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☆ Tech investor Prosus flags sharp drop in full-year profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, June 14 (Reuters) - Technology investor Prosus (PRX.AS) on Wednesday said its profit dropped significantly last year due to impairments and lower contributions from its biggest holding, Chinese software and gaming giant Tencent (0700.HK). Prosus said it expected earnings per share to have fallen by 40% to 47% in the year through March 2023 as Tencent was hit by COVID-19 lockdowns and regulations in China. "The operating environment was characterised by significant geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty," Prosus said in a trading update. Prosus cut back its stake in Tencent from 29% to 26% in the past year. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Prosus, Tencent, Bart Meijer, Jan Harvey Organizations: Technology, HK, Thomson Locations: AMSTERDAM, China, Tencent

BRUSSELS/STOCKHOLM, June 14 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers on Wednesday voted for tougher landmark draft artificial intelligence rules that include a ban on the use of the technology in biometric surveillance and for generative AI systems like ChatGPT to disclose AI-generated content. The lawmakers agreed the amendments to the draft legislation proposed by the European Commission which is seeking to set a global standard for the technology used in everything from automated factories to bots and self-driving cars. Microsoft, which has called for AI rules, welcomed the lawmakers' agreement. However, the Computer and Communications Industry Association said the amendments on high-risk AIs were likely to overburden European AI developers with "excessively prescriptive rules" and slow down innovation. The lawmakers will now have to thrash out details with European Union countries before the draft rules become legislation.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Brando Benifei, Thierry Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijers, Supantha Mukherjee, Emelia Sithole Organizations: European, Microsoft, Elon, Big Tech, Union, Computer and Communications Industry Association, AIs, The Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, STOCKHOLM, Europe, United States, China, Brussels, Stockholm

☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

☆ Proposed EU migration deal needs to be improved, German minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - EU countries could reach an agreement on a migration deal on Thursday, but the proposed compromise needs to be improved, Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said before a meeting with ministers from the EU bloc. "The compromise on the table is very difficult for Germany," Faeser said. "I feel there is a common understanding which could lead to an agreement, but not at any price." Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Benoit Van OverstraetenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Bart Meijer, Benoit Van Overstraeten Organizations: Germany's, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Germany

☆ EU ministers seek long-stalled migration deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A tentative deal on the table comes after years of damaging feuds between EU states since their cooperation collapsed in acrimony in 2015 as more than a million people - mostly fleeing the war in Syria - arrived across the Mediterranean. "We can only handle migration together as the whole EU." CAMPSFor nearly a decade, EU countries traded blame for handling new arrivals. On Thursday, the ministers will also discuss EU aid for Tunisia, which is a gateway for African migration to Europe and faces growing instability. Bad blood spilled over as eastern EU countries like Poland and Hungary refused to host anyone from the mainly-Muslim Middle East and North Africa.

Persons: Nancy Faeser, France's Gerald Darmanin, Benoit van Overstraeten, Bart Meijer, Alexander Ratz, Kristina, Gabriela Baczynska, Mark Potter Organizations: Home, European Union, Liberal, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Syria, Spain, Tunisia, Europe, Italy, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, East, North Africa, EU, Budapest

☆ Computer outage cripples train traffic in the Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, June 5 (Reuters) - A computer outage disrupted train travel to and from Amsterdam and in other parts of the Netherlands for hours on Sunday and Monday, Dutch railway company NS said. The outage hit traffic control around 6 p.m. local time (1600GMT) on Sunday afternoon and crippled train services until Monday morning. NS said on Monday it had resolved the problem and that trains would begin to operate slowly again from 0700 GMT. The outage made it impossible for domestic and international trains to reach Amsterdam Central Station and cut off all rail traffic to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs. It left hundreds of passengers stranded overnight in Amsterdam and at the country's largest train station in Utrecht, Dutch news agency ANP said.

Persons: Harry Styles, Bart Meijer, Gerry Doyle, Ed Osmond Organizations: NS, Amsterdam Central Station, ANP, Thomson Locations: AMSTERDAM, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Amsterdam's Schiphol, Utrecht, Dutch, British

☆ Belgium investigating whether its weapons were used in Russia, PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, June 5 (Reuters) - Belgium will ask Ukraine for clarification on reports that rifles made in Belgium had been used by pro-Ukrainian forces to fight Russian troops inside Russia's western border, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Monday. "European weapons are delivered to Ukraine under the condition that they are used on Ukrainian territory with the purpose of defending that territory. De Croo declined to comment on possible consequences if the reports were confirmed. "We must not get ahead of ourselves here," the prime minister said. Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alexander De Croo, De Croo, Bart Meijer, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Belgian, Washington Post, Kremlin, Belgium's, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Belgium, Ukraine, Russian Belgorod region, United States, Poland, Czech Republic

☆ NATO ready to deploy even more troops to quell unrest in Kosovo - Stoltenberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Italian members of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) stand guard behind wire fencing, in Leposavic, Kosovo, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen TeofilovskiOSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - NATO is prepared to deploy more troops to Kosovo to quell violence in the ethnically polarized north, the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, adding that the first 700 reinforcement troops are on the way there. NATO decided to boost its 4,000-strong mission in the region with 700 additional troops after 30 of its KFOR peacekeepers and 52 ethnic Serb protesters were hurt on Monday. Stoltenberg called the violence against NATO troops "totally unacceptable" and said allies were readying more troops in case NATO needed to send additional reinforcements to the region. Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Bart MeijerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Sabine Siebold, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Bart Meijer Organizations: NATO, Kosovo Force, KFOR, REUTERS, U.S, Thomson Locations: Leposavic, Kosovo, Ognen, OSLO, Oslo, Kosovo's, Serbs, Pristina, Belgrade, EU

"All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement," Stoltenberg told reporters as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Oslo, seeking to dispel any signs of discord ahead of the summit. At the Vilnius summit, NATO leaders aim to send a strong message of support to Kyiv. But with only six weeks to go, pressure is building for allies to find common ground on what exactly to offer Ukraine. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Kyiv had suffered two invasions while waiting for an answer from NATO for 14 years. "Ukraine needs to get a clear path, and the next steps, on how to enter NATO," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Margus Tsahkna, Annalena Baerbock, Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn, Sabine Siebold, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Alezander, Boldizsar, Bart H, Meijer, Ros Russell Organizations: NATO, Kyiv, Ukraine, Lithuania's, Estonian, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Moscow, Ukraine, Vilnius, Oslo, Moldova, Kyiv, Europe, United States, Germany, Russia, Estonian, Luxembourg, Hungary, NATO, Brussels, Alezander Tanas, Chisinau, Olena, Budapest

☆ EU's Vestager sees draft code of conduct on AI within weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LULEA, Sweden, May 31 (Reuters) - European Union tech chief Margrethe Vestager said she believed a draft voluntary code of conduct for generative AI could be drawn up "within the next weeks", with a final proposal for industry to sign up "very, very soon". "Generative AI is a complete game-changer," Vestager, who is a vice president of the European Commission, told a news conference on Wednesday after a meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council. "Everyone knows this is the next powerful thing. So within the next weeks we will advance a draft of an AI code of conduct," she said, adding she hoped there would be a final proposal "very, very soon" that industry could sign up to. Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, Philip Blenkinsop, Bart Meijer, Alison Williams Organizations: LULEA, Union, European Commission, EU, U.S . Trade, Technology Council, Thomson Locations: Sweden

☆ EU's von der Leyen to meet OpenAI CEO Altman on Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet the chief executive of OpenAI, Sam Altman, on Thursday, a commission spokesperson said on Tuesday without giving further detail. Altman last week said the ChatGPT maker might consider leaving Europe if it won't be able to comply with the bloc's upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) regulations. Reporting by Bart Meijer, editing by Tassilo HummelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU, U.S. data transfer pact expected by summer, EU Commission says after Meta fine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 22 (Reuters) - The European Commission expects to finalise a data transfer pact with the United States by summer, a spokesman said on Monday after the Irish privacy regulator gave Meta Platforms (META.O) five months to stop transferring users' data across the Atlantic. "We expect this data protection framework between the EU and the U.S. to be fully functionable by the summer. This will guarantee stability and legal certainty," a Commission spokesman told a daily news conference. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Bart Meijer in Amsterdam;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Why Ukraine is bidding for F-16 jets and will it succeed?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT KIND OF FIGHTER JETS COULD UKRAINE GET? Ukraine wants F-16s, which it says are "four or five times" more effective than Soviet-era jets it currently has. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda reiterated on Tuesday that Poland has too few F-16 jets to be able to give any to Ukraine. Britain will not send jets to Ukraine, a spokesperson for Sunak has said, since Britain does not have the F-16s that Ukraine wants. Denmark said in February it was "open" to the idea of sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

☆ Philips says tests on 95% of recalled devices show limited risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Koninklijke Philips NV FollowAMSTERDAM, May 16 (Reuters) - Dutch medical devices maker Philips (PHG.AS) said on Tuesday that independent tests had shown 95% of its respiratory devices involved in a major global recall had shown limited health risks. The company expects to have test results for the remaining machines involved in the recall later in the year. It said exposure to particulate matter emissions and volatile organic compounds from degraded foam in DreamStation devices was "unlikely to result in an appreciable harm to health in patients". Philips had already said last year that tests indicated foam degradation was very rare and was linked to the use of unauthorised ozone-based cleaning products. It now added that foam degradation as a result of such cleaning was also unlikely to result in an appreciable harm.

☆ EU Council adopts first legal framework to regulate crypto sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) - The European Council on Tuesday said it had adopted the world's first comprehensive set of rules for cryptoassets regulation (MiCa). MiCA, which was already approved by EU member states and the European parliament, requires crypto firms to be authorised by the EU to serve customers in the bloc, and to comply with safeguards against money laundering and terrorism financing. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ABN Amro Q1 net profit jumps 77% on higher rates and lower costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, May 10 (Reuters) - Dutch bank ABN Amro (ABNd.AS) on Wednesday beat analyst expectations with a 77% jump in first-quarter net profit to 523 million euros ($576 million), helped by rising interest rates and lower costs. Analysts in a company-compiled poll on average had predicted a net profit of 370 million euros for the first three months of 2023, up from 295 million euros a year before. Improving deposit margins drove net interest income up 24% to 1.6 billion euros, while impairments for bad loans fell to 14 million euros as economic growth in the Netherlands remained strong despite surging inflation. The lender was re-privatised in 2015, following a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, but the Dutch state has held a majority stake since then. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy visits war crimes court in The Hague seeking justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tosterling Bart H. Meijer | Bart H. Meijer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, May 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for suspected deportation of children from Ukraine. Zelenskiy, dressed in his trademark khaki, was welcomed at the court by its president, judge Piotr Hofmanski. In his first official trip to the country, Zelenskiy was due to deliver a speech later in the morning, also in The Hague, titled "No Peace Without Justice for Ukraine". The Ukrainian leader has visited several foreign capitals including London, Paris and Washington since Russia's 2022 invasion. The ICC can prosecute genocide in Ukraine but has no jurisdiction over alleged crimes of aggression by Russia there.

☆ Dutch celebrate King's Day as confidence in monarchy diminishes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands pose with their daughters, Princess Ariane and Princess Catharina-Amalia, during King's Day (Koningsdag) in Rotterdam, Netherlands, April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de WouwROTTERDAM, April 27 (Reuters) - Millions of Dutch revellers took to the streets on Thursday to celebrate King's Day festivities, dressing in orange and enjoying open-air markets - even as trust in the man at the centre of the nationwide party sinks to a low ebb. These numbers had held firm at around 75% until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The historic centres of Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague have been filled with thousands of people since late on Wednesday as King's Eve parties kicked off the festivities. Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Philips makes $631 mln provision for recall litigation costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Koninklijke Philips NV FollowAMSTERDAM, April 24 (Reuters) - Dutch health technology company Philips (PHG.AS) on Monday said it had set aside 575 million euros ($631 million) for possible litigation costs related to its global recall of respiratory machines. Amsterdam-based Philips is grappling with the fallout of a global recall of millions of respirators used to treat sleep apnoea, announced in June 2021 over worries that foam used in the machines could become toxic. The recall has knocked off around 70% of Philips' market value over the past two years as investors fear the costs of a string of lawsuits launched by concerned patients. Philips is still working on a settlement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is subject to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Philips also reported much better-than-expected first-quarter results, as core profit jumped almost 50%, to 359 million euros, and comparable sales were 6% higher than a year before.

LUXEMBOURG, April 24 (Reuters) - Recent remarks by China's ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states such as Ukraine are totally unacceptable, several EU foreign ministers said before a meeting on Monday. "It is totally unacceptable", Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said ahead of the Luxembourg meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers. It was unclear when Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the EU, gave the interview to the Chinese news outlet The Paper. But its publication came hard on the heels of the remarks by China's ambassador to France. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he disagreed with Lu's comments, while Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn called Lu's remarks a "blunder" and said efforts were being made to calm things down.

☆ EU leaders will discuss China relation during June summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - EU leaders will discuss the bloc's stance towards China and its future relations with the country during their next summit in June, EU Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. "EU-China policy will be on the agenda of our European council in June," Michel said in a post on Twitter. "Foreign affairs ministers will prepare this discussion under the leadership of the High representative Josep Borrell." EU foreign affairs ministers, speaking before a joint meeting on Monday, expressed their dismay over recent remarks by China's ambassador to France, who questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states such as Ukraine. Reporting by Bart Meijer and Marine Strauss; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU simplifies procedures for merger reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday said it would simplify its procedures for reviewing mergers, in a bid to reduce reporting requirements for companies by 25%. The new procedures will allow the Commission, the bloc's anti-trust watchdog, to treat more mergers under the so-called simplified procedure. It will also streamline the review of cases and optimise the transmission of documents to the Commission, it said in a statement. The new rules will be applicable from Sept. 1. Reporting by Bart Meijer, editing by Tassilo HummelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China seeking Dutch space technology -military intelligence agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, April 19 (Reuters) - China is seeking to acquire equipment and knowledge in the Dutch space sector, sometimes in circumvention of export restrictions, the Netherlands' military intelligence agency said on Wednesday. China has long insisted that its space programme is for peaceful purposes and that it opposes any form of arms race in space. MIVD chief Jan Swillers said in the agency's report thatChina was specifically seeking "launchers with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and communication satellites”. The MIVD's partner agency, the Dutch general intelligence agency AIVD, said on Monday that China posed "the greatest threat to Dutch economic security". In response, China's foreign ministry urged Western officials to abandon what it called a Cold War mentality and stop hyping up the “China threat” narrative.

☆ Fake bomb causes evacuation of Dutch parliament building
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, April 13 (Reuters) - The Dutch parliament building was evacuated for a short while on Thursday afternoon after a bomb alert that turned out to be false. Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders said a fake bomb addressed to him had been the cause of the evacuation. "A package with a teddy bear and wires addressed to me was delivered to the mail room of parliament", Wilders said in a post on Twitter. Wilders, whose far-right Freedom Party has become the Netherlands' second-largest, has been living under tight security measures for years due to death threats. Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Jon Boyle and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

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