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28th January
AT&T is sued for $1.35 billion over technology to synchronize smart devices
NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc was sued on Tuesday for at least $1.35 billion by a Seattle company that accused the telecommunications giant of stealing its patented “twinning” technology, which lets smart devices such...
27th January
Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon pays price of 1MDB scandal
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon’s annual pay fell by $10 million, or 36%, in 2020, according to regulatory disclosures filed Tuesday, reflecting the bank’s role in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal. Solomon will receive $17.5 million for his work during the year, compared with $27.5 million the year before, the bank said....
Asian shares set for mixed opening, eyes on Fed, stimulus
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian equities looked set to rise on Wednesday, bouncing back from a steep sell-off on Tuesday, while Australian stocks were seen opening weaker in a catchup after a Tuesday holiday. Higher markets in Europe and a slight decline from record stock levels in the United States overnight suggested that investors were...
GE’s strong cash flow, upbeat outlook signal turnaround gathering steam
CHICAGO (Reuters) – General Electric Co on Tuesday offered an upbeat outlook for its business this year after reporting a surge in quarterly free cash flow, showing Chief Executive Larry Culp’s turnaround plan is gaining traction. The performance came largely on the back of improved operational management and recovery in the company’s power and renewable...
Starbucks sales miss as virus spike keeps customers at home
(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp on Tuesday reported a larger-than-expected fall in quarterly sales as the renewed surge in coronavirus cases in the United States kept customers at home. The world’s largest coffee chain’s global same-store sales fell 5% in its first quarter, which ended Dec. 27, more than analysts’ estimates of a 3.4% decline, according...
Jane Fonda to get lifetime award at Golden Globes
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – American actor and activist Jane Fonda will get a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes ceremony next month, marking a career in film, television and at the forefront of social issues over some 60 years. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which organizes the Golden Globes, said on Tuesday that...
GameStop extends Reddit driven hyper-rally after Musk tweet
(Reuters) – Amateur investors piled further into niche stocks on Tuesday, sending professional short sellers scrambling to cover losing bets, with GameStop skyrocketing for a fourth straight day, thanks in part to Elon Musk. GameStop surged 50% in extended trade after Musk tweeted “Gamestonk!!”, along with a link to Reddit’s Wallstreetbets stock trading discussion group,...
S&P, Nasdaq slip from record levels as earnings season gains speed
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P and Nasdaq slipped on Tuesday from record closing levels as investors digested a batch of corporate earnings results, while an expected policy announcement from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday helped to limit moves. 3M Co climbed 3.26% as one of the biggest boosts on the Dow after it benefited...
Russia, U.S. extend arms pact, Kremlin says, as Biden, Putin talk
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia and the United States have struck a deal to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, a move that preserves the last major pact of its kind between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers. The White House did not immediately confirm the Kremlin’s announcement but...
YouTube temporarily suspends Trump lawyer Giuliani from partner program
(Reuters) – YouTube temporarily suspended former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani from its partner program last week, the Alphabet Inc unit said on Tuesday, citing repeated violation of its policy that prevents false claim of widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The partner program gives content creators greater access to the video...
U.S. judge blocks deportation freeze in swift setback for Biden
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked a move by new U.S. President Joe Biden to halt the deportation of many immigrants for a 100-day period, a swift legal setback for his ambitious immigration agenda. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, an appointee of former President Donald Trump in the Southern...
Microsoft earnings rise as pandemic boosts cloud computing, Xbox sales
(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp on Tuesday reported its Azure cloud computing services grew 50%, the second quarter of acceleration in a business that had begun to slow as the global pandemic benefited the software maker’s investment on working and learning from home. The company’s shares rose 5% in extended trading after gaining about 41% in...
Biden administration to purchase millions more vaccine doses to curb virus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration will purchase 200 million more coronavirus vaccines and funnel more to states now, in a bid to deliver on the U.S. president’s promise to curb the pandemic, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. Biden, who took office last week, is in a race to contain the virus as...
Indian farmers ride flag-bedecked tractors in Republic Day protest
SINGHU, India (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of farmers drove a convoy of tractors festooned with brightly-coloured flags through the outskirts of India’s capital of New Delhi on Tuesday, in a high-profile protest against controversial agricultural reforms. Growers, angry at what they see as laws that help large, private buyers at the expense of producers,...
Exclusive: Hong Kong police obtain financial records of arrested democracy activists
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong authorities are scrutinizing the financial records of pro-democracy activists as they crack down on political opposition, according to some activists and a senior bank executive. Six pro-democracy activists told Reuters that Hong Kong police obtained some of their bank records without their consent and questioned them about certain transactions...
China to conduct military drills in South China Sea amid tensions with U.S.
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group’s entry into the disputed waters. A notice issued by the country’s Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of...
Britain to help other countries track down coronavirus variants
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will share its genomic sequencing capabilities with other countries to help quicker identify new variants of the coronavirus in places with less ability to do so, its health ministry said on Tuesday. New variants of the coronavirus have alarmed scientists, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned the prospect of a...
‘I feel divine’ says Madrid care home resident after second COVID shot
MADRID (Reuters) – Residents of a Madrid nursing home got their second shot of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday and some began planning their first trip outside in months. “I feel divine and delighted to be able to live a more normal life with everybody thanks to my defences,” said Rosario Martin-Sanz, 99. She was...
Mexican president’s COVID-19 revelation fuels criticism of pandemic response
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Mexican president’s announcement he had COVID-19 just a few hours after taking a commercial flight unleashed renewed criticism of his handling of the pandemic, which has left the country with the fourth-highest death toll worldwide. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has a history of heart problems and high blood...
26th January
Guatemalan Maya families fear relatives among Mexican massacre victims
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Guatemalan Maya families said on Monday they feared relatives were among bodies found over the weekend in a remote part of northern Mexico along a route popular with migrant smugglers heading towards the U.S. border. After receiving a tip off in the border state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico, Mexican authorities...
Marina Bay beckons as Singapore gears up for ‘Davos in Asia’
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Once part of daily life for Singapore, conferences in the era of COVID-19 are a meticulously planned operation in the global business hub, which is due to host ‘Davos in Asia” in May. After safety marshals check masks are properly fitted and social distancing adhered to, registration is accompanied by a swab...
New Zealand may approve COVID-19 vaccine next week, start general vaccinations mid-year
(Reuters) – New Zealand may approve a COVID-19 vaccine as early as next week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday, a day after the country confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus in the community in months. “We’re making swift progress towards vaccinating New Zealanders against the virus, but we’re also absolutely committed...
Mexico passes 150,000 deaths from the coronavirus as pandemic deepens
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s official death toll from the coronavirus passed 150,000 on Monday following a surge in infections in recent weeks that has stretched the health system in the capital to the limit and led to the president contracting COVID-19. The Health Ministry on Monday reported 659 new deaths, bringing the total death...
Facebook blocks Netanyahu chatbot, citing privacy violation
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Facebook said on Monday it removed a post and suspended a messenger bot from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s page, after it posted that he wanted phone numbers to call and convince people to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Netanyahu on Thursday posted a video on Twitter encouraging senior citizens to get vaccinated and...
‘Together we are stronger’ – Germany bets on better U.S. ties under Biden
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed in a phone call on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges could only be tackled through closer cooperation, a government spokesman in Berlin said on Monday. Separately, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz welcomed the confirmation of Janet Yellen as Treasury...
Italy PM Conte to resign on Tuesday, seek fresh mandate
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will hand in his resignation to the head of state on Tuesday after a morning cabinet meeting to inform his ministers, Conte’s office said. The prime minister, who has been in office since June 2018, hopes President Sergio Mattarella will give him a mandate to form a...
Biden extends Europe, Brazil travel restrictions, adds South Africa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order on Monday barring most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in South Africa from entering the United States, effective Saturday. Biden’s order also reimposes an entry ban, set to expire on Tuesday, on nearly all non-U.S. travelers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom,...
Putin calls pro-Navalny marches illegal, new protest set for Sunday
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned weekend protests demanding the release of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as dangerous and illegal, as the opposition politician’s allies said they planned a similar protest for Sunday. Police detained more than 3,700 people and used force to break up rallies across Russia on Saturday as tens...
Yemen’s Houthis protest against Trump’s terrorist label
DUBAI (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Yemenis marched in Sanaa on Monday, heeding a call by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement to condemn the United States for labelling it a terrorist group and backing the Saudi-led military coalition that is battling it. The protesters filled a wide avenue in the Houthi-held capital, many holding banners...
Bougainville president meets ‘King’ Musingku
The leader of a rebel movement in Bougainville has met with the autonomous Papua New Guinea region’s president in a rare sign of reconciliation President Ishmael Toroama made a visit to Bougainville’s south where he met with U-Vistract leader Noah Musingku, who presides over the so-called Kingdom of Papaala. In 1997, Musingku formed U-Vistract, an...
