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☆ Australia talks tough on EU trade - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Australia's trade minister Don Farrell has warned the European Union that he will not sign on a trade deal unless the bloc opens its market to more Australian farm products, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Farrell said an agreement with the bloc was possible only if the EU backed down on its demands not to expose its farmers to competition, the report said. In May when China's imports from major trade partners including the United States, Japan and South Korea shrank, its purchases from Australia rose 5.4%, according to Reuters' calculations based on Beijing's customs data. Farrell on Tuesday told Sky News that the two countries have set out a pathway to resolve all remaining trade restrictions during a recent meeting in Beijing. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru and Ellen Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Don Farrell, Farrell, Jose Joseph, Ellen Zhang, Kim Coghill, Chizu Organizations: European Union, Financial Times, Australia, Sky News, Thomson Locations: EU, Australia, China, United States, Japan, South Korea, Beijing, Bengaluru

☆ JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon to meet with group of US House Democrats - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 5 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon will meet privately with a group of moderate House Democrats on Tuesday, with banking and the U.S. economy on the agenda, Bloomberg News reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter. Dimon will meet with the New Democratic Coalition in a closed-door lunch, the report said. JPMorgan and members of New Democratic Coalition did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside business hours. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Dimon along with other banking executives met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, to discuss the federal debt limit. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Dimon, Chuck Schumer, Jose Joseph, Jacqueline Wong, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: JPMorgan Chase &, Democrats, Bloomberg, New Democratic Coalition, JPMorgan, New, New York Democrat, Thomson Locations: U.S, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Arnold Schwarzenegger explains in Netflix docuseries how he told wife about his secret son, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —It sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger struggled to tell his then wife Maria Shriver about his secret son with their housekeeper Mildred Baena. According to The Sun, Schwarzenegger revealed how the bombshell came out that Joseph Baena, now 25, was his son. “One day, the counselor said, ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something,’” Schwarzenegger reportedly says. The affair with Mildred Baena happened in 1996. “It was then just a matter of, ‘How do you keep this quiet?’”CNN has reached out to reps for Schwarzenegger and Shriver for comment.

Persons: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Mildred Baena, Schwarzenegger, Joseph Baena, Shriver, Maria, ’ ” Schwarzenegger, Joseph ’, ‘, Joseph, ’, Baena, John, ” Schwarzenegger, “ Arnold ”, ” Organizations: CNN, Netflix Locations: California

☆ The top Hollywood exec made $498 million in the last 5 years—384 times as much as the average writer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jennifer Liu | In Jljenniferliu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That's a staggering 384 times the average pay of a Hollywood writer. Overall, average pay for Hollywood's top execs climbed to $28 million in 2021, up 53% from 2018 (and roughly 108 times the average writer's pay) according to the analysis, which uses compensation data from the research firm Equilar and includes stock options, base salaries, bonuses and other perks. Meanwhile, average pay for Hollywood writers has remained virtually flat at about $260,000 as 2021, the Times reports. Hollywood executive pay dropped in 2022 due to stock market volatility and investor pressure to make streaming profitable. From 1978 to 2021, CEO pay grew by 1,460%, adjusted for inflation, versus just 18.1% for the typical worker.

Persons: David Zaslav, That's, Ari Emanuel, Reed Hastings, Bob Iger, Walt, Ted Sarandos, Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Brian Roberts, Joseph Ianniello, Patrick Whitesell, Kaitlin Fontana, Kelly Evans Organizations: Hollywood, Los Angeles Times, Warner Bros, Discovery Inc, Times, Writers Guild of America, Endeavor Group Holdings Inc, Netflix, Walt Disney Co, Fox Corp, Comcast Corp, Paramount Global, Endeavor, Paramount, Disney, Company, WGA, Alliance, Television Producers, LA Times, Economic, Comcast, CNBC Locations: U.S, California

☆ Silver Lake acquires minority stake in TeamSystem for $660 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Italian cloud software maker TeamSystem said on Friday that private equity firm Silver Lake has agreed to acquire a minority stake in the company from Hellman & Friedman (H&F). The investment is worth 600 million euros ($660.48 million), TeamSystem said in a statement, adding that H&F will remain the majority shareholder after the transaction closes. TeamSystem, founded in 1979, provides accounting, payroll and business management software for small and medium-sized enterprises. Reuters reported in January that H&F was weighing options for TeamSystem including a sale of a minority stake in the business which could be valued at several billion euros. TeamSystem's management reinvested in the company as part of the 2021 transaction, and private-equity firm Hg held a minority stake.

☆ Opinion: The dubious MLK Jr. quote about Malcolm X
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Opinion Peniel E. Joseph | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, long a contentious backdrop to the history of civil rights and anti-racist activism in America, is under new scrutiny after the bombshell news that a quote denigrating Malcolm X, published in Playboy and attributed to King, is apparently fraudulent. This new information adds to the ongoing rethinking of the relationship between King and Malcolm X. Of course, this is not to suggest that we stop teaching “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” since all memoir and autobiography is an act of literary creation. The complexity of his relationship to Malcolm X is handled judiciously. Balancing the bitter and beautiful parts of the relationship between King and Malcolm X helps us come to terms with past and contemporary historical traumas.

☆ India renews process for $10 bln semiconductor incentive scheme -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 10 (Reuters) - India plans to reopen the application process for $10 billion in incentives and assistance intended to encourage the manufacturing of chips in the country, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At Churchill Downs, Humans Failed the Horses Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Joe Drape | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The modestly bred Mage rumbled down the stretch to win this year’s Kentucky Derby on Saturday at 15-1 odds. But their accomplishments were eclipsed by the death of seven horses at Churchill Downs in the lead-up to the Derby. Four horses were scratched because of veterinarians’ concerns about their health. A fifth was scratched because, well, the Lords of Churchill were suspicious of the trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after two of his horses collapsed and died following races. Long after the Derby was over and the lights were going out on a tragic day, first, Churchill Downs, then the newly minted Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, released statements with the same message: It wasn’t them.

☆ Scope Ratings places US credit ratings under review for downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Scope Ratings on Friday placed the United States of America's AA long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings in local and foreign currency under review for a possible downgrade. The review for ratings downgrade reflects the longer-run risk associated with misuse of the debt-ceiling instrument, Scope said adding that the U.S. government faced elevated risks during recurrent debt-ceiling crises. "Recurrent debt-ceiling crises have resulted in phases of debt repayment distress for the federal government and dependence on last-minute congressional action to ensure repayment of the United States’ debt in full and on time", Scope said in a statement. Scope also placed United States' S-1+ short-term issuer ratings in local and foreign currency under review for downgrade. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Binance Holdings Ltd FollowMay 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Binance Holdings was illegally used to let Russians skirt U.S. sanctions and move money through the cryptocurrency exchange, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulators globally have long called for tighter controls on crypto exchanges including Binance, the world's largest, to prevent illegal activities - from money laundering to the financing of terrorism. The recent seizures by Israel's NBCTF also highlight how governments are targeting crypto companies in their efforts to prevent illegal activity. Binance and the DoJ did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TSMC seeks up to $15 bln from US but objects to certain conditions- WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 19 (Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (2330.TW) is pushing back on some of the conditions the United States has attached to chip-factory subsidies as it seeks up to $15 billion from the U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. TSMC, which in December more than tripled its planned investment at its new Arizona plant to $40 billion, is concerned about rules that could require it to share profits from the factories and provide detailed information about operations, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. TSMC declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon services AWS and Alexa back up after brief outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 16 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said its cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its voice assistant service Alexa were back online after a brief outage on Sunday. Alexa was down for thousands of users in the United States, according to Downdetector, while hundreds of users reported issues with accessing AWS. Users also reported issues accessing Amazon's mobile app. Alexa is now operating normally, an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters in an email. AWS on its website said services have recovered from an issue in which AWS users were unable to complete the account signup process and were receiving error messages regarding their billing console.

☆ Amazon's AWS says it is investigating issues with signup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 16 (Reuters) - Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) cloud service division Amazon Web Services (AWS) said on Sunday it was investigating an issue where users attempting to access AWS signup were receiving error messages. Hundreds of users reported issues with accessing Amazon Web Services on Sunday, according to outage-tracking website Downdetector.com. Amazon's voice assistant Alexa was also down for thousands of users in the United States, according to Downdetector.com. More than 15,000 users reported issues with Alexa at the peak of disruption, Downdetector data showed. Users also reported issues accessing Amazon's mobile app.

☆ Amazon's Alexa down for thousands of users, Downdetector says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 16 (Reuters) - Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) voice assistant Alexa was down for thousands of users in the United States on Sunday, according to outage-tracking website Downdetector.com. More than 9,000 users reported issues with Alexa. Users also reported issues accessing Amazon's mobile app. Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Satellite company SES confirms tie-up talks with Intelsat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 29 (Reuters) - Satellite company SES (SESFg.LU) confirmed on Wednesday that it was in talks with U.S. rival Intelsat over a possible combination of their businesses that would create an industry giant. "In response to rumours in the market, SES S.A. confirms that the company has engaged in discussions regarding a possible combination with Intelsat," SES said. SES is aiming to reach an agreement with Intelsat as soon as the next few weeks, Bloomberg said, citing sources. Merger talks between the two signal further consolidation in the rapidly changing satellite Internet industry to challenge the likes of Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) Project Kuiper. The Paris-listed shares of Luxembourg-based SES (SESFg.LU), rose 3.4% on the report of the two sides nearing a deal, according to traders.

☆ US weighs new fund to backstop deposits if more banks fail, Bloomberg News says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp are weighing the creation of a fund that would allow regulators to backstop more deposits at banks that run into trouble in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. The new vehicle is part of the agency's contingency planning as panic spreads about the health of banks focused on the venture capital and startup communities, the report added. Silicon Valley Bank imploded after depositors, concerned about the lender's financial health, rushed to withdraw their deposits. The frenetic two-day run on the bank blindsided observers and stunned markets, wiping out more than $100 billion in market value for U.S. banks. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul SimaoOur 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.

☆ 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.

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