(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. An agreement could be announced as soon as this week, Bloomberg said https://bloom.bg/2Qgfm7e citing people familiar with the matter. ...
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MILAN (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) has yet to react to a letter sent by the European Commission to complain over below-contract supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, Italian daily Corriere della Sera said, adding the Anglo-Swedish group missed a deadline indicated by Brussels. The European Union member states and the pharmaceutical company are at odds over the delivery of the shots after the group shipped to the block less than indicated in the initial agreement. "AstraZeneca has breached and continues to breach its contractual obligations on the production and supply of the initial 300 million doses for Europe,"...
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PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union must shoot for a more ambitious COVID-19 recovery plan than the landmark 750 billion euro stimulus agreed last summer after the epidemic's first wave, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday. Beaune said Europe must not repeat errors made after the global financial crisis a decade ago and this time should underpin the recovery with investment, in fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, green and digital technologies, among others. Asked in an interview on LCI television how much would be needed, Beaune said: "No doubt something like a doubling...
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BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's competition watchdog is adding staff and other resources as it ramps up efforts to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour, especially among the country's powerful companies, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Beijing's plan to bulk up the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) comes as China revamps its competition law with proposed amendments including a sharp increase in fines and expanded criteria for judging a company's control of a market. On Saturday, the watchdog slapped a record $2.75 billion fine on Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) after an antimonopoly probe...
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ZURICH (Reuters) - The head of Switzerland's financial regulator FINMA questioned Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) over risks in its dealings with now-insolvent finance firm Greensill Capital "months" before the bank was forced to close $10 billion of funds liked to Greensill, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported Sunday. Alongside formal discussions on a technical level between the bank and FINMA, the watchdog's head Mark Branson personally discussed the risks with outgoing Credit Suisse Chairman Urs Rohner and Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein during a meeting on an unspecified date, the paper reported, citing information it had obtained. FINMA...
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By David Shepardson, Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean battery makers LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation Co agreed on Sunday to settle disputes over trade secrets dispute, avoiding a potential setback for U.S. electric-vehicle (EV) ambitions. The settlement by affiliates of two of South Korea's biggest conglomerates comes hours before a Sunday deadline for the administration of President Joe Biden to decide whether to take the rare step of reversing a U.S. International Trade Commission decision (ITC). The core dispute had threatened the EV plans of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co and Volkswagen...
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By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - After more than three months of enforced closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, non-essential stores in England reopen their doors on Monday, hoping that the escape from lockdown will fuel a trading boom. Industry lobby group, the British Retail Consortium, estimates UK stores have lost 27 billion pounds ($37 billion) in sales over three lockdowns, while 67,000 retail jobs were shed in 2020 alone. Some 17,532 chain store outlets vanished from high streets, shopping centres and retail parks across the UK last year, according to data compiled by...
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By Tony Munroe BEIJING (Reuters) - Once seemingly untouchable, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) founder Jack Ma has endured a tumultuous run that saw his Chinese e-commerce giant hit with a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) antitrust fine on Saturday, resolving one key uncertainty even as others persist for himself and his business empire. The reversal of fortune for the 56-year-old Ma, who has all-but-disappeared from public view since an October speech blasting China's regulatory system, has been striking for an entrepreneur whose transformation of commerce in China - and his relentless optimism - commanded cult-like...
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should accept no further delay in lifting inflation back to its target as the current outlook is unsatisfactory and persistent misses risk damaging the economy, ECB board member Fabio Panetta told Spanish newspaper El Pais. The ECB has already undershot its nearly 2% target for eight years and its projections indicate that it will continue to miss for years to come as bloc struggles to absorb the slack left behind a pandemic-induced recession. With stimulus already near its limits, some policymakers argue that the ECB must simply...
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(Reuters) - Bitcoin rose 1.32% to a record $60,555.97 on Saturday, breaking above $60,000 for a second time in 10 days. The world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency is up 118.3% from the year's low of $27,734 on Jan. 4. On April 1, bitcoin crossed the $60,000 mark for the first time since March 18 on Bitstamp. ...
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