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LONDON/WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A global ransomware outbreak has scrambled servers belonging to Florida's Supreme Court and several universities in the U.S. and Central Europe, according to a Reuters analysis of ransom notes posted online to stricken servers. The Florida Supreme Court didn't respond to messages. Reuters contacted the hackers via an account advertised on their ransom notes but only received a payment demand in return. Because internet-facing servers were affected, researchers and tracking services like Ransomwhere or Onyphe could easily follow the criminals' trail. Reporting by James Pearson in London and Raphael Satter in Washington; Editing by Anna DriverOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

☆ Japan's chip equipment makers in the dark about new China export restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japanese makers of semiconductor manufacturing machinery and materials used to make chips said on Monday they had yet to hear from Japan's government about export restrictions that could directly or indirectly affect their business in China. Without knowing the details of any new restrictions it is impossible to know their impact, he said. Its statement followed a Bloomberg report that the United States had secured a deal with the Netherlands and Japan. Among them was Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T), Japan's biggest semiconductor manufacturing machinery maker. Shares of Japanese semiconductor equipment makers were mostly flat on Monday, with Tokyo Electron up 0.68% while Advantest Corp (6857.T) fell 0.32%.

☆ Japan eyes easing S.Korea export controls as Seoul seeks to improve ties -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Japan is considering relaxing controls on exports to South Korea as its president, Yoon Suk-yeol, seeks to improve ties amid a strained East Asian security environment, the Sankei newspaper reported on Saturday. Japan's foreign ministry and trade ministry officials were not immediately available for comment on the report when Reuters contacted them outside regular business hours. "Given the growing need to promote cooperation among countries sharing universal values at a time when the importance of economic security is increasing, we hope that Japan will judge wisely," the South Korean ministry said. Their diplomatic officials are due to meet on Monday in the South Korean capital, Seoul, as they near a conclusion of a plan for the resolving their dispute, Jiji news reported on Friday. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Additional reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by William Mallard, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Cleveland Clinic study did not conclude eggs are causing thousands of blood clots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A 2017 study by Cleveland Clinic researchers did not find a direct link between egg consumption and blood clotting, the study authors told Reuters. Users online are sharing a headline that misrepresents these findings to say scientists are now warning that eggs are causing blood clots in thousands of people and the clots are really a COVID-19 vaccine side effect. Reuters reported on the 2017 study at the time of its publication (here). “The research did not show a direct link between egg consumption and ‘suddenly forming blood clots,’” they said. Researchers of the referenced 2017 study did not warn that egg consumption would cause thousands of people to form blood clots.

The assailants had been monitoring the property and may have observed that she often shares flowers with her neighbors, she said. Omarov then sent those details to Mehdiyev, who lived in Yonkers, New York, prosecutors said. Amirov and Omarov then arranged for Mehdiyev to get $30,000 in cash, which he used to buy an assault rifle and ammunition, prosecutors said. Omarov, 38, was arrested in the Czech Republic earlier this month, and the United States is seeking his extradition. Iran accuses Western powers of fomenting the unrest, which security forces have met with deadly violence.

☆ Fact Check-Small study of teens is not evidence of long-term heart damage after COVID shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Social media users have been misinterpreting a small study of nine teenagers in Turkey, and wrongly saying it proves that there is a risk of long-term heart damage after COVID vaccinations. But the author of the study said the results may not represent what happens in all teens with post-vaccine heart inflammation, much less all teens who get vaccinated. Some social media posts misleadingly suggesting the study showed that all vaccine-related myocarditis causes long-term heart damage can be seen (here and here). “There is no exact causality between these cases and vaccination.”The case study also did not include pre-vaccination MRIs, so it is not known if any individuals had pre-existing heart damage. Moreover, the study does not suggest what proportion of teens in the general population experience heart inflammation following vaccination, Ozen told Reuters.

☆ Fact Check-High numbers of vaccinated hospitalized in Australia not evidence of higher risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Data from Australia on COVID-19 hospitalizations based on vaccination status has circulated online without context, alongside false claims that vaccinated people are at higher risk of hospitalization with the virus than the unvaccinated. The posts also suggested that the more vaccine doses people received, the higher the chance of COVID-19 hospitalization (here, here and here). In Australia as a whole, 97.4% of adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, while 96% have received two doses (here). The NSW surveillance report does not include an analysis of risk for hospitalization based on vaccination status. Comparisons of New South Wales hospitalization figures based on vaccination status omit the fact that nearly all of the region’s adults are vaccinated against COVID-19.

☆ Rate rises could add $8.6 trillion to global borrowing costs -S&P
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Naomi Rovnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Central bank rate rises could land global borrowers with $8.6 trillion in extra debt servicing costs in coming years, S&P Global estimated on Friday, warning of a slowdown in economic activity as a result. "Higher interest expenses are already straining less-creditworthy governments and corporates, and lower-income households," S&P Global, a financial intelligence company that includes a debt ratings service, said in a report. Businesses' required returns on new projects were rising along with debt costs, S&P Global added, in a trend that would "dampen future business activity volumes". S&P Global based its estimate of an $8.6 trillion extra interest bill by applying a three percentage point rate increase to $300 trillion worth of global debt. Around 65% of the extra debt service cost would be paid on fixed-rate bonds and loans as they were refinanced "over time," the report said.

☆ Fact Check-Robot was designed to run on plant-based items, not human or animal flesh
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) was intended to consume vegetation, not animals, one of the robot’s inventors told Reuters. A Facebook video with 11,000 shares at the time of writing (here) has been reshared by others with comments including, “Flesh eating robot !!!! It’s a crazy world,” “they couldn't create zombies so theeeey created ROBOT ZOMBIE” and “EATR ROBOT.. eats biological ( canbeflesh) as fuel? “It would not recognize bodies, human or animal, as fuel,” Finkelstein said. The EATR was never intended to consume human or animal flesh, and its design makes consuming flesh impossible, the robot’s inventor told Reuters.

☆ Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +17 min

Now the main Russian Cossack organisations are loyal to Putin, and they are fighting alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine. He is regularly pictured on his and other social media pages at Cossack gatherings, often wearing Cossack military uniform. Felk has worked as a security guard and has run a logistics firm, according to posts on Felk’s OK social media account. Photos shared by Kharkovsky on social media show him and other participants standing in front of a Great Don Army flag. Eremenko confirmed to Reuters that he worked for Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said. Day met with Justice officials in Washington in recent months, three of the people said.

☆ U.S. Justice Department reportedly split over charging Binance as crypto world falters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. The Justice Department appointed Eun Young Choi, previously Monaco's senior counsel, as NCET's first director. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said.

☆ Microsoft buys near 4% stake in London Stock Exchange and launches 10-year partnership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Matt Clinch | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft logo seen at their building in Redmond, Washington. LONDON — U.S. tech giant Microsoft on Monday announced a 10-year partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group and took a near 4% stake in the U.K. bourse operator. The partnership involves next-generation data and analytics, as well as cloud infrastructure solutions, according to a statement by the LSEG. It involves a new data infrastructure for the London exchange and analytics and modelling solutions with Microsoft Azure, AI, and Microsoft Teams. Microsoft will purchase an approximately 4% stake in the U.K. firm from the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters Consortium.

[1/4] People wearing masks line up outside a pharmacy to buy products as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue in Beijing, China December 6, 2022. China may announce 10 new national easing measures as early as Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. So, because right now in Chaoyang district cases are quite high, it is better to stock up on some medicines," he said. In the latest incident, videos posted on Twitter showed university students chanting protest slogans against COVID policies on their campus in Nanjing city. The uneven nature of the easing measures and varying interpretation of the rules from city to city has been an ongoing source of frustration for many people and businesses.

☆ Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rachael Levy | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Corporate Governance. Her Reporting Has Prompted Federal Investigations | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Reuters could not determine the full scope of the federal investigation or whether it involved the same alleged problems with animal testing identified by employees in Reuters interviews. Musk has pushed hard to accelerate Neuralink’s progress, which depends heavily on animal testing, current and former employees said. Delcianna Winders, director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, said it is “very unusual” for the USDA inspector general to investigate animal research facilities. In September, the company responded to employee concerns about its animal testing by holding a town hall to explain its processes. “We’re extremely careful,” he said, to make sure that testing is “confirmatory, not exploratory,” using animal testing as a last resort after trying other methods.

☆ Emerging market policymakers dare to hope for brighter 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Roberto Samora | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

He also said a reopening of China could propel the South Korean economy in 2023. "Actually if China loosens zero-COVID policy and reopens their borders and economy that will be a tremendous stimulus for us. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman forecast a "very good" economy ahead of 2024 national elections, fuelled by capital spending. State finance minister Shehan Semasinghe also said the nation was intent on meeting a December deadline to present plans to help unlock an International Monetary Fund bail-out. Zambia, which defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020, aims to complete its restructuring of nearly $15 billion of external debt in the first quarter of 2023, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said.

☆ Fact Check-London and Manchester not minority white cities, ONS says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They are not minority white, however, but have less than 50% identifying as “white British”. In a video, Farage says: “The Office for National Statistics figures are out today, showing that London, Birmingham and Manchester are all now minority white cities. The ONS told Reuters that these claims confuse “white British” and “white other”. The cities that have a white minority are Birmingham and Leicester, the ONS told Reuters. London and Manchester are not now minority white cities, according to the 2021 census.

☆ Crypto entrepreneur Sun looking at FTX ventures' portfolio companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - FTX's venture capital arm has assets that could be worth investing in, but since the failed crypto exchange has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings the process could take time, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun said on Wednesday. "FTX Ventures still has lots of portfolio (companies) and we are going through them one by one, but right now it is already in the Chapter 11 process so it might take a longer time to finish the process," Sun told a Reuters Next conference. Sun founded the crypto platform Tron and is member of cryptoexchange Huobi's global advisory board. He did not specify which organisation specifically was looking at the assets in the interview. To view the Reuters conference live, please click here; https://www.reuters.com/world/reuters-next/reuters-next-global-virtual-broadcast-2022-11-28/Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, writing by Alun John, editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trolls, propaganda & fear stoke Bukele's media machine in El Salvador
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

In examining Bukele’s media operation, Reuters interviewed more than 70 people, including former media operatives and social media researchers. It showed Bukele with an 86% approval rating in El Salvador, making him the most popular leader in the region. “The threat in El Salvador used to be from the gangs, now it's from the state,” said Angelica Carcamo, the organization's president. “I found a lot more manipulation in El Salvador than in Mexico,” Escorcia said. A native of Guatemala, Torres has been critical of the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for creating conditions that spur migration.

☆ Qatar World Cup ambassador says homosexuality is 'damage in the mind'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A Qatar World Cup ambassador has told German television ZDF that homosexuality was "damage in the mind", as the Gulf state prepares to host the global tournament in less than two weeks. The country expects more than one million visitors for the World Cup and Khalid Salman said anyone coming to Qatar for the tournament should behave according to the rules of the country. When asked why it was haram, Khalid Salman: "I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Reuters contacted FIFA and World Cup organisers in Qatar for comment. Organisers have repeatedly said everyone was welcome in the country during the World Cup.

France, Spain and Finland said their rules are already structured to automatically take account of market tensions. The data tracked German, Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch bonds, markets which account for the vast majority of euro zone debt with nearly 8 trillion euros outstanding. So governments expect, and some formally require their primary dealers - banks that buy government debt at auctions and then sell to investors and manage its trading - to keep those tight. The euro zone is roughly 60% the size of the U.S. economy but it relies on Germany's 1.6 trillion euro bond market as a safe haven - a fraction of the $23-trillion U.S. Treasury market. Smaller governments pay premium over bigger rating peersEfforts by debt officials are welcomed by European primary dealers, whose numbers have dwindled in recent years because of shrinking profit margins and tougher regulation.

In the West, only about 10 people have died of monkeypox this year, figures from the U.S. CDC show. No monkeypox vaccines are publicly available in Africa. But those failures are being repeated a year on with monkeypox, the health workers consulted by Reuters said. Congo health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani told Reuters Congo was in talks with the WHO to buy vaccines, but no formal request had been made. A WHO spokeswoman said that in the absence of available vaccines, countries should instead focus on surveillance and contact tracing.

☆ LoveShackFancy built a pretty, skinny, rich-girl dreamworld. The fantasy was impossible to live up to.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +34 min

Suddenly, in the midst of discussing what Cohen should wear to the next LoveShackFancy store opening, there was the sound of glass clanging. (Another person confirmed hearing this exchange, though the person close to the company said multiple Zoom attendees did not recall it.) The person close to the company said, "It is not uncommon for trips to have dual purposes — they always generate content." Another time, during a visit to the Palm Beach store, Cohen freaked out after seeing staffers in sweatshirts and sneakers. "As with most contemporary fashion brands, we currently do not operate in the plus-size business," the person close to LoveShackFancy said.

☆ Fact Check-U.S. elections: What we know about a new Massachusetts law that allows undocumented migrants to get a driver's license
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

A law set to go into effect in 2023 in Massachusetts would enable immigrants with non-legal status to obtain a driver’s license. The bill would eliminate a restriction that says a driver’s license cannot be issued unless a person has lawful presence in the United States. “This bill [HB 4805] also fails to include any measures to distinguish standard Massachusetts driver’s licenses issued to persons who demonstrate lawful presence from those who do not. Cecilia Calabrese, a Republican candidate for Massachusetts State Senate, wrote on Twitter: “Because in Massachusetts when you get a Driver’s License you are AUTOMATICALLY registered to vote! Unlawful voter registration and unlawful voting are both deportable offenses (see “falsely claiming citizenship” and “unlawful voters”) (here).

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