News

October 6, 2021 ROME (Reuters) – A granddaughter of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini has won a second term as a city councillor in Rome with a much increased majority and said her success was down to her hard work, not to her family history. Standing for the far-right Brothers of Italy party, Rachele Mussolini […]

October 6, 2021 By Jane Lanhee Lee OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – Quantum computer maker Rigetti & Co Inc said on Wednesday it will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal that potentially values the combined company at $1.5 billion. This is the second quantum computer hardware maker to announce going […]

October 6, 2021 By Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to radically re-shape Britain on Wednesday, exhorting his Conservative Party faithful to help government press on with tackling regional inequality by ending “long term structural weaknesses” in the economy. In a speech to end his party’s annual conference, […]

October 6, 2021 HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam is planning from December to reopen key tourist destinations to vaccinated visitors from countries deemed a low COVID-19 risk, the government said on Wednesday, ahead of a full resumption targeted for June next year. Vietnam imposed tight border controls at the start of the pandemic in an effort […]

October 6, 2021 DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar’s foreign minister visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he met with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince on Wednesday, state news agency WAM reported, as the two Gulf states work on improving bilateral ties after years of a bitter rivalry. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani was received by the […]

Many e-commerce businesses run their entire order fulfillment process in-house because outsourcing it can be expensive. But the COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as consumers switched to home deliveries and ‘digitized’ their lifestyles to a far greater extent. It means this surge in e-commerce sales is subsequently leading to a […]

October 6, 2021 By Carolyn Cohn and Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – British ships ferried over 3 million enslaved African people across the Atlantic Ocean. Lloyd’s of London insured many of those vessels, the people chained below deck sometimes categorized as “perishable goods”, alongside cattle, by the market’s underwriters. Lloyd’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave […]

October 6, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) -The world is on the brink of a global corporate tax deal but compromise is still needed over the final details, France’s finance minister said on Wednesday as countries that have been holding out begin to lay out their positions. Some 140 countries aim to finalise the first major overhaul […]

October 6, 2021 By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) – Shares fell and government bond yields rose across the world on Wednesday as oil prices hit their highest in seven years, fuelling concerns about rising inflation. The Euro STOXX 600 index fell 1.9%, denting gains made in its best day in 11 weeks on Tuesday, with […]

Rigetti Computing, one of the most visible quantum hardware startups, today announced that it is going public through a merger with the Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II SPAC. Once the transaction closes, Rigetti’s ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange will be ‘RGTI.’ The transaction values Rigetti at about $1.5 billion and the company […]

Pattern, a Lehi, Utah-based e-commerce accelerator that helps brands optimize sales on marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Target, eBay and Google, brought in $225 million in growth funding to continue developing its technology and expand its global presence. The new round was led by Knox Lane. Pattern co-founder and CEO David Wright said this round brings […]

Venture studio High Alpha launched its third studio Wednesday, continuing to create, launch and scale enterprise cloud companies. The Indianapolis firm typically begins a new studio every three years, and is a model of entrepreneurship that combines startup creation with venture funding. Co-founder and managing partner Scott Dorsey told TechCrunch this is coming at a […]

Kyte, a fleet-logistics platform that allows customers to order rental cars delivered right to their doors, has raised a $30 million Series A round. In the short term, the startup wants to expand into new cities, countries and verticals, but the long-term goal is to build out a platform that can deliver vehicles via teleoperation […]

October 6, 2021 By John Revill and Ryan Woo ZURICH/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi began talks in Switzerland on Wednesday, in a bid to improve communication despite a deepening strategic rivalry and tensions over hotspots including Taiwan. A source close to the Zurich talks told […]

October 6, 2021 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Wednesday it would increase support and extend existing measures for the wine, fruit and vegetable sectors after they suffered from spring frosts, floods and heat waves this year. Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said the sectors’ problems had come on top of a difficult 2020 […]

October 6, 2021 By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has agreed to pardon an academic jailed last month for defamation under a controversial internet law, a minister said, following an outcry from human rights groups who say the law risks curtailing free speech. Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer from Aceh province, was […]

October 6, 2021 By John Shiffman SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T Inc, the world’s largest communications company. A Reuters review of court records shows the role AT&T […]

October 6, 2021 By Sheila Dang (Reuters) – Pinterest will roll out new features for brands to promote products and ideas to users, the digital pinboard company said Wednesday, part of an effort to grow online shopping on its site. The features come as social media rivals including Facebook, TikTok and Snap Inc compete for […]

October 6, 2021 By Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – After two deadly dam disasters that made Vale SA a pariah of the global green movement, Brazil’s largest mining company is striving to put the environment and climate at the heart of its business, Chief Executive Eduardo Bartolomeo told Reuters. Bartolomeo, speaking in an […]

The European Parliament has voted to back a total ban on biometric mass surveillance. AI-powered remote surveillance technologies such as facial recognition have huge implications for fundamental rights and freedoms like privacy but are already creeping into use in public in Europe. To respect “privacy and human dignity”, MEPs said that EU lawmakers should pass […]