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September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – Euro zone business activity grew at its weakest pace in five months in September as curbs to limit the Delta variant of coronavirus hit demand and supply-chain constraints pushed input costs to a more than two-decade high, a survey showed on Thursday. Despite daily infection rates slowing significantly over the […]

September 23, 2021 ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank is closely monitoring the situation at China’s Evergrande Group, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Thursday, amid concerns that its debt problems could pose risks to China’s financial system. “It is wrong to be alarmist, but it is also wrong to dismiss it as a […]

September 23, 2021 MELBOURNE (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison to help ease strict quarantine rules to allow the families of England’s cricketers to tour with the players during the upcoming Ashes series. England players are seeking assurances their family members will be allowed to join them in […]

September 23, 2021 By Djaffar Al Katanty GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – When the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in May, Serge Makolo only had time to grab his roller skates and a fistful of medals before the magma swallowed his house on the outskirts of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Everything […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – UEFA said on Thursday it has doubled its prize fund for the 2022 Women’s European Championship to 16 million euros ($18.75 million) with increased guaranteed payments for the 16 qualified teams. European soccer’s governing body said in a statement it had also approved the introduction of a programme which will […]

September 23, 2021 By Belén Carreño MADRID (Reuters) – Surging natural gas prices across Europe could hinder the economic recovery in Spain, where small businesses crucial to local employment are more exposed than elsewhere on the continent to steep rises in power bills. Energy bills have more than doubled in Spain and other European countries […]

September 23, 2021 By Guy Faulconbridge, James Davey and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) – Consumers should not panic buy products as Britain is not heading back into a 1970s-style “winter of discontent” of strikes and power shortages, a junior minister said on Thursday. Soaring wholesale European natural gas prices have sent shockwaves through energy, chemicals […]

September 23, 2021 By Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy lost more momentum this month as businesses grappled again with rising costs, a survey showed, highlighting the difficult backdrop for Bank of England officials ahead of Thursday’s interest rate decision. The preliminary “flash” IHS Markit/CIPS flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped for a fourth […]

September 23, 2021 By Victoria Klesty and Nerijus Adomaitis OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate on Thursday as expected, and said more hikes will follow as it joins a short but growing list of nations moving away from emergency-level borrowing costs. Norges Bank’s monetary policy committee raised the sight deposit rate […]

September 23, 2021 MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management has signed an agreement to sell all of Italy’s Amissima Vita to Bermuda-based Athora Holding Ltd, the Italian insurance company said on Thursday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and its closing is expected in the first half of 2022, Amissima […]

September 23, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – S&P Global said on Thursday it has lifted both its euro area economic growth and inflation forecasts for this year, but expected to inflation to fall back below its 2% target next year. The ratings agency said that Europe’s economic recovery since lockdown restrictions were lifted in March-April had […]

September 23, 2021 By Sonali Paul and Koustav Samanta SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices extended gains on Thursday, riding higher on growing fuel demand and a bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude inventories as production remains hampered in the Gulf of Mexico after two hurricanes. The market was also supported by a return of appetite for risk […]

September 23, 2021 FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Solarwatt opened a new production line for photovoltaic modules on Thursday as part of a 100 million euro ($117 million) investment, as it promotes the convergence of the renewable power, smart home, heating and e-mobility. The line will produce one million modules per year, enough to allow 80,000 […]

September 23, 2021 By Sheila Dang (Reuters) – Facebook Inc on Thursday said it reduces the distribution of certain content including clickbait, posts with “sensationalist” or exaggerated health claims or low-quality videos on its news feed, and outlined its content guidelines as the social media platform faces increased scrutiny over how it displays content to […]

September 23, 2021 By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will discuss ways to overcome a semiconductor chip supply crisis that is cutting auto production around the world in a new round of meetings with major companies on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and White House National Economic Council director will host companies […]

September 23, 2021 HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam said on Thursday it is willing to share its experience and information with China for the world’s second largest economy’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). “The CPTPP is an open free trade agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said […]

September 23, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic lost momentum in September as activity in both the manufacturing and services sectors slowed amid supply bottlenecks and waning catch-up effects, a survey showed on Thursday. IHS Markit’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed growth in the manufacturing sector slowed to an […]

September 23, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – The rate of growth in French business slowed further in September and missed market forecasts, a monthly survey showed on Thursday, as concerns over supplies of key goods weighed on the euro zone’s second-biggest economy. Problems with global shipping and transport, caused partly by strict COVID-19 checks at Chinese […]

September 23, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it is building a new battery system factory in eastern China’s Hefei city which will start production in 2023. The German automaker said it would invest more than 140 million euros ($164 million) in the battery plant by 2025. It is building a factory […]

September 23, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – Two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said they had brought a legal case before the Paris administrative court to order French customs to disclose records over war equipments exports, especially to Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Amnesty International France and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) […]