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☆ EU says Broadcom's takeover of VMware could hurt competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday said the proposed $61 billion takeover by U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) of cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N) could restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components. The commission said it had informed Broadcom of its preliminary view, which is the result of an in-depth investigation of the takeover that was opened late last year. Broadcom now has the opportunity to reply to the commission's objections and to request an oral hearing. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by GV De ClercqOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Macron: France favours 'status quo' on Taiwan, position unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Michel Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speak at a news conference during Macron's state visit to the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 12, 2023. We're in favour of the status quo. This policy is constant and hasn't changed," Macron told a news conference during a state visit in the Netherlands. "So no, France does not support provocations, does not engage in fantasy politics and considers the status quo, respect and clarity are the best allies of European strategic autonomy," Macron said. The meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week - prior to China's drills - was a "provocation", the diplomat said.

☆ 6 startups that have raised $100 million or more in 2023 to change healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftKey raised $300 million in a round led by its majority investor Lorient Capital. The clinical-trials-tech startup Paradigm raised a $203 million Series A round led by Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftMed raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. Vytalize Health, a startup that helps doctors provide value-based care, raised $100 million from Enhanced Healthcare Partners, Monroe Capital, and North Coast Ventures.

☆ French privacy watchdog investigating complaints about ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) - France's privacy watchdog CNIL said on Tuesday it was investigating several complaints about ChatGPT after the chatbox was temporarily banned in Italy over a suspected breach of privacy rules. "The CNIL has received several complaints about ChatGPT and is investigating them," the watchdog said by email in response to a Reuters query. Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by GV De ClercqOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ High-tech French army truck maker sees demand for low-tech artillery components
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Clotaire Achi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] The logo of Arquus, a unit of Volvo AB, is pictured at the production plant in Limoges, France, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit TessierLIMOGES, France, April 7 (Reuters) - French armoured truck maker Arquus, specialised in manufacturing high-tech off-road military vehicles, has gone back to producing more low-tech undercarriages for howitzers as the ground war in Ukraine boosts demand for artillery. Arquus Chief Executive Emmanuel Levacher told Reuters that the firm had stopped producing the undercarriages because until recently there was no more demand. "There could be even higher demand, particularly for export, which motivated us to relaunch production here in Limoges," he said. Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu has asked French military equipment makers to scale up capacities to "war-time mode" and has pledged to repatriate some previously outsourced activities.

[1/4] French railway workers on strike demonstrate against BlackRock company inside an office building as part of the eleventh day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie LecocqPARIS, April 6 (Reuters) - Dozens of trade unionists railing against French President Emmanuel Macron's pension overhaul briefly invaded the central Paris building in which U.S.-based investment firm BlackRock has an office, chanting slogans and setting off firecrackers. The union action in the historical Centorial building near Paris' Grand Boulevards area, targetted BlackRock because of its private pension fund activity, protester Françoise Onic, 51, told Reuters. Thomson Reuters has an office in the same building. The government says change is needed to keep the pension system in the black.

☆ See the 6 startups that have raised the most cash in 2023 to transform healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Startups in the industry raised $3.4 billion across 132 deals in the first three months of 2023. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftKey raised $300 million in a round led by its majority investor Lorient Capital. The clinical-trials-tech startup Paradigm raised a $203 million Series A round led by Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The healthcare-staffing startup ShiftMed raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures. raised a $200 million round led by Panoramic Ventures.

☆ Here's the 9-page pitch deck that Altana, a startup building Google Maps for supply chains, used to a raise $100 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | Alex Davies | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Altana Technologies is mapping global supply chains as Google Maps does the world. Altana CEO Evan Smith is building a new version of "Google Maps," but his 5-year-old startup has nothing to do with routes or directions. It's all about global supply chains. Smith told Insider. There, they sold supply-chain data but didn't translate it into any deeper meaning, Smith told Insider last year.

☆ France to ban TikTok on work phones of civil servants -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - France will ban the use of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on the work phones of civil servants, Civil Service Minister Stanislas Guerini said on his Twitter account. "In order to guaratne the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants, the government has decided to ban recreational applications such as TikTok on the professional phones of civil servants," he said in a statement. Reporting by GV De Clercq Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French and US hostages released in West Africa after years of captivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021, while Woodke was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger in 2016. "After several months of efforts, Nigerien authorities obtained the liberation of the two hostages from the hands of (JNIM), an active terrorist group in West Africa and the Sahel," Niger's interior minister Hamadou Adamou Souley told journalists at the airport, flanked by the two men. French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Niger for its help in securing the Dubois's release. "I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan said on Twitter. Those groups have repeatedly declared French citizens in West Africa to be targets since a 2013 military intervention by France drove them back a year earlier.

☆ Students of BloomTech, formerly known as Lambda School, filed a class action lawsuit against the coding bootcamp
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Students of the Bloom Institute of Technology have filed a class action lawsuit against the school. They say the coding bootcamp, formerly known as Lambda School, advertised false job placement rates. While students have previously taken legal action against BloomTech, this is the first class action lawsuit against it. Former BloomTech students said that the school fell short of its promise with under-qualified instructors and an incomplete curriculum, Insider first reported. Leaked documents also showed that BloomTech's job placement rates were much lower than advertised, Insider previously reported.

☆ Police fire tear gas at spontaneous anti-pension bill protest in Paris
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 16 (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas at protesters on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where some 7,000 people demonstrated against the government's pension changes in a spontaneous and unplanned rally. [1/3] A demonstrator holds a CGT labour union flag during a protest after French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne used the article 49.3, a special clause in the French Constitution, to push the pensions reform bill through the National Assembly without a vote by lawmakers, in Nantes, France, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe 1 2 3A Reuters reporter saw cobble stones being thrown at the police, who charged to break up groups of protesters. The demonstration was across the river Seine from parliament, where Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne earlier on Thursday announced her government would push through the reform using a special constitution clause, as her minority government could not get the necessary backing from the opposition conservative Les Republicains party. Reporting by Antony Paone, writing by GV De Clercq; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French environment minister urges restrictions to avoid water crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eric GaillardPARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - France's 100 departmental prefects should not hesitate to enact quick decrees restricting local water use given alarmingly low groundwater levels, French Environment Minister Christophe Béchu said on Monday. The announcement came after Béchu met virtually with prefects to get a view of the country's overall water situation as the country experiences its driest winter since 1959. Low water levels last summer impacted hydroelectric production and forced reduced power output at France's nuclear plants, which use river water to cool reactors. In several parts of France there was also an interruption of drinking water, which Béchu said he was keen to avoid this year. A national water resource management plan, initially expected in January, is now slated to be published before the end of March, the ministry said.

☆ Alphabet venture arm CapitalG names Laela Sturdy new head of firm, David Lawee steps aside
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CapitalG partner Laela Sturdy is on track to be one of the year's biggest investors. Alphabet's growth stage venture arm, CapitalG, has named Laela Sturdy its new leader. The move means CapitalG will be one of the few venture firms to be led by a female partner. Generally speaking, CapitalG invests a lot like other growth-stage firms, but with only one limited partner as an investor -- its parent company, Alphabet. "I would say the value Laela has provided has been significantly higher than the money anyone's provided″ Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn told CNBC at the time.

☆ CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang plans to 'break open the barrier' facing gene editing after raising $193 million for his secretive new startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Feng Zhang, Aera's founder and a CRISPR pioneer, spoke with Insider about his vision for the firm. Aera wants to "break open the barrier" of tech through methods like gene editing, Zhang said. The CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang spoke with Insider about Aera Therapeutics, his Boston-based biotech. "The goal is to break open the barrier that's facing genetic medicine," Zhang told Insider in his first interview about the company. In starting another company, Zhang said he felt it was important to have a dedicated team focused on delivery.

☆ Airbus deliveries fell to 20 jets in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries fell to 20 airplanes in January compared to 30 in the same month last year, the company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Detailed Airbus data showed that the cancellation came from Viva Air Colombia, a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation. Airbus eventually lowered then abandoned that goal in 2022 as supply chain and industrial pressures began to bite harder than expected. It made 663 industrial deliveries for the year or 661 after a Russia sanctions-related adjustment. Industry sources have said the shallower "hockey stick" recovery would allow Airbus' COVID-hobbled supply chain to reset and prepare a more reliable catch-up from mid-decade.

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries fell by a third to 20 airplanes in January compared to 30 in the same month last year, the company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Detailed Airbus data showed that the cancellation came from Viva Air Colombia, a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation. Airbus eventually lowered then abandoned that goal in 2022 as supply chain and industrial pressures began to bite harder than expected. It made 663 industrial deliveries for the year or 661 after a Russia sanctions-related adjustment. Industry sources have said the shallower "hockey stick" recovery would allow Airbus' COVID-hobbled supply chain to reset and prepare a more reliable catch-up from mid-decade.

☆ CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang's secretive gene-editing startup has hired ex-Alnylam leaders as CEO and chair
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The gene-editing startup Aera has hired biotech vets Akin Akinc as CEO and John Maraganore as chairman. CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang's newest gene-editing venture has attracted two longtime leaders of the biotech giant Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Insider has learned. Former Alnylam CEO John Maraganore is chairman of Aera. The SEND technology could allow gene-editing technology to treat more diseases. Based on Zhang's SEND research, Aera hopes to deliver gene-editing tools to more organs, ultimately expanding the number of diseases CRISPR can impact.

☆ Netherlands, Denmark and Germany buy 100 Leopard 1 Tanks for Ukraine - Dutch gov't
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

THE HAGUE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are buying 100 Leopard-1A5 battle tanks for Ukraine, the Dutch government said on Tuesday. The Dutch defense ministry said in a statement the tanks would be purchased "directly from German industry". In an interview on Dutch national broadcaster NOS, Netherlands Defense Minister Kasja Ollongen said the tanks, a slightly older model, are "definitely still useable" for fighting in Ukraine. "It's a tested tank, and because they're being tuned up and made ready for fighting, they will definitely be useful for the Ukrainians," she said. Reporting by Bart Meijer and Toby Sterling, writing by GV De Clercq, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ France moves to block access to pornography sites for minors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Marine Strauss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - France will present this week a digital-certification mechanism to oblige pornography websites to effectively control the age of viewers on their sites from September, French digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday. Sites which do not comply will risk being banned from publishing in France. In 2023, it is the end of access to pornography websites for our children," Barrot said in an interview with French daily Le Parisien. Under current legislation in France and most European countries, users have to 18 to be able to access pornography. But there is no effective control mechanism and users can simply enter a fictional birth date on their screens.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy invited to take part in EU summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Council President Charles Michel speak during EU summit, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 3, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File PhotoBRUSSELS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been invited to take part in a summit of European Union leaders, the EU said on Monday, amid reports he could be in Brussels as soon as this week. Charles Michel, the president of the European Council of the EU's national leaders, invited Zelenskiy "to participate in person in a future summit," a spokesman for Michel tweeted. The next EU summit takes place on Thursday and Friday of this week in Brussels. Earlier in the day, multiple media outlets reported that Zelenskiy could attend the summit and may also address a session of the European Parliament.

☆ Tyler Burnett turned a toothache into a VC-backed company. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck he used to raise $3 million for dental startup Wally Health.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( April Joyner | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup Wally Health provides dental cleanings and preventative care for $199 a year. Take a look at the pitch deck Wally used to raise a $3 million seed round led by Bling Capital. That experience inspired the creation of his startup, Wally Health, which has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Bling Capital. Years before Wally, Burnett had launched businesses in media and fintech back in his native Canada. After raising a pre-seed round, Burnett and his cofounders started building Wally's proof of concept about a year ago in an office in New York's Upper East Side.

Newsletter publisher and digital media company TheSkimm laid off nearly 10% of staffers in January. Bustle Digital Group, The Washington Post, and Buzzfeed are among other media companies that cut workers in recent months. TheSkimm, the popular newsletter publisher and digital media company, laid off nearly 10% of its workforce — or about 17 staffers — in mid-January, according to a source familiar with the matter. TheSkimm is far from the only media company that has enacted wide-ranging personnel cuts in recent months. Entertainment media companies have also been heavily impacted, with AMC, NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, Roku, and Spotify paring back headcount.

☆ Strikes will disrupt public transport in France on Tuesday, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Clement Beaune, France's Secretary of State for European affairs, speaks at the European Railway Summit in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France, February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Public transport in France will be heavily disrupted on Tuesday due to labour union strikes protesting the government's planned changes to pension, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday. "It will be a difficult, very difficult day for public transport... We expect major disruptions," Beaune said on LCI TV. Unions - including the moderate CFDT union - are united against the reform and have vowed to continue strikes and demonstrations until the government drops its plans. Macron has said he was elected on a platform to reform pensions and that without the changes France's pension system cannot remain financially viable.

☆ France extends mandatory COVID tests for Chinese travellers until Feb 15
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - France has extended mandatory COVID tests for travellers from China until Feb. 15, a government decree published on Saturday showed. While Chinese officials have said infections have peaked, some global experts have warned about the possibility of a rise in cases in rural areas less equipped to deal with them as millions of Chinese travel for family reunions during the Lunar New Year holiday. On Dec. 30, France announced it would require travellers from China to provide a negative COVID-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure as China eased lockdown rules. The measure, which had been set to last until Jan. 31, imposed tests on all flights from China - including flights with stopovers - and required travellers on airplanes arriving from China to wear masks. China abandoned its strict "zero COVID" policy in early December after protests against the restrictions, allowing people to travel and the virus to spread rapidly throughout the country.

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