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Swedbank estimates the current shortfall for Heimstaden Bostad could be roughly 30 billion crowns ($2.7 billion). Sweden's financial regulator launched an inquiry into why and how Alecta had invested $4.5 billion in the property giant, in the first place. "If interest rates continue to rise and it's coupled with unemployment, that's what we are afraid of." With interest rates still climbing, analysts such as Marcus Gustavsson of Danske Bank, believe the worst is not yet over. "With rising interest rates, that funny money has turned into real money and it is painful."

Persons: Heimstaden Bostad, Alecta, Christian Dreyer, Karolina Ekholm, Heimstaden's Dreyer, we're, Dreyer, Niklas Wykman, Heimstaden, David Perez, Marcus Gustavsson, Andreas Cervenka, Sweden, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Greta Rosen Fondahn, Chiara Elisei, John O'Donnell, Hugh Lawson Organizations: International Monetary Fund, GOVT, Sweden's, Financial, Reuters, SBB, Danske Bank, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Nordic, Stockholm, Berlin, Sweden, Heimstaden, Germany, Gdansk, London

☆ Emata, a startup offering loans to farmers in East Africa, just raised $2.4 million with this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Emata, a Ugandan startup that provides loans to farmers in East Africa, has raised $2.4 million in funding. It's also fundamentally unfair as farmers need capital to grow but a lot of money goes to people with connections, not the best farmers." Kampala-based Emata wants to be tech first in its offering and uses WhatsApp as a loan origination platform, given its popularity in a region where cell data is at a premium. The company claims it grew 7x in 2022 and could point to strong metrics when dealing with investors having already dispersed over $1 million in loans. Funding will go towards expanding the company's tech offering and looking into new verticals.

Persons: Bram van den Bosch, It's, Klarna, Niklas Adalberth's Norrsken, Draper Richards, Marcus Boström, van den Bosch, Emata Organizations: African Renaissance Partners, Zephyr Acorn, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Locations: Ugandan, East Africa, Uganda, Kampala

☆ Serbia and France off to winning starts in Davis Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The 36-year-old's team mates ensured there were no hiccups in their opener as Dusan Lajovic downed Hong Seong-chan 6-4 7-6(3) and Laslo Djere battled past Kwon Soon-woo 4-6 6-2 6-2 to give Serbia an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. "It's tough to play against a player who you consider is not at his highest level but this is the Davis Cup and everybody can surprise you." Adrian Mannarino battled past Dominic Stricker 3-6 6-1 6-4 while Ugo Humbert sealed a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over veteran Stan Wawrinka, who made his return to Davis Cup duty earlier in 2023 after seven years away. Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin teamed up to beat Wawrinka and Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-2 6-2 in the doubles rubber. Nicolas Jarry then settled the contest by defeating Elias Ymer 6-2 6-4 in 69 minutes.

Persons: France's Ugo Humbert, Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, Jason Cairnduff, Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, Margaret Court's, Dusan Lajovic, Hong, Laslo Djere, Kwon, Djere, He's, hasn't, Adrian Mannarino, Dominic Stricker, Ugo Humbert, Stan Wawrinka, It's, Stan, he's, Humbert, Adrian, Nicolas Mahut, Edouard Roger, Vasselin, Wawrinka, Marc, Andrea Huesler, Leo Borg, Bjorn Borg, Cristian Garin, Nicolas Jarry, Elias Ymer, Wesley Koolhof, Harri Heliovaara, Patrik Niklas, Salminen, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Ken Ferris Organizations: AO, Rights, Davis, South Korea, Spain, U.S, France, Chile, Thomson Locations: France, Manchester, Britain, Serbia, Valencia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Australia, Malaga, Sweden, Bologna, Croatian, Split, Netherlands, Finland, Bengaluru

☆ Tennis-Serbia and France off to Winning Starts in Davis Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

VALENCIA (Reuters) - Serbia made a victorious start to their Davis Cup Finals group stage campaign by beating South Korea on Tuesday before 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic arrives for tougher tests ahead. "It's tough to play against a player who you consider is not at his highest level but this is the Davis Cup and everybody can surprise you." Adrian Mannarino battled past Dominic Stricker 3-6 6-1 6-4 while Ugo Humbert sealed a comfortable 6-4 6-4 win over veteran Stan Wawrinka, who made his return to Davis Cup duty earlier in 2023 after seven years away. Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin teamed up to beat Wawrinka and Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-2 6-2 in the doubles rubber. Nicolas Jarry then settled the contest by defeating Elias Ymer 6-2 6-4 in 69 minutes.

Persons: Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, Margaret Court's, Dusan Lajovic, Hong, Laslo Djere, Kwon, Djere, He's, hasn't, Adrian Mannarino, Dominic Stricker, Ugo Humbert, Stan Wawrinka, It's, Stan, he's, Humbert, Adrian, Nicolas Mahut, Edouard Roger, Vasselin, Wawrinka, Marc, Andrea Huesler, Leo Borg, Bjorn Borg, Cristian Garin, Nicolas Jarry, Elias Ymer, Wesley Koolhof, Harri Heliovaara, Patrik Niklas, Salminen, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Ken Ferris Organizations: VALENCIA, Reuters, Davis, South Korea, Spain, U.S, France, Chile Locations: Serbia, Valencia, Czech Republic, Manchester, Switzerland, France, Australia, Britain, Malaga, Sweden, Bologna, Croatian, Split, Netherlands, Finland, Bengaluru

☆ Carbon accounting was red hot in 2021. Now it's facing widespread consolidation, investors say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Carbon accounting startups peaked in 2021, raising over $5 billion from investors. The rise of carbon accountingThere are around 50 European carbon accounting companies, many of which didn't exist before 2019, according to Insider's own research. Venture capitalists are typically bullish on SaaS because it can scale quickly with few overheads, which is the promise many carbon accounting companies make. Carbon accounting business models often fell short of true SaaS scalability and instead relied on employees doing tasks manually, despite touting automation, investors said. The next generation of carbon accounting companies should be hyper-focused on one niche – for example, accounting for methane in the agricultural industry or water use.

Persons: Niklas Kaskeala, Antero Vartia, grimly, Kaskeala, That's, Namrata Sandhu, Luca Schmid, ClimateTrade, Germany's, Australia's Envizi, EcoOnline, Germany's Planetly, Buyers aren't Organizations: Sequoia, Octopus Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Balderton, Investors, Venture, Germany's TeamClimate, Watershed, IBM, Sage, SoftBank, KPMG, Enterprise, SAP, Oracle Locations: Helsinki, Finnish, Coatue, Europe, Zalando, London

[1/2] A police officer on a Segway patrols Sweden's parliament Riksdagen as the terror threat level in Sweden is raised to four on a five-point scale, in Stockholm, Sweden, August 17, 2023. There has been widespread condemnation from many parts of the Muslim world, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging severe punishment for those responsible and saying Sweden was in battle mode against the Muslim world. "Sweden has gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritised target," SAPO head Charlotte von Essen told a news conference. MILITARY ALERTThe Swedish armed forces also said they were raising the terrorism threat level for operations. Britain and the United States have warned nationals against going to Sweden due to possible terrorist attacks amid protests there and in neighbouring Denmark over the Koran burnings.

Persons: Riksdagen, Fredrik Sandberg, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Charlotte von Essen, von Essen, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander Terje Solsvik, Louise Rasmussen, Niklas Pollard, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: TT, Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Iranian, Islamic, Thomson Locations: Sweden, Stockholm, Rights STOCKHOLM, Denmark, Swedish, Britain, United States, Uzbek

☆ Norway wealth fund posts $143 bln profit as AI surge lifts tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A general view of the Norwegian central bank, where Norway's sovereign wealth fund is situated, in Oslo, Norway, March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsARENDAL, Norway, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Norway's wealth fund, the world's largest single stock market investor, posted a profit of 1,501 billion crowns ($143 billion) in the first half of the year, driven by strong equity markets and a weak crown currency, the fund said on Tuesday. "The fund's equity investments had a strong first half after a weak 2022. The $1.4 trillion fund, which invests the Norwegian state's revenues from oil and gas production, owns on average 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide. ($1 = 10.5224 Norwegian crowns)Reuters GraphicsReporting by Gwladys Fouche; writing by Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Niklas PollardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gwladys, Gwladys Fouche, Nerijus, Niklas Pollard Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Equity, Technology, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Oslo, Norway, Rights ARENDAL

The Berlin-based company expects total segment revenue to grow around 15% this year, compared with its previous guidance for growth of around 10% in constant currency terms. The company confirmed its outlook for adjusted core profit (EBITDA) margin on gross merchandise value (GMV) of over 0.5% for the year. Revenue rose 16% in constant currency to 2.58 billion euros in the second quarter, slightly above a consensus estimate of 2.50 billion euros. Overall GMV increased 8% in constant currency to 11.08 billion euros in the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimate of 10.96 billion euros. The group's Asia segment, including its core market South Korea, returned to positive GMV growth of 2% in constant currency.

Persons: Emmanuel Thomassin, Niklas Oestberg, Linda Pasquini, Anna Mackenzie, Himani Sarkar, Conor Humphries, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Thomson Locations: Asia, Berlin, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Gdansk

☆ Denmark beat Italy in men's team pursuit to avenge Olympic defeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Martyn Herman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GLASGOW, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Denmark reclaimed their world title in men's team pursuit as they defeated Olympic champions Italy in the final at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow on Saturday. In a repeat of the gold-medal battle at the Tokyo Games in 2021 which Italy won in a world record time, Denmark exacted revenge as they reeled in the Azzuri to win comfortably. Denmark also won the title in 2020 and were favourites going into the Olympics. In the women's team pursuit final later, Britain -- led by local favourite Katie Archibald -- take on New Zealand, seeking to win the title for the first time since 2014. Austria's Valentina Holl won the women's title.

Persons: Lasse Leth, Niklas Larsen, Rasmus Pedersen, Carl, Frederik Bevort, Chris Hoy, Filippo Ganna, Katie Archibald, Charlie Hatton, Hatton, Austria's Andreas Kolb, Valentina Holl, Martyn Herman, Hugh Lawson Organizations: GLASGOW, Olympic, Italy, UCI, Tokyo Games, New Zealand, Australia, Thomson Locations: Denmark, Glasgow, Tokyo, Italy, Britain, New Zealand, Fort William, Glasgow's

☆ One of Europe's biggest food delivery firms doubles down on Middle East with $300 million Saudi deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Delivery Hero, the German online food delivery company, said Friday that it is taking full ownership of its Saudi subsidiary in a transaction valued at $297 million. Shares of Delivery Hero were down 1.4% during afternoon trade. Delivery Hero is one of Europe's biggest food delivery companies, commanding a $10 billion market value. HungerStation connects more than 10,000 partners, including restaurants and grocery stores, with customers, Delivery Hero said in a statement Friday. The deal will help the firm build stronger ties with HungerStation and the rest of the company's portfolio, Delivery Hero added.

Persons: Niklas Östberg Organizations: Saudi Arabia —, HungerStation Locations: Saudi, HungerStation, Saudi Arabia, Berlin, Kingdom of Saudi, Germany, Netherlands

Nokia and rival Ericsson (ERICb.ST) have been hit by slowing orders from customers, mostly in their high-margin North American markets. The results come after Nokia last week cut its annual sales and profit margin outlook and Ericsson reported a big fall in quarterly profit. Comparable operating profit in the second quarter fell to 626 million euros ($702.37 million) from 714 million euros last year, but beat market estimates. The decline in North American markets was somewhat offset by India but with a lower margin. Nokia made gains with Indian operators, particularly with the likes of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which was dominated by Samsung for 4G, he said.

Persons: Pekka Lundmark, Lundmark, Supantha Mukherjee, Niklas Pollard, Josephine Mason Organizations: Nokia, Ericsson, Apple, Samsung, 4G, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Finnish, India, North America, Stockholm

☆ Factbox: Denied a NATO invitation, Ukraine still reaps rewards at summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VILNIUS, July 12 (Reuters) - NATO leaders at this week's summit in Vilnius said Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future but dashed Kyiv's hopes for an immediate invitation. Below are some of the main commitments pledged to Ukraine in connection with the summit. In a declaration, NATO countries also pledged its support for Ukraine for "as long as it takes". Britain will also launch a project through NATO to establish a medical rehabilitation centre for Ukrainian soldiers. NORWEGIAN SUPPORTNorway will increase its military support to Ukraine by 2.5 billion crowns ($239 million) this year to 10 billion.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Niklas Pollard, John Irish, Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, Justyna, Alex Richardson Organizations: NATO, Ukraine Council, Ukraine, France, Challenger, GERMAN PATRIOTS German, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Vilnius, Ukraine, Russia, NATO, Kyiv, Moscow, Britain, Ukrainian, Denmark, Romania, Norway

Zelenskiy said: "Today there are security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO...that shall be further extended through arrangements with our key partners. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the G7 move misguided and "potentially very dangerous" for the West to give Ukraine security guarantees, which it said would infringe on Russia's own security. The declaration said the G7 nations would begin bilateral talks with Ukraine immediately. "We will work with Ukraine on an enhanced package of security commitments and arrangements in case of future aggression to enable Ukraine to defend its territory and sovereignty," the G7 said. Germany has already said that it would initially provide 12 billion euros in military support for Ukraine through 2032, including 3.2 billion euros for 2023.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, Zelenskiy, Dmitry Peskov, Ben Wallace, Andrew Gray, Steve Holland, Sabine Siebold, Alex Richardson, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Kremlin, Wednesday, Ukraine, Soviet Union, European Union, White, U.S, Kyiv, Israel, British, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, VILNIUS, Russia, Moscow, Britain, France, Germany, United States, Soviet, Japan, Canada, Italy, Washington, Israel, Kyiv

VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) - A coalition of 11 nations will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training centre will be set up in Romania, officials said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania. NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable the supply of F-16s to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Kyiv, which has launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces, has repeatedly called for Western countries to supply aircraft and train its pilots to fly them, to successfully counter Moscow's aerial dominance. That's why for us it is very important that this fighter jet coalition starts up," Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told reporters. "I hope - I am an optimist - that after six months we will see results," he said.

Persons: Troels Lund Poulsen, Oleksii Reznikov, Niklas Pollard, Justyna Organizations: NATO, Russian, Ukrainian Defence, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Ukrainian, Denmark, Romania, Lithuania, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Slovakia

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning their policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the decades of the Cold War in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Finland's NATO membership was green-lighted in April, Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson react during a meeting, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania July 10, 2023. "This has been a good day for Sweden," Kristersson told reporters, saying the joint statement on Monday represented "a very big step" toward the final ratification of Sweden's membership of NATO. After Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday that Budapest would now no longer block Sweden's NATO membership ratification, Turkish approval would remove the last hurdle for Swedish accession to NATO, applications for which must be approved by all members.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden's, Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg, Ulf Kristersson, Yves Herman / Pool Erdogan, Kristersson, Monday, Stoltenberg, Viktor Orban's, Joe Biden, Niklas Pollard, Andrius, Anna Ringstrom, Johan Ahlander, Ezgi, John Irish, William Maclean, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers Party, EU, REUTERS, European Union, Finland's, Hungarian, Lockheed Martin Corp, Pawlak, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Ukraine, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Swedish, Madrid, Ankara, United States, Lithuania, Turkey's, European, Budapest, Washington, Istanbul

☆ NATO's Stoltenberg says Turkey agrees to move ahead with Sweden's NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VILNIUS, July 10 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden's bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius. Stoltenberg declined to give a date for when Sweden's accession would be ratified by the Turkish parliament, the grand national assembly, which would decide on the exact timing. Applications to the alliance must be approved by all NATO members and while Finland's was given the go-ahead in April, Turkey and Hungary have held off on clearing Sweden's bid. Stockholm has been working hard at its bid ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, together with the United States and its allies, urging Turkey to abandon its opposition. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday that Budapest would not block Sweden's NATO membership ratification.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden's, Jens Stoltenberg, Erdogan, Stoltenberg, Finland's, Viktor Orban's, John Irish, Sabine Siebold, Johan Ahlander, Anna Ringstrom, Justyna Pawlak, Niklas Pollard Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers Party, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Vilnius, Sweden, Turkish, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, United States, Hungarian, Budapest

☆ Meta's Threads swiftly signs up 30 million users, in clear threat to Musk-owned Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users. Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk's buyout. THREADS HAS CERTAIN LIMITATIONSMeta's Threads app logo is seen in this illustration taken July 4, 2023. Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. Currently there are no ads on the Threads app and Zuckerberg said the company would only think about monetization once there was a clear path to 1 billion users.

Persons: Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's, Jasmine Enberg, Twitter, Meta, Niklas Myhr, Jack Dorsey, Bluesky, Dado Ruvic, hasn't, Marques Brownlee, Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Pinar Yildirim, Aditya Soni, Yuvraj Malik, Bansari Mayur, Akash Sriram, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Meta, Twitter, Intelligence, Chapman University, REUTERS, Facebook, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas, Bengaluru

☆ Meta's Threads is a serious threat to Musk-owned Twitter, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While Threads is a standalone app, users can log in using their Instagram credentials, which makes it an easy addition for Instagram's more than 2 billion monthly active users. Twitter, by comparison, had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk's buyout of the social media platform. Mastodon, another Twitter-like app, has 1.7 million monthly active users, according to its website, while Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky has about 265,000 users. Threads does not have hashtags and keyword search functions, which means users cannot follow real-time events like on Twitter. Overall, analysts said Threads was a strong competitor to Twitter, which has been rocked by abrupt decisions by Musk.

Persons: Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Gordon Ramsay, Niklas Myhr, Mark Zuckerberg, Pinar Yildirim, Jack Dorsey, Bluesky, Zuckerberg, Musk, Jasmine Enberg, Marques Brownlee, hasn't, Aditya Soni, Yuvraj Malik, Bansari, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Twitter, Chapman University, Facebook, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton, Intelligence, Bloomberg News, Union, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas, Bengaluru

☆ Swedish PM says Vilnius summit natural time for NATO bid finale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson meet in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 5, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstJuly 5 (Reuters) - Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Wednesday after meeting U.S. President Joe Biden that the two leaders agreed that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius was a "natural time" to finalise the Nordic country's bid to join the alliance. "We both realize that the NATO summit in Vilnius in a week is a very natural time to finish this. But we both also know that only Turkey can make Turkish decisions," Kristersson told reporters at the Swedish embassy in Washington. Kristersson met President Biden in Washington to reaffirm U.S. backing for Sweden's NATO application, which is being held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ulf Kristersson, Jonathan Ernst, Kristersson, Biden, Johan Ahlander, Niklas Pollard Organizations: Swedish, White, REUTERS, NATO, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Swedish, Vilnius, Turkey, Washington, Hungary, Stockholm

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhat happened to Skype? At its height, Skype – a telecommunications app founded by Scandinavian entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, and Estonian engineers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, Jaan Tallinn and Toivo Annus – had 560 million registered users. In 2005, just two years after its launch, the app was acquired by eBay. Microsoft then acquired Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion. Now that Microsoft has rival Teams, the future of Skype is uncertain.

Persons: Niklas Zennström, Janus Friis, Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, Jaan Tallinn, Toivo Annus –, what's Organizations: Skype, eBay, Microsoft, CNBC Locations: Toivo, Silver

Artificial intelligence algorithms are increasingly being used in financial services — but they come with some serious risks around discrimination. And the problem of amplifying existing biases can be even more severe when it comes to banking and financial services. As for financial services, Manji said a lot of the backend data systems are fragmented in different languages and formats. "Individuals have little knowledge of how AI systems work and that their individual case may, in fact, be the tip of a systems-wide iceberg. Among the top worries industry insiders expressed are misinformation; racial and gender bias embedded in AI algorithms; and "hallucinations" generated by ChatGPT-like tools.

Persons: Nabil Manji, Manji, they've, we're, You've, Banks, Banking's, Rumman Chowdhury, Twitter's, Chowdhury, Angle Bush, Bush, Frost Li, Li, Niklas Guske, Guske, it's, Goldman Sachs, Kim Smouter, Smouter, ethicists Organizations: Photodisc, Getty, Deloitte, CNBC, Microsoft, Google, Black, Artificial Intelligence, Tokyo University, Apple, New York Department of Financial Services, European Network, United Nations Locations: AMSTERDAM, Worldpay, Amsterdam, Chicago, Loup, United

☆ Time has come for Turkey to ratify Sweden's NATO bid - Swedish minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, June 21 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament should begin to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO because Stockholm has now met its obligations under an accord with Ankara on joining the Western military alliance, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Wednesday. Last year Sweden and Finland both reversed decades of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in April but Turkey continues to block Sweden's membership citing security concerns. This month Ankara said Sweden must crack down on anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm before it can receive the green light to join NATO. Hungary has also still to ratify Sweden's NATO bid.

Persons: Tobias Billstrom, Billstrom, Tayyip Erdogan, Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson, Gareth Jones Organizations: NATO, Western, Reuters, Kurdistan Workers Party, Sweden's NATO, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Stockholm, Ankara, Swedish, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Vilnius, Madrid, Hungary

High debts, rising interest rates and a wilting economy has produced a toxic cocktail for Sweden's commercial property companies, with several cut to junk by rating agencies. Sweden and Germany are among the worst affected by a widening property slump on the continent, according to Eurostat. Swedish officials are worried that banks could compound property companies' troubled by cutting credit, triggering firesales that would further drag down the market. Financial markets minister Wykman said he had held discussions with banks, property companies and investors about the entire commercial property market. This week, analysts at JP Morgan said big banks in Sweden, which had 1 trillion Swedish crowns of property exposure, were 'ill-prepared' for losses.

Persons: Niklas Wykman, Wykman, Ilija Batljan, Batljan, JP Morgan, Finland's, SEBa.ST, Chiara Elisei, Sinead Cruise, John O'Donnell, Toby Chopra Organizations: Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, Financial, Reuters, Eurostat, OECD, Reuters Graphics, SBB, JP, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, FRANKFURT, Europe, Sweden, Germany, Stockholm, Swedish, Spain, Ireland, London

Erdogan spoke as officials from Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO met on Wednesday in Ankara for talks to try to overcome Turkish objections holding up Sweden's NATO membership bid. The parties agreed to continue working on the "prospective concrete steps" for Sweden's NATO membership, the statement said. In justifying its objections to Swedish membership, Turkey has accused Stockholm of harbouring members of Kurdish militant groups it considers to be terrorists. While he was having talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg earlier this month, a similar protest was held in Stockholm, Erdogan said. He added that he also told Stoltenberg Sweden should prevent such actions to secure Turkey's approval for its NATO membership.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Umit, Erdogan, Oscar Stenstrom, Stenstrom, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Niklas Pollard, Daren Butler, Nick Macfie, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Wednesday, Turkish, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kurdistan Workers Party, European Union, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, ANKARA, Sweden, Stockholm, Azerbaijan, Finland, Madrid, Ukraine, Hungary, extraditions, Stoltenberg Sweden, Vilnius

So what's hot in fintech right now? One area fintech companies are getting excited by is an improvement to online checkout tools. Callan Carvey, global head of operations at Cleo, said the firm's AI connects to a customer's bank account to get a better understanding of their financial behavior. "A job that typically would take around one or two weeks can now be completed in 30 minutes, right. Several fintech executives CNBC interviewed spoke of how they're not interested in launching products tailored to crypto as the demand from their customers isn't there.

Persons: MacKenzie Sigalos, hasn't, they've, Starling, Richard Davies, Davies, Niklas Guske, —, B2C fintechs, David Singleton, Guske, dazzled, Cleo, Callan Carvey, Carvey, Teo Blidarus, Taktile's, Hiroki Takeuchi, Takeuchi, Changpeng Zhao, they're, Jack Zhang, Zhang, Prajit Nanu, cryptocurrencies, Banks, Nanu Organizations: Bank, fintechs, CNBC, Business, Allica Bank, B2B, Tiger, Schroders Capital, Atom Bank, Schroders, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S, cryptocurrencies Locations: Amsterdam, MacKenzie Sigalos AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, British, Atomico, U.S

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