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☆ US prepares new rules on investment in technology abroad- WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration's work on the new rules would in practice largely deal with U.S. investments in China though the report given to lawmakers did not identify any countries, the WSJ said. The new rules are expected to cover private-equity and venture-capital investments in advanced semiconductors, supercomputing and some forms of artificial intelligence, the WSJ reported quoting people familiar with the matter as saying. The Treasury and Commerce departments expected to finalize their policy in the near future, it added. Reuters reported last month that Biden administration was planning an outright ban on investments in some Chinese technology companies and increased scrutiny of others. Reporting by Jose Joseph and Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy close to approve CDP, Macquarie bid for TIM's grid- Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 4 (Reuters) - Italy is close to granting preliminary approval to a multibillion-euro offer by state lender CDP and Macquarie Group (MQG.AX) for Telecom Italia's (TLIT.MI) landline network, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday citing people familiar with the matter. Acceptance of the bid by CDP and Australia's Macquarie could be announced this month, the report said, adding that a final determination hasn't been made. The news comes after TIM said last month an offer for its network grid tabled by U.S fund KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) "does not wholly reflect the value of the asset". Meloni's administration wants to secure public control of TIM's grid, but there is no common ground within the government on how to achieve this. CDP and Telecom Italia did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment.

☆ UK says Ukraine forces under increasingly severe pressure defending Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, March 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut are facing increasingly strong pressure from Russian forces, British military intelligence said on Saturday, with intense fighting taking place in and around the eastern city. loadingTwo key bridges in Bakhmut have been destroyed within the last 36 hours, it said, adding that Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the city are increasingly limited. Ukraine's military command said Russia was still trying to surround Bakhmut but added that over the past day Ukrainian forces had beaten back Russian attacks in the city. "The enemy does not cease attempts to surround Bakhmut," it said in its morning briefing note on Saturday, adding that over the past day Ukrainian forces had beaten back Russian attacks in Bakhmut. We consider Bakhmut our fortress," he told a news conference in Kyiv on Feb. 3.

☆ Magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Kermadec Islands in New Zealand - USGS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 4 (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck Kermadec Islands region in New Zealand on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The quake was at a depth of 152 km (94 miles), USGS said. The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre earlier estimated the magnitude at 6.6 and a depth at 183 km. No tsunami warning was issued after the quake, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said. Reporting by Jose Joseph in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SoftBank's Arm rebuffs London by choosing U.S. listing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company did not completely rule out an eventual London listing, saying it intended to consider a subsequent IPO there in due course, without providing further details. London worked hard to get the listing, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Arm Chief Executive Rene Haas meeting in Downing Street last month, according to reports. The loss follows a decision by Dublin-based building materials giant CRH on Thursday to move its primary listing from London to the United States. Arm has pushed into markets beyond smartphones, such as data center servers, where its low-power designs can cut energy use. It immediately identified New York as its preferred destination, where the company will join the likes of Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia.

☆ Oaktree Capital seeks to raise $10 billion for new fund- FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Oaktree Capital plans to raise $10 billion for a new fund that will help finance large private equity takeovers, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing a letter sent to the U.S. asset manager's clients. The new fund, known as Oaktree Lending Partners, may tap into bank loans to ultimately invest $20 bln in sponsor-backed debt, the report said. The credit investment manager plans to raise and invest the $10 billion within the next two years, FT reported. Oaktree expects to offer loans of about $500 million or more to leveraged buyout groups, the newspaper said. The company and asset management firm Brookfield, which owns a majority stake in the investment firm, will invest $2 billion in the new fund, the report added.

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N) Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman took home about $1.26 billion in pay and dividends for 2022, a regulatory filing showed. Schwarzman received more than $1 billion in dividends from his Blackstone shares and $253.1 million in compensation, filing showed on Friday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) slashed compensation for CEO David Solomon by 29% to $25 million for 2022, while JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon's total compensation was unchanged at $34.5 million. Schwarzman owns about 230 million shares in Blackstone according to a filing from February, and the company paid $4.40 in annual dividend, filings showed. Blackstone ended the quarter with $974.7 billion of total assets under management and declared a quarterly dividend of 91 cents per share.

☆ Pepsico recalls some Starbucks vanilla frappuccino drinks in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Pepsico Inc (PEP.O) recalled more than 25,000 cases of Starbucks (SBUX.O) chilled coffee drink after glass was found in some of the bottles, the U.S. Food and Drug administration said in a notice. The voluntary recall, which was initiated on Jan. 28, covers more than 300,000 bottles of the Starbucks frappuccino vanilla chilled coffee drink, the FDA said. The FDA classified this as a Class 2 recall, which means the "product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote", according the agency's website. Distributed nationwide by PepsiCo, the bottles with expiration dates Mar. Pepsico did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on a Saturday.

☆ Microsoft limits Bing chats to 5 questions per session
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The Microsoft logo is seen outside the Microsoft Experience Center in New York City, U.S., January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonFeb 17 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Friday it will limit chat sessions on its new Bing search engine powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI) to five questions per session and 50 questions per day. "As we mentioned recently, very long chat sessions can confuse the underlying chat model in the new Bing. To address these issues, we have implemented some changes to help focus the chat sessions," Microsoft said in the blog post. The new Bing, which has a wait list of millions of people for access, is a potentially lucrative opportunity for Microsoft.

☆ Balfour Beatty's engineering workers to stage strikes in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - More than 100 engineering workers at Balfour Beatty (BALF.L) will stage three 48-hour strikes in March over pay disputes, British trade union RMT said on Saturday. The decision comes after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) rejected the company's offer to increase pay by 5.5% from April 2022. "Balfour Beatty is a highly profitable company and they need to use some of their excess wealth to reward their workers properly," RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said. The strikes will start at 2200 GMT on Fridays to 0959 GMT on Sundays from March 3 to March 5, March 10 to March 12, and March 17 to March 19. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla sold out Model Y in U.S. for this quarter - Electrek
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has sold out its Model Y for this quarter in the United States, with no more production builds until April, Electrek reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. This comes after Tesla cut prices globally in January by as much as 20% with the Model Y priced at $52,990, down from $65,990 in the United States, according to Reuters calculations. But in February, the automaker raised the prices of its best-selling vehicle by $1000. Last month, Tesla also pushed back the expected delivery of its basic Model Y to customers in Germany to February-March. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bitcoin rises 4.99% to $23,319
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Bitcoin rose 4.99% to $23,319 at 1959 GMT on Wednesday, adding $1,108 to its previous close. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, was up 41.4% from the year's low of $16,496 on Jan. 1. Ether , the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 4.63% to $1,628.7 on Wednesday, adding $72.1 to its previous close. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ JPMorgan lays off hundreds of mortgage employees -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) has cut hundreds of mortgage employees, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, hours after the company announced plans to hire some bankers. "We regularly review our business and customer needs and adjust our staffing accordingly – creating new roles where we see the need or reducing positions when appropriate," a Chase spokesperson told Reuters. Earlier in the day, JPM said it plans to hire more than 500 bankers catering to small businesses through 2024, boosting the bank's workforce targeting the segment by 20% from more than 2,300 now. "We're still opening branches, and in general around the world, we are still hiring bankers, consumer bankers, small-business bankers, middle-market bankers, folks overseas. Reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York and Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bitcoin rises 2.3% to $23,199
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Bitcoin rose 2.3% to $23,199 at 10:07 GMT on Saturday, adding $521 to its previous close. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is up 40.6% from the year's low of $16,496 on January 1. Ether , the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 0.58% to $1,668.1 on Saturday, adding $9.7 to its previous close. (This story has been refiled to remove the extraneous word in paragraph three)Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Goldman taps former BoE official Bradley Fried as next International chair- Sky News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 17 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Inc (GS.N) has tapped Bradley Fried, former Chair of the Court of the Bank of England, as chairman of Goldman Sachs International (GSI), Sky News reported on Saturday. Fried will replace Jose Manuel Barroso, who was the former European Commission president, according to the report. The announcement is expected next week and Fried will assume his role in February next year, the report said. Goldman Sachs declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Fried stepped down as the Chair of BoE's Court last June after 4 years with the central bank.

☆ JP Morgan signs deal for stake in fintech Viva Wallet for over $800 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - JP Morgan (JPM.N) has signed a deal to buy a 48.5% stake in Athens-based payments fintech Viva Wallet for more than $800 million, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Saturday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal was expected to be announced early next week. Both JP Morgan and Viva Wallet declined to comment. JP Morgan announced in January that it had agreed to acquire a stake in Viva Wallet. Cloud-based Viva Wallet, which operates in 23 countries across Europe, provides card acceptance services through its POS application, add-on Google play devices and advanced payment systems in online stores.

☆ Trump legal team search for classified material at properties, Washington Post says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Lawyers for former U.S. President Donald Trump searched Trump Tower and one of his golf courses after a judge instructed them to attest to complying with a subpoena to turn over all classified materials, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Trump's legal team hired an outside firm to carry out the search of his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey in recent weeks, and, more recently Trump Tower in New York, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The team also offered the FBI the opportunity to observe the search, but was declined, according to the report. Trump's lawyers have informed the Justice Department that the outside team did not find any new classified information during their search, according to The Washington Post. In August, an FBI search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, found more than 20 boxes of government records, including 11 sets of classified documents.

☆ Germany's Brenntag in takeover talks with U.S. rival Univar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brenntag SE (BNRGn.DE) said on Friday it held preliminary discussions with U.S. rival Univar Solutions Inc (UNVR.N) regarding a potential acquisition, as the German chemicals distributor seeks to expand its footprint in the United States. In a statement on Friday, Brenntag said the discussions were ongoing and that it was not foreseeable whether there will be any kind of transaction. Brenntag said earlier it plans to double its annual spending for mergers and acquisitions to 400 million to 500 million euros ($400 million-$500 million) as part of a strategic growth plan. Univar confirmed a preliminary indication of interest from Brenntag regarding the transaction in a statement late on Friday, without giving additional details. A plunge in Russian gas exports after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked a continent-wide energy crisis, leading to soaring energy prices.

☆ Manchester United owners consider selling club
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The owners are under pressure with United sitting fifth in the Premier League halfway through the season, which has been suspended because of the current Qatar World Cup. Manchester United shares jumped as much as 20% after Sky News first reported on the sale process, giving the club a market capitalisation of $2.6 billion. The Raine Group is acting as financial adviser and Latham & Watkins LLP is the legal adviser to Manchester United. It was the first Premier League match to be postponed because of a protest. United finished sixth last season in their worst Premier League campaign in terms of points earned, failing to qualify for the lucrative European Champions League competition.

☆ Neuralink's 'show & tell' delayed by one month, Elon Musk says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk said in a tweet on Sunday pushed back by a month the date for Neuralink's "show & tell" event to Nov. 30 and did not provide further information. loadingThe chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and rocket developer SpaceX said in August that the event would be held on Oct. 31. Co-founded by Musk in 2016, San Francisco-based Neuralink aims to implant wireless brain computer chips to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia and spinal cord injuries and fuse humankind with artificial intelligence. Musk approached brain chip implant developer Synchron Inc about a potential investment after he expressed frustration to Neuralink employees over their slow progress to win regulatory clearance for its devices. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China holds emergency talks with chip firms after U.S. curbs -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 20 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened a series of emergency meetings over the past week with leading semiconductor companies, seeking to assess the damage from the U.S. chip restrictions, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The ministry summoned executives from firms including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) and supercomputer specialist Dawning Information Industry Co (603019.SS) to attend closed-door meetings, the report said. YMTC, Dawning and the industry ministry did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comment. On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for his country to "win the battle" in core technologies in his full work report as he kicked off the once-every-five-years Communist Party Congress. Experts have said the work report could signal an overhaul in Beijing's approach to advancing its tech industry, with more state-led spending and intervention to counter U.S. pressures.

☆ Russian-backed forces make advances towards eastern Ukrainian town, says UK
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russian-backed forces have made tactical advances in the last three days towards the centre of Bakhmut, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region, and likely advanced into villages south of the town, Britain said on Friday. Bakhmut sits on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Private military company Wagner Group "likely remains" heavily involved in the Bakhmut fighting, Britain's Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence bulletin. In Ukraine's Donbas region, the ministry said that Russia continued with offensive operations in central part of the state and was "very slowly" making progress. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain's Ofgem to urge public to reduce energy usage - FT
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Britain's energy regulator Ofgem will on Thursday urge consumers to reduce their energy usage "where possible", the Financial Times reported, less than a week after climate minister Graham Stuart said that the country would not ask its people to use less energy. The energy regulator's move would come as it prepares to launch a campaign to help households reduce their electricity and gas usage, the FT said. Senior Cabinet Office Minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Sunday it was "extremely unlikely" Britain would have planned power cuts over winter, responding to a warning from National Grid (NG.L) that the country could face blackouts if it cannot import enough energy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Moody's withdraws ratings of China's Evergrande and Kaisa
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 11 (Reuters) - Moody's on Tuesday said it withdrew the ratings of property developers China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) and Kaisa Group because of insufficient information. Moody's said it also withdrew its ratings on Evergrande's units - Hengda Real Estate Group Company Limited, Tianji Holding Limited and Scenery Journey Limited. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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