News

October 5, 2021 (Reuters) – The Japanese government will look into the right timing to restart a popular subsidised travel programme that was suspended late last year as coronavirus infections spread, broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday, citing tourism minister Tetsuo Saito. Saito, the newly appointed minister for land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, also said at […]

  Book sales during the pandemic went up, and it seems the amount we are reading did, too. And Inkitt, the startup that operates a free, popular platform of the same name for anyone to write and publish stories — stories that Inkitt then analyses using data science to determine which of them to take […]

October 5, 2021 By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss Re has estimated its preliminary claims burden from Hurricane Ida at $750 million, the reinsurer said on Tuesday, while updating its loss estimate for the July floods in Europe to approximately $520 million. Hurricane Ida’s damage to U.S. offshore energy production made it one of […]

Licious, a Bangalore-based startup that sells fresh meat and seafood online, said on Tuesday it has raised $52 million in a new financing round and become the first direct-to-consumer startup to attain the unicorn status in the world’s second largest internet market. The new round — a Series G — was led by Mumbai-headquartered IIFL. […]

Jonathan Abrams and Kent Lindstrom have partnered on a lot of things over the years. Lindstrom was an advisor and investor at the early social networking service Friendster, founded by Abrams. He was also the COO of social news aggregator Nuzzel, which was founded by Abrams and that sold to a subscription startup called Scroll […]

October 5, 2021 By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – Technology stocks are bearing the brunt of a recent market selloff, putting a spotlight on how an extended downturn in the sector could weigh on broader equity indexes. After Monday’s sharp drop, the S&P 500 technology sector is down 6.7% since the overall S&P 500 […]

October 5, 2021 By Michael Nienaber and Rene Wagner BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel has steered Germany through many crises over the past 16 years, but she has also left behind a mixed legacy and failed to tackle some deep structural problems in Europe’s largest economy. Despite a “golden decade” of uninterrupted growth and […]

October 5, 2021 By David Lawder and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Having waited eight months for U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s promised “top-to-bottom” policy review of trade with China, some U.S. industries and experts were complaining over the plan’s lack of specifics on negotiations or timing. Unveiling her plan on Monday, Tai, President Joe […]

European VC Eight Roads is launching its fourth fund of $450 million for European and Israeli tech companies , aiming for another 15-20 across a broad range of consumer, software-as-a-service, fintech and healthtech areas. Cheque sizes wil range from around $5 million to $50 million per company, and as such, it tends to play more […]

October 5, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government will take all necessary measures to support the economy, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, new economy minister Daishiro Yamagiwa said on Tuesday. Yamagiwa, who is one of 13 fresh faces in the cabinet of new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, told reporters at his […]

October 5, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – British new car registrations fell last month by 35% year on year to 214,000 units, according to preliminary industry data on Tuesday that marked the weakest September for at least 23 years. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the auto industry continued to be plagued by a […]

October 5, 2021 By Tushar Goenka BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s economic recovery from pandemic-related shutdowns is at risk of a further delay in the six months that are left of this fiscal year, according to economists in a Reuters poll, who expect elevated inflation to hold or accelerate, not fall. Price pressures in the world’s […]

October 5, 2021 By Clare Jim HONG KONG (Reuters) – As investors were abuzz on Tuesday with cash-strapped China Evergrande Group’s possible sale of a stake in a unit to raise as much as $5 billion, more Chinese property developers grappled with ratings downgrades on worries about their ability to repay debt. Evergrande is facing […]

October 5, 2021 By Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top U.S. officials will tell their Israeli counterparts on Tuesday that the Biden administration remains committed to diplomacy with Iran, but if necessary would be prepared to pursue “other avenues” to ensure Tehran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, a senior U.S. official […]

October 5, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. delegation led by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan brought up the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in talks with leading Saudi Arabian officials last week, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. Sullivan, Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and other U.S. officials met in Riyadh […]

October 5, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – A group of French senators including a former defence minister will visit Taiwan this week, the island’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, with the visit coming at a time of soaring tensions between Taipei and Beijing and despite China’s opposition. Their trip comes after China flew almost 150 warplanes […]

October 5, 2021 BEIJING (Reuters) – China risks slower growth if it does not do enough to spur market competition by allowing the private sector to play a bigger role in the economy and greater two-way flow in cross-border investments, a report showed on Tuesday. “Without a market-oriented shift, China will struggle to maintain a […]

October 5, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s exports likely rose for a 15th straight month in September, a Reuters poll showed, boosted by strong demand for electronics goods as the global economy traces its path back to recovery. Taiwan, a global hub for chip production and a key Apple Inc supplier, is one of Asia’s […]

October 5, 2021 By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc, Google and Microsoft Corp are expected to join a Biden administration conference on Tuesday focused on quantum technologies as the U.S. government works to head off hacking threats and corner a burgeoning growth industry. The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) […]

October 5, 2021 TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan falling to China would trigger “catastrophic” consequences for peace in Asia, President Tsai Ing-wen wrote in a piece for Foreign Affairs published on Tuesday, and if threatened Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself. Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its sovereign territory, has faced […]