What would happened if your go-to calendar and messaging apps were in fact one and the same thing? That’s the thinking behind Onin — a UK startup that wants to simplify event planning by, well, making a more organized app for organizing stuff. If that sounds a little niche, it pays to remember that calendars […]
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Hong Kong 2022 Gay Games postponed amid COVID-19 travel restrictions
September 15, 2021 HONG KONG (Reuters) – The 2022 Gay Games due to be held in Hong Kong will be postponed for a year because of the coronavirus, a delay to Asia’s inaugural hosting of an event that could raise hope in a region where intolerance is common, organisers said on Wednesday. Hong Kong was […]
Afghan women’s soccer team arrives in Pakistan – information minister
September 15, 2021 ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s women’s soccer team has left for neighbouring Pakistan, the information minister in Islamabad said on Tuesday, as questions linger over the status of female athletes under Taliban rule. “We welcome Afghanistan women football team, they arrived at Torkham Border from Afghanistan,” said Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s information minister, in […]
EU pledges extra 4 billion euros in international climate finance
September 15, 2021 By Kate Abnett STRASBOURG (Reuters) – The European Union on Wednesday pledged to increase financial support to help poorer countries fight climate change and adapt to its impacts, and called on the United States also to step up. “We will now propose an additional 4 billion euros for climate finance until 2027,” […]
Tech is make-or-break issue for EU, chief executive says
September 15, 2021 STRASBOURG (Reuters) – The European Union’s future hinges on its level of technological prowess, in particular access to chips crucial for everything from smartphones to electric scooters to factories, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “Digital is the make-or-break issue,” von der Leyen said in a policy speech at European […]
Norway’s Telenor says Myanmar unit sale came after junta’s pressure on surveillance tech
September 15, 2021 By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Norwegian telecom firm Telenor is selling its Myanmar operations to avoid European Union sanctions after “continued pressure” from Myanmar’s military junta to activate intercept surveillance technology, the company’s Asia head told Reuters. Telenor announced in July it would sell its Myanmar unit to Lebanese investment firm […]
Japan’s securities industry group to review IPO price-setting process
September 15, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese brokerage industry group said on Wednesday it would review the process for setting the price of initial public offerings (IPO), responding to criticism from startups that IPO prices have often been too low and surged on market debuts. The Japan Securities Dealers Association said it would set […]
OneWeb launches satellites in global internet service push
September 15, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) – British-based firm OneWeb launched 34 satellites into orbit from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, expanding its in-orbit constellation to 322 satellites, it said on Wednesday. The satellites lifted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome at 1807 GMT on Tuesday, it said in a statement. OneWeb plans to launch a total of […]
TikTok’s lead EU regulator opens two data privacy probes
September 15, 2021 DUBLIN (Reuters) -TikTok’s lead data privacy regulator in the European Union has opened two inquiries into the Chinese-owned short-video platform related to the processing of children’s personal data and transfers of personal data to China. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which is lead EU regulator for many of the world’s top internet firms […]
Northern Irish police arrest four over killing of journalist Lyra McKee
September 15, 2021 BELFAST (Reuters) – Northern Irish police said on Wednesday they had arrested four men in relation to the 2019 killing of journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry, whose death sparked outrage in the British-run province. The men, aged 19, 20, 21 and 33, were arrested under the Terrorism Act by officers investigating McKee’s […]
Nigerian agritech startup Releaf secures $4.2M to scale its food processing technology
The distance between their farms and the nearest processor is key for smallholder farmers who need to process their crops. And though Nigeria’s food processing systems have a keen resemblance to the West with respect to big factories and huge economies of scale in high-demand cities, farmers still suffer from poor logistics networks. With distance […]
ADM launches flavour production facility in China to meet growing demand
September 15, 2021 (Corrects to remove extraneous words from 4th paragraph) BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. grain merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co said on Wednesday that it had launched a new flavour production facility in China to meet growing demand for beverages and healthy foods. The new facility – ADM Food Technology (Pinghu) Co Ltd, located in the eastern […]
Zara owner Inditex sales rebound to top pre-pandemic levels
September 15, 2021 MADRID (Reuters) – Fashion brand Zara owner Inditex rebounded with an 850 million euro second-quarter profit on Wednesday as sales topped pre-pandemic levels, outshining Swedish rival H&M. The world’s biggest fashion retailer’s sales bounced back and slightly surpassed the level seen before the pandemic as most stores reopened and people rushed to […]
Chinese delivery giants Meituan, Ele.me pledge to not force drivers to register as independent businesss
September 15, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s online food delivery giants Meituan and Ele.me both said this week they will not force couriers who do work for them to register as independent businesses, a bone of contention amid ongoing scrutiny of the food delivery sector. The promise comes as part of a broader push from […]
EU’s chief executive warns against ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’
September 15, 2021 By Yves Herman and Gabriela Baczynska STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) -The pace of vaccination against COVID-19 must be quickened to avert “a pandemic of the unvaccinated”, the European Union’s chief executive said on Wednesday, also urging countries around the globe to step up the fight against climate change. Ursula von der Leyen’s second […]
European stocks under pressure from weak China data
September 15, 2021 (Reuters) – European shares slipped on Wednesday as worries about a slowing Chinese economy, declines in travel and leisure stocks and soaring UK inflation dampened sentiment in early trading. The benchmark STOXX 600 index fell 0.1% by 0711 GMT. Asian stocks tumbled after data showed China’s factory and retail sectors faltered in […]
EU to re-start budget rules review in weeks to reach deal before 2023
September 15, 2021 STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – The European Commission will re-launch a review of the European Union’s budget rules in weeks, with a view to agree on a reform by 2023, the head of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. The rules, which limit government borrowing to support the value of […]
Equity index giant MSCI to give 10,000 firms global warming ratings
September 15, 2021 By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Global equity index compiler MSCI is to start providing data on how much the world’s top 10,000 firms are likely to be contributing to global warning. The firm, which runs the widely-tracked $60 trillion All Country World Index, is launching Implied Temperature Rise scores, which estimate […]
Zara owner Inditex sales rebound to top pre-pandemic levels
September 15, 2021 MADRID (Reuters) – Fashion brand Zara owner Inditex rebounded with an 850 million euro second-quarter profit on Wednesday as sales topped pre-pandemic levels, outshining Swedish rival H&M. The world’s biggest fashion retailer’s sales bounced back and slightly surpassed the level seen before the pandemic as most stores reopened and people rushed to […]
Norway’s Telenor says Myanmar unit sale came after junta’s pressure on surveillance tech
September 15, 2021 By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Norwegian telecom firm Telenor is selling its Myanmar operations to avoid European Union sanctions after “continued pressure” from Myanmar’s military junta to activate intercept surveillance technology, the company’s Asia head told Reuters. Telenor announced in July it would sell its Myanmar unit to Lebanese investment firm […]