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October 4, 2021 By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines said on Monday it will comply with a Dec. 8 deadline set by President Joe Biden for its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The deadline, set last month under an executive order signed by Biden, covers all federal contractors. Unless employees receive and […]

October 4, 2021 BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s eastern-based parliament said on Monday it had agreed a law for a parliamentary election to take place a month after a planned Dec. 24 presidential election. A statement by parliament spokesperson Abdullah Belhaiq said the chamber had agreed each article in the law, which will keep parliament […]

Hello, readers: Welcome back to Max Q. First, an introduction: I’m Aria Alamalhodaei, the resident space and transportation reporter here at TechCrunch. I’ll be taking over the Max Q newsletter from Darrell Etherington for the next few months. Tips, opinions, criticism, thoughts? Email me at [email protected] or find me on Twitter at @breadfrom. Bezos’ labor […]

October 4, 2021 DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland outlined a 10-year 165 billion euro ($192 billion) capital plan on Monday that the country’s fiscal watchdog said would take public investment to one of the highest levels in the OECD but also carried risks for the high debt economy. The government decided in July to cut its […]

October 4, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s executive board met on Monday with officials from the WilmerHale law firm about its probe of the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2018” report, and will meet soon with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, a spokesperson said. The WilmerHale report alleged that Georgieva, as the World Bank’s […]

October 4, 2021 By Tim Hepher and Rajesh Kumar Singh BOSTON (Reuters) -Global airlines agreed on Monday to step up plans to tackle climate change as they face mounting pressure from regulators and environmental groups over the impact of billions of extra passengers expected to take to the skies in coming decades. The International Air […]

YouTube announced on Monday that it’s expanding video action campaigns (one of Google’s interactive ad types for video) to connected televisions (CTV) to make YouTube ads more shoppable. The company says this new move will help advertisers drive more online sales and grow their businesses. For context, when viewers see a video action campaign on […]

NASA has a launch date for that most Hollywood of missions, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, which is basically a dry run of the movie Armageddon, Unlike the film, this will not involve nukes, oil rigs, or Aerosmith, but instead is a practical test of our ability to change the trajectory of an asteroid in […]

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration rejected a 2019 petition requesting the agency open a formal investigation into Tesla’s battery management software over allegations that an over-the-air update was defective and caused fires in five vehicles. The agency decided not to open a formal investigation in part because the majority of those incidents occurred […]

October 4, 2021 By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) – Sales volumes of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) surged to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar, as the frenzy for crypto assets reached new highs. NFTs use blockchain to record the […]

October 4, 2021 By David Shepardson and Jonathan Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) -William Shatner, the “Star Trek” actor who found fame by pretending a Hollywood soundstage was a spaceship exploring the galaxy, will be launched to the edge of space for real next week in a rocket built by Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company. […]

October 4, 2021 (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress has about two weeks to raise the federal government’s $28.4 trillion debt ceiling or cause a historic default that would take a heavy toll on the economy. The parties are deadlocked over how to do so. Minority Republicans want the Senate to use a parliamentary maneuver known […]

October 4, 2021 By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that if left unchecked debt distress in the world’s most vulnerable countries would be “a dagger through the heart of global recovery” from the coronavirus pandemic. “The international community has taken a few positive steps, but it is […]

Mobile website building platform Universe has launched a new update that brings advanced creative controls, enhanced themes, block features and more to its grid-based web builder. Universe allows users to create a custom site or open an e-commerce store directly from a mobile phone through a simplified grid system without the need for coding. The […]

In a world where fintech is so hot right now, and investors are being swept up by their excitement for the space, Chime has managed to ride the wave to near perfection. The company has raised upwards of $2.6 billion, including a fresh $750 million just this year. The startup, playing in the fee-free banking […]

October 4, 2021 TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian President Kais Saied appointed Hanene Tajouri Bessassi as ambassador to the United States, he said on Monday, weeks after he dismissed her predecessor without explanation. Saied has removed numerous officials from their posts since July 25, when he sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority […]

October 4, 2021 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp published its first research coverage focused on cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on Monday, joining other mainstream financial institutions as they strengthen their involvement with the asset class. The move, earlier reported by Bloomberg News, was confirmed later by a BofA spokesperson. The “digital asset universe […]

October 4, 2021 By Gary McWilliams HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil’s trophy U.S. campus is becoming an Internet meme. The visually stunning complex, sometimes compared to Apple’s ring and Alphabet’s Googleplex campuses, opened in 2014 as Exxon stood atop of the global oil market. Its centerpiece is a giant cube that appears to float above […]

October 4, 2021 (Fixes hyperlink in last graf) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The latest James Bond movie took a mighty $121 million at the international box office over its opening weekend, Universal Pictures said on Monday. The British and Irish box office led the way with a total of $35 million, making “No Time to Die” […]

October 4, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration is in private communication over Chinese actions with regard to Taiwan, the White House said on Monday, after Taiwan’s defense ministry reported that China’s air force had sent aircraft into its air defense zone. “We are also in touch privately, conveying clear messages through diplomatic channels, […]