Striking Los Angeles hotel staffers return to work, more walkouts threatened

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Thousands of Los Angeles-area hotel staffers returned to work on Wednesday from a three-day strike without a contract, but union leaders threatened further walkouts to come as they push for improved wages, benefits and working conditions. Chief among their demands are pay hikes that would allow the union’s…

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U.S. Big Tech says it meets EU gatekeeper status, TikTok criticises label

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Seven companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook-owner Meta and Microsoft say they meet the EU’s new criteria of “gatekeeper” that means they have to meet tougher rules, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Tuesday. Samsung and TikTok owner ByteDance also unexpectedly said they would meet the criteria, although…

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Argentina election race narrows as libertarian Milei loses ground – pollsters

By Nicolás Misculin BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s election race is narrowing into a two-horse race, polling ahead of the Aug. 13 primary vote shows, with the ruling Peronist coalition’s choice of a centrist candidate defusing some of the threat from far-right libertarian Javier Milei. Pollsters have the main conservative opposition bloc’s top two candidates,…

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Ukrainians bid farewell to writer killed in Russian air strike

By Anna Voitenko and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey KYIV (Reuters) – Tearful mourners filled one of central Kyiv’s main cathedrals on Tuesday to honour a prominent Ukrainian writer and war-crimes researcher killed in a Russian missile strike on a cafe in eastern Ukraine. Victoria Amelina, 37, died on July 1 from injuries sustained during the June 27…

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Los Angeles-area hotel workers strike over wages, housing

By Steve Gorman and Gabriella Borter LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Thousands of Los Angeles-area hotel workers went on strike on Sunday demanding pay hikes and improved benefits in a region where high housing costs make it difficult for low-wage earners to live close to where they hold jobs, union officials said. Unite Here Local 11, which…

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Exclusive-Video-sharing website BitChute seeks to raise $10 million in new funding round

By Helen Coster NEW YORK (Reuters) – Video-sharing website BitChute is raising $10 million in Series A funding at a valuation of $750 million to $1 billion, according to one of its investors and a presentation seen by Reuters, as it seeks to add new features that allow live-streaming and the payment of content creators…

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‘Slippery’ actor Kevin Spacey tried to groom me, man tells UK court

By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) -An alleged sex assault victim of Kevin Spacey said the “slippery” Hollywood actor had tried to “groom” him, and the repeated groping assaults had left him feeling physically sick, a London court heard on Monday. Spacey, 63, is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of a dozen allegations of…

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World hits record land, sea temperatures as climate change fuels 2023 extremes

(Updates June 30 story with new headline) By David Stanway SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea. As envoys gathered in Bonn…

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World Bank, WTO chiefs seek to reignite services trade negotiations

GENEVA (Reuters) – The heads of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization on Monday called for countries to boost efforts to make trade in global services more transparent and predictable, saying this could help developing countries reduce poverty. Services such as tourism and telecommunications generate more than two-thirds of global GDP but barriers…

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