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September 2, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to field in the fourth test against India with both sides making two changes for the match at the Oval on Thursday. The hosts, who levelled the five-test series 1-1 with an innings victory in the third match at Headingley, […]

September 2, 2021 LONDON (Reuters) – British consumer spending on payment cards slipped to 93% of its pre-COVID level last week, compared with 94% a week earlier, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. The ONS also said a net 22% of businesses reported a decrease in turnover in late August compared with normal […]

September 2, 2021 By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, supported by a sharp decline in U.S. crude stocks and a weaker dollar, though gains were capped by an OPEC+ decision to stick to its policy of only gradual increases to output. Brent crude was up 30 cents, or 0.4%, […]

September 2, 2021 (Removes reference to Suga being Japan’s head of state in paragraph 3) By Daniel Leussink and Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan announced on Thursday a list of initiatives it will focus on to promote green technology and digitalisation, as part of efforts to boost the economy’s long-term growth. The outline, drawn up […]

September 2, 2021 By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland hit Facebook’s WhatsApp with a record 225 million euro ($266 million) fine on Thursday following an inquiry into the messaging app’s transparency around sharing personal data with other Facebook companies. WhatsApp said the fine was “entirely disproportionate” and that it would appeal. Ireland’s Data Privacy […]

September 2, 2021 By Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore Exchange unveiled new rules on Thursday to allow special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to list in the city-state, after rolling back some measures that were viewed as too strict by market participants. Following a market consultation, SGX’s regulatory arm announced rules that included halving the […]

September 2, 2021 SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will invest 100 billion yuan ($15.5 billion) by 2025 in support of “common prosperity”, the government-backed newspaper Zhejiang Daily reported on Thursday. Alibaba’s investment will go towards supporting small and medium enterprises and agriculture, and towards setting up a 20 billion yuan “common prosperity […]

September 2, 2021 PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. bank JP Morgan has agreed to a 25 million euros ($29.6 million) fine in a settlement of a tax fraud case, French financial prosecutors’ office said on Thursday. The financial prosecutors’ office said in a statement a Paris court had approved on Thursday the settlement sealed with JP […]

Microsoft has revealed a full general release of its Windows Server 2022 software for users across the world. The Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release, offering ten years of support, is generally available now for all users, the company confirmed. The release forms yet another key part of Windows 11 ahead of its launch later […]

September 2, 2021 DOHA (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday said there is a need to engage with the Taliban on Afghanistan, but Britain has no immediate plans to recognise their government. Raab was speaking in Qatar after meeting the Qatari foreign minister. Raab said they had discussed ensuring Afghanistan does not […]

September 2, 2021 DUSHANBE (Reuters) – Tajikistan cannot afford to take in large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from neighbouring Afghanistan as it promised to do in the summer, the police chief of Central Asia’s poorest country said on Thursday. The government of Tajikistan, an ex-Soviet state allied to Moscow and part of the […]

September 2, 2021 (Reuters) -Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers were preparing on Thursday to unveil their new government as the economy teetered on the edge of collapse more than two weeks after the Islamist militia captured Kabul and brought a chaotic end to 20 years of war. Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on social media a ceremony […]

September 2, 2021 By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, a neurological disorder that robs them of their memory and costs the world $1.3 trillion a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The progressive condition can be caused by stroke, brain injury or […]

September 2, 2021 By Julie Gordon OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadians will face a stark choice on how to tackle a childcare crisis when they go to the polls on Sept. 20, with the ruling Liberals vowing to push ahead with a subsidized daycare system and the rival Conservatives offering tax credits to parents. The dire […]

September 2, 2021 By Rod Nickel and Jeff Lewis CROWSNEST PASS, Alberta (Reuters) – Where fly fisherman Shane Olson once paddled summer tourists around in a boat, he now guides them by foot – carefully navigating shallow waters one step at a time. “Every year, these rivers seem to be getting smaller, faster,” Olson, 48, […]

September 2, 2021 By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A British-born man who was a member of a team of Islamic State militants in Syria nicknamed “The Beatles” accused of beheading American hostages was due to plead guilty on Thursday to U.S. criminal charges, according to a federal court record. A docket entry for the […]

September 2, 2021 By Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) -Two senior European Union officials urged the bloc’s governments on Thursday to set up a rapidly deployable military force to intervene around the world, saying the crisis in Afghanistan would provide the catalyst to end years of inaction. The EU’s top diplomat and […]