By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. judge late on Tuesday granted the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request to temporarily block Microsoft Corp’s acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard and set a hearing next week. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila scheduled a two-day evidentiary hearing on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction for…
(Reuters) -China’s foreign minister Qin Gang urged the United States to stop meddling in its affairs and harming its security in a phone call with his U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, a tense preview to Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing expected in coming days. Qin told Blinken to respect China’s core concerns, such as the Taiwan…
By Lidia Kelly and Andrew Osborn (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The deployment is Moscow’s first move of…
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Most G20 member nations are of the view that banking systems and regulations in their countries are steady, India’s chief economic advisor said on Wednesday. “Most country members who spoke expressed the view or the hope that their individual country regulations and banking systems were sound, and they don’t anticipate any…
(Reuters) – Vodafone and CK Hutchison unveiled the merger of their British operations, creating the country’s largest mobile operator. Hutchison will own 49% and Vodafone 51% of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam. Here are some details on UK operations of both the companies: CUSTOMERS Vodafone had…
By Daniel Leussink TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Reuters) – Toyota shareholders rejected a resolution urging greater disclosure of its climate lobbying on Wednesday, voting down the first investor proposal to come before the automaker’s annual general meeting in almost two decades. Investors also backed all 10 members of the board, including Chairman Akio Toyoda, despite concerns…
(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Harry Robertson. There’s only one show in town today: Jerome Powell’s mystery monetary tour. Powell’s Federal Reserve is embarking on something of a new era: instead of the strong “forward guidance” that has steered markets in recent years, officials have said…
By Katherine Masters NEW YORK (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers planned to introduce a bill on Wednesday to eliminate a tariff exemption widely used by e-commerce sellers to send orders from China to U.S. shoppers, one of the sponsors said. The exception, known as the de minimis rule, exempts imports valued at…
By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin in March announced a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Moscow’s first move of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. What is known about the deployment? WHAT DID PUTIN SAY? Putin’s nuclear deployment is a message to…
MADRID (Reuters) – Shares in Spanish pharmaceutical Grifols soared on Wednesday morning after it disclosed a plan to reduce its stake in Shanghai RAAS in a deal that would bring in $1.5 billion. Shares in Grifols, which produces drugs made out of blood plasma, were up 8.0% in morning trade after the company announced it…
