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French startup Sorare has announced that it has raised a significant funding round. SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 has led a $680 million Series B round, which values the company at $4.3 billion. Sorare has built a fantasty football (soccer) platform based on NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Each digital card is registered as a unique token […]

Netflix said on Monday it is launching a free mobile plan in Kenya as the global streaming giant looks to tap the East African nation that is home to over 20 million internet users. The free plan, which will be rolled out to all users in Kenya in the coming weeks, won’t require them to […]

September 21, 2021 (Reuters) – Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has stopped taking the knee before matches this season because the anti-racism gesture is “losing a bit of strength”, the 30-year-old said. Players and staff have been taking a knee prior to kickoff since the league returned to action in June last year to show their […]

September 21, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co said its car factories in Japan have been operating at 40% of capacity in August and September because of shortages of semiconductors and other components caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Honda in a press release on its website said production in early October should rebound to […]

September 21, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A CIA officer who was traveling with agency director William Burns to India this month reported symptoms consistent with Havana syndrome, CNN and the New York Times reported on Monday. The victim, who was not identified, had to receive medical attention, CNN reported https://ift.tt/3CxAGIg, citing unnamed sources. Some 200 […]

September 21, 2021 (Reuters) – Former England captain David Beckham’s son Romeo has begun to follow in his father’s footsteps with the 19-year-old making his professional soccer debut for Inter Miami’s reserve team over the weekend. Romeo, one of Beckham’s five children with wife and fashion designer Victoria, played for American third-tier club Fort Lauderdale […]

September 21, 2021 By Hideyuki Sano and Paulina Duran TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Global stock markets grappled with contagion fears on Tuesday, sparked by troubles at China Evergrande as growing risks the property giant could default on its massive debt pile prompted investors to flee riskier assets. Asian markets were jittery in volumes thinned by public […]

September 21, 2021 SINGAPORE (Reuters) – S&P Global Ratings said it does not expect Beijing to provide any direct support to embattled China Evergrande Group, amid growing investor fears the property giant could default on its debt mountain as two repayment deadlines loomed. “We believe Beijing would only be compelled to step in if there […]

September 21, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Tuesday as analysts pointed to signs of U.S. supply tightness, ending days of losses as global markets remain haunted by the potential impact on China’s economy of a crisis at heavily indebted property group China Evergrande. Brent crude gained 52 cents or 0.7% to $74.44 a […]

September 21, 2021 TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s ruling Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to for the next government, CBC News projected on Monday, after a tight election race. Elections Canada showed the Liberals leading in 146 electoral districts with only a small fraction of votes counted. STORY: MARKET REACTION: CAD/ […]

September 21, 2021 (Reuters) – Defending champion Ash Barty, world number two Aryna Sabalenka and French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova have all qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals in Mexico, the WTA said on Monday. Five more singles players have yet to be named for the finals, which will be contested by the world’s top […]

September 21, 2021 By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) – The offshore yuan wallowed near an almost one-month low on Tuesday while the safe-haven dollar and yen stood tall as investors sought shelter from a potential China Evergrande default. The New Zealand dollar also sank after the central bank’s assistant governor poured cold water on bets […]

September 21, 2021 By Karl Plume and Christopher Bing CHICAGO (Reuters) -Iowa-based farm services provider NEW Cooperative Inc said on Monday its systems were offline to contain a “cybersecurity” incident just as the U.S. farm belt gears up for harvest. The cooperative operates grain storage elevators in the top U.S. corn producing state, buys crops […]

September 21, 2021 NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will not meet with Iran on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this week, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Monday. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) […]

September 21, 2021 NEW YORK (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister said on Monday that the United States would need to give France explanations and clarifications when United States President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron speak later this week. Speaking to reporters in new York, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the United States also […]

September 21, 2021 By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Inspired at first by a desire to beat their city’s notorious traffic, a group of Cambodian students have designed a prototype drone that they hope can eventually be used to ferry people around Phnom Penh and even help fight fires. With eight propellers and […]

September 21, 2021 NEW YORK/BOSTON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Anxiety over the prospect of China Evergrande Group defaulting on its mountain of debt gripped investors on Tuesday ahead of two repayment deadlines, with much still unknown about the potential risks to banks in China and global markets. A major test comes this week, with Evergrande due […]

September 21, 2021 By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The fundraising arm of the Democratic Party boosted cash transfers to its Virginia state affiliate in August as the party seeks to hold on to the state’s governorship in a closely fought Nov. 2 election. A campaign finance disclosure filed on Monday showed the Democratic National […]

September 20, 2021 By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Netflix Inc on Monday began offering a free mobile plan with about one-quarter of its TV shows and movies in Kenya, a strategy aimed at sparking growth in a key African market, the company told Reuters. The free plan is available on Android mobile phones […]

We recently caught up with longtime VC Mark Suster of L.A.-based Upfront Ventures, which last raised both an early-stage fund and a growth stage fund several years ago and, according to regulatory filings, is in the market right now, though Suster couldn’t discuss either owing to SEC regulations. We did talk about a wide range […]