News

September 23, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a closed-door hearing on Sept. 29 to discuss Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which several lawmakers say could harm allies in Eastern Europe. Amos Hochstein, senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. Department of State, will testify, according to […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will likely decide in early October whether to endorse a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be given half a year after the initial two-shot course. “The outcome of this evaluation is expected in early October, unless supplementary information is needed,” the European […]

Making smartphones more accessible is always a good idea, and Google’s latest features bring quick actions and navigation to people whose expressions are their primary means of interacting with the world. Project Activate and Camera Switches let users perform tasks like speaking a custom phrase, or navigating using a switch interface, through facial gestures alone. […]

Tesla broke ground on its “Megafactory,” a new production facility in California, so christened because it will produce the company’s large-scale battery system Megapack. News of the previously unannounced factory was confirmed by the Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal, in a Facebook post that was deleted and re-posted. “We are proud to be the home of […]

Ever been to a multi-day conference only to find the last day to be — how can we put this kindly — less than scintillating? Yeah, that’s not happening on the third and final day of TC Disrupt 2021. You’ll find plenty of exciting, thought-provoking panels, demos and breakout sessions along with actionable tips, advice […]

September 23, 2021 By Alasdair Pal and Jibran Ahmed (Reuters) – A little more than a month after toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers are facing internal enemies who have adopted many of the tactics of urban warfare that marked their own successful guerrilla campaign. A deadly attack on Kabul airport […]

September 23, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – Norway has become the first major developed economy to lift interest rates as growth rebounds following a pandemic that unleashed extraordinary stimulus across the globe. As an economic recovery takes hold and inflationary pressures build, some central banks are confident that now is the time to head to the […]

September 23, 2021 By Abdirahman Hussein MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Dozens of Somalis posed for selfies and chattered excitedly in rows of red, plush seats as they waited for the start of their country’s first movie screening in three decades. Among the crowd in the National Theatre was 24-year-old Kaif Jama, the writer and star of […]

September 23, 2021 By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Thursday to order “oligarchs” to register and stay out of politics, a day after an attempt to kill a top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which officials said could have been a response to the reform. The law […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve now says its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases are on the way out as the U.S. economy improves despite the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic. The shift in policy has taken place over several months as the U.S. central bank marked the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, […]

September 23, 2021 By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – For now, it’s business as usual. But how China’s Evergrande problem unfolds in the coming weeks could end up influencing global policymakers’ decision-making next year. Top Federal Reserve and Bank of England officials this week played down contagion risks, as their central banks indicated an […]

September 23, 2021 By Gabriel Araujo SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA said on Thursday its subsidiary Eve has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell up to 100 electric aircraft to lessor Bristow Group, sending Embraer shares higher, in the latest sign of dealmaking in the nascent “flying taxis” sector. Brazil-listed Embraer […]

September 23, 2021 SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Some of China Evergrande Group’s offshore bondholders are not expecting the firm to make an interest payment by a Thursday deadline, a person familiar with the matter said, as worries about the fate of the property developer mount. Evergrande, which is scrambling to raise funds to pay its many […]

September 23, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) -Hungary’s Wizz Air is focused on organic growth, its chief supply chain officer said, declining to comment on whether the low-cost airline had recently made a takeover approach for bigger rival easyJet. “Our focus remains organic growth,” chief supply chain and legal officer Owain Jones told the AirFinance Journal conference […]

How’s this for a bit of regional synchronicity? This week, a pair of Chinese robotics firms secured $200 million rounds. It’s all part of a booming ecosystem that we get some insight into every so often. There are so many players in China’s robotics space it can be hard to keep track of some of […]

The battle to win Startup Battlefield began long before TechCrunch Disrupt kicked off Tuesday. Startup founders from all over the world applied to what has been described as the most competitive batch in TechCrunch history. Twenty startups competed this week on the TechCrunch virtual stage for $100,000 in equity-free prize money and last night, we […]

Fintech startups are having one hell of a week. On the heels of Boston-based software-and-payments company Toast’s strong IPO pricing, Remitly priced shares in its own debut above its proposed range yesterday evening. The Seattle-based fintech company sold 12,162,777 shares (7,000,000 primary) at $43 apiece. The company had previously targeted a $42 per-share max price […]

California Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed a bill aimed at protecting warehouse workers from unsafe quotas. The bill, which cites issues around bathroom breaks, rest periods and other safety laws, has been seen as a repudiation of longstanding complaints against workplace conditions at Amazon fulfillment centers. Introduced by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez in February, […]

A new forecast on the state of the app economy indicates the third quarter will see record-breaking revenues spent on apps and games. According to App Annie, consumers worldwide will spend $34 billion on apps and games in Q3, a 20% year-over-year increase on spending. The increase indicates that the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on consumer […]

September 23, 2021 (Reuters) – Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reclaimed top spot in the list of the world’s highest-paid soccer players from Lionel Messi, according to Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2021/09/21/the-worlds-highest-paid-soccer-players-2021–uniteds-cristiano-ronaldo-reclaims-top-spot-from-psgs–lionel-messi/?sh=2a9bd7013b7b. Ronaldo, 36, rejoined United from Juventus in August after 12 years away, while Messi has swapped boyhood club Barcelona to join Paris St Germain. Forbes […]