist for Asia at Union Bancaire Privee, Hong Kong “In my opinion […]
LG is acquiring automotive cybersecurity startup Cybellum in a $240M deal
LG Electronics, the Korean tech giant that once was a leading player in mobile phones but is now winding down that business, is making an acquisition that points to its ambitions in another, emerging area: next-generation automotive hardware and services. Today the company announced that it will be snapping up Cybellum, an Israeli automotive cybersecurity […]
Investors look ahead to rate hikes with Fed tapering plan all but certain
September 23, 2021 By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors are grappling with how an unwind of the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies could affect asset prices, after the central bank signaled that a taper of its bond-buying program was closer than ever and suggested it may raise rates at a faster-than-expected pace. In […]
Indonesia Finance Minister warns of ripple effect from China’s Evergrande debt woes
September 23, 2021 JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities are monitoring the financial market situation in China, finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday, and warned that property firm China Evergrande’s debt woes could affect the world’s economy. “We see a new risk to the financial system stability in China,” she told a news conference. […]
German conservatives raise spectre of far-left rule ahead of election
September 23, 2021 By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) – A shadow is looming over Germany’s election: the spectre of the far-left Linke party, heir to the communists who once ruled East Germany, coming in from the political wilderness. At least, that is what Angela Merkel’s conservatives want voters to think. Behind in polls https://ift.tt/39o6DpV just […]
Ukraine left puzzled after assassination attempt on president’s top aide
September 23, 2021 By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian police are trying to work out who ordered unidentified individuals to try to murder a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his car was sprayed with automatic gunfire on Wednesday morning in an attack that shocked the political elite. Serhiy Shefir, the […]
Golf-Garcia’s wife calls on US Ryder Cup fans to cheer not jeer
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – The American wife of Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia has called on her compatriots to show European players respect during the Ryder Cup after being embarrassed by some U.S. fans at the 2016 competition in Minnesota. Angela Akins said she hoped there would be no repeat of the atmosphere when the […]
Erdogan’s waning patience: Four questions for Turkey’s central bank
September 23, 2021 By Jonathan Spicer and Nevzat Devranoglu ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey’s central bank has begun setting the stage for an interest rate cut long sought by President Tayyip Erdogan, although most analysts don’t think it will pull the trigger this week after inflation jumped and the lira took a slide. The bank has kept […]
California governor signs measure to protect warehouse workers
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a measure expanding protections for warehouse workers, his office said on Wednesday. The new provisions of the measure, called AB 701, require companies to tell workers of production quota descriptions and bar use of algorithms affecting such basic rights as rest periods […]
U.S. business optimism in China rebounds to pre-trade war levels -survey
September 23, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) – U.S. companies’ optimism about business conditions in China has recovered to hit three-year highs even though the firms have reservations about Beijing’s COVID-19 policy, an annual survey showed on Thursday. Beijing’s wide-ranging crackdown on companies has also unnerved U.S. firms, an American industry lobby executive said. The American Chamber […]
Supply chain snarls could cost automakers $210 billion this year, forecast finds
September 23, 2021 By Joseph White DETROIT (Reuters) – Global automakers could lose $210 billion in revenue this year because of supply chain disruptions, nearly double a forecast earlier this year, consulting firm Alixpartners said Thursday. A shortage of semiconductors is just part of the problem, Alixpartners said in a new forecast. High prices and […]
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank mocks Apple’s ‘pro-competition’ claim
September 23, 2021 By Paulina Duran SYDNEY (Reuters) – Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest lender, accused Apple Inc on Thursday of uncompetitive behaviour over control of payments on its phones, which have grown to about a third of all consumer payments. The remarks come after the competition regulator told the Australian Financial Review […]
R. Kelly hid crimes in ‘plain sight,’ prosecutor says near end of sex trafficking trial
September 23, 2021 By Tyler Clifford NEW YORK (Reuters) -R. Kelly dominated not only women and girls but also his employees over a quarter century of sexual abuse, a prosecutor said on Wednesday as the R&B star’s sex trafficking trial neared its conclusion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes told jurors during her closing argument in […]
U.S. court compels Facebook to release records of anti-Rohingya content – report
September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – A U.S federal judge has ordered Facebook to release records of accounts connected to anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar that the social media giant had shut down, the Wall Street Journal reported. The judge in Washingon, D.C, criticized Facebook for failing to hand over information to investigators seeking to prosecute the […]
China will buy 8,700 new airplanes over next 20 years – Boeing
September 23, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese airlines are likely to buy 8,700 planes worth $1.47 trillion over the next 20 years, Boeing Co said on Thursday. The U.S. planemaker’s latest estimate for the period to 2040 is 1.2% higher than its previous prediction of 8,600 planes last year. China will also need nearly $1.8 […]
Japan pub-chain leader urges new PM to help eateries hit by COVID-19
September 23, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Miki Watanabe, the chief executive of Japanese pub chain Watami, has urgent advice for the next prime minister: provide fair compensation for restaurants impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions on eateries. Watanabe, himself a former politician who spent six years in parliament, has a relationship with outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide […]