September 9, 2021 By Mahamat Ramadane N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Unable to honour internal debt commitments, authorities in Chad are hoping for a “favourable opinion” from Glencore Plc on restructuring the country’s commercial debt, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke said on Thursday. “Glencore represents for Chad today more than 98% of the country’s commercial debt,” Padacke […]
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Cricket-India cancel practice after physio tests positive for COVID-19
September 9, 2021 MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -India’s practice session ahead of the fifth and final test against England was cancelled on Thursday after a member of their support staff tested positive for COVID-19, an Indian cricket board official said. Second physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive on Wednesday and the team were awaiting the results of […]
U.S. weekly jobless claims near 18-month low
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly 18 months, offering more evidence that job growth was being hindered by labor shortages rather than cooling demand for workers. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 35,000 to a […]
ECB takes token step towards dialling down pandemic-era stimulus
September 9, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – The European Central Bank said on Thursday it would slow bond purchases under its 1.85 trillion-euro Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) from the 80 billion euros monthly pace registered in the past two quarters. Markets reacted modestly to the move, which is a token step towards unwinding the emergency […]
U.S. airlines flag hit to bookings from surge in Delta variant
September 9, 2021 (Reuters) – Several U.S. airlines on Thursday warned of a slowdown in ticket sales and cut revenue forecast as the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus threatens to blunt the recovery in travel that had started following the roll out of vaccines. American Airlines expects third-quarter total revenue to be down about […]
Quicken, one of the ‘first fintechs,’ is being sold again
Five and a half years after being acquired by a private equity firm, personal finance software company Quicken is announcing that it is being acquired by another private equity firm. In April 2016, an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital acquired Quicken from Intuit Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Today, Menlo Park, California-based Quicken is announcing that […]
White House pulls nomination of gun control advocate to lead firearms agency
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House has withdrawn President Joe Biden’s nomination of gun control advocate David Chipman to head the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Chipman had faced strong Republican opposition in the Senate, undermining his chances of winning […]
Nobel laureate Doudna’s biotech Mammoth hits over $1 billion in valuation
September 9, 2021 By Manas Mishra (Reuters) – Mammoth Biosciences, co-founded by Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, touched a valuation of more than $1 billion after raising $150 million in its latest funding round. Doudna, who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier for developing the CRISPR/CAS9 gene editing tool, co-founded the biotech […]
ECB trims emergency support but insists “no tapering”
September 9, 2021 By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The European Central Bank will trim emergency bond purchases over the coming quarter, it said on Thursday, taking a first small step towards unwinding the emergency aid that has propped up the euro zone economy during the pandemic. After the ECB pulled out all […]
Walmart to scrap quarterly bonuses for store workers – WSJ
September 9, 2021 (Reuters) -Walmart Inc is phasing out its decades-old quarterly bonuses for store workers as it implements hourly wage raises for employees, the Wall Street Journal reported https://on.wsj.com/3BUrgpZ on Thursday, citing an internal memo. The report added the U.S. retailer would scrap the benefit, dubbed MyShare, at the end of its fiscal year […]
Bennifer have arrived! Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in Venice for filmfest
September 9, 2021 VENICE (Reuters) – Looking radiant and holding hands, singer Jennifer Lopez and actor Ben Affleck arrived for the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, getting into a water taxi to be whizzed off to their luxury hotel in the lagoon city. Affleck is in Venice for the festival premiere of Ridley Scott’s medieval epic […]
Biden to lay out ‘path ahead’ in COVID-19 fight
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Thursday will press for new approaches to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which rages on despite the wide availability of vaccines, with surging cases in some U.S. states overwhelming local hospitals. In a speech, Biden will focus on new plans to get more […]
Varo Bank raises massive $510M Series E at a $2.5B valuation as it eyes the public markets
Varo Bank, which last year became the first U.S. neobank to be granted a national bank charter, announced this morning it has raised a staggering $510 million in a Series E funding round at a $2.5 billion valuation. The massive “oversubscribed” financing comes nearly seven months after the fintech startup raised $63 million in a […]
IAEA to send experts to Japan in December to review Fukushima water release plan
September 9, 2021 TOKYO (Reuters) – A plan to release radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean will be examined in December by international experts sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Japan’s industry ministry said on Thursday. In a move that angered local fishermen as well as China and […]
West African leaders due in Guinea to assess situation after coup
September 9, 2021 By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) – A delegation of West African leaders was due in Guinea on Thursday to assess the situation following a military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde and raised fears of a backslide towards military rule in the region. An elite army unit led by Mamady Doumbouya, a […]
Golf-Aphibarnrat sets pace at Wentworth as Ryder Cup hopefuls begin quest
September 9, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat produced a scorching eight-under-par opening round at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Thursday as behind him those vying for Ryder Cup spots suffered mixed fortunes. Aphibarnrat’s round of 64 gave him a one-stroke lead over Australian Adam Scott with England’s Justin Rose, hoping to […]
GM extends Michigan plant shutdown over Bolt EV recall
September 9, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co said Thursday it will extend a shutdown of a Michigan assembly plant by two weeks in the aftermath of a new recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles over battery issues. The largest U.S. automaker said the extension of the production halt and its Orion Assembly […]
European bonds rally as ECB keeps stimulus cut to a minimum
September 9, 2021 By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Euro zone bonds were on course for their best day in months on Thursday as the European Central Bank took its first tentative step in withdrawing COVID-era stimulus, though stocks were kept back after Beijing took another swipe at its tech giants. Europe’s STOXX 600 was […]
Wall St flat as jobless claims fall to near 18-month low
September 9, 2021 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes opened nearly flat on Thursday after data showed weekly jobless claims fell to a near 18-month low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.99 points, or 0.05%, at the open to 35,013.08. The S&P 500 opened lower by 1.05 points, or 0.02%, at 4,513.02, while the […]
Merkel says her conservatives face tough battle after 16 years in power
September 9, 2021 BERLIN (Reuters) -Angela Merkel said on Thursday nobody in her conservative bloc ever doubted that they faced a tough battle to hold the chancellery after her 16 years in office, declining to speculate on the outcome of Germany’s Sept. 26 national election. “That after 16 years one does not automatically … return […]