HK property tycoon Wu says land reclamation will solve social, housing woesHONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong real estate magnate Gordon Wu said an ambitious land reclamation project can help solve housing and social problems, while welcoming the enforcement of a national security law in the city as bringing stability to boost investment.

The…[Read more]

HK suspends operations at representative office in Taiwan as tensions riseHONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) -Hong Kong government’s suspended on Tuesday operations at its representative office in Taiwan in a sign of escalating diplomatic tension between the global financial hub and the democratically ruled island that Beijing claims.

Tension between…[Read more]

ECB’s Villeroy plays down inflation risks, says ECB policy should stay very accommodativePARIS (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday that he did not think there was “any risk of a durable return of inflation” in the euro zone, and that the ECB’s monetary policy should remain very…[Read more]

Foreigners remain net buyers of Asian bonds for eleventh straight month in April(Reuters) – Foreign investors remained net buyers of Asian bonds for eleventh consecutive month in April, as a rebound in regional economic activity and a drop in U.S. yields boosted sentiment.

Overseas investors bought a net $6.37 billion worth of Asian bonds last…[Read more]

Investors buy UK stocks, cut tech as inflation fears rise – BofA surveyLONDON (Reuters) – Fund managers loaded-up on UK stocks and cut exposure to technology stocks as rising inflation and “taper tantrum” fears leave growth stocks vulnerable to pullbacks, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)’s May fund manager survey released on Tuesday found.

Allocation…[Read more]

Germany’s top court rejects complaint against ECB bond buysBERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s constitutional court rejected on Tuesday a complaint against the European Central Bank’s 2.4 trillion euro Public Sector Purchase Programme, saying the ECB had shown the scheme was appropriate.

The court had ruled last May that lawmakers failed to exercise s…[Read more]

Euro zone inadvertently supported zombie firms, ECB findsFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone policies aimed at keeping the economy afloat during the pandemic inadvertently supported unviable or “zombie” firms and more targeted support is needed, especially as subsidies are phased out, a European Central Bank study concluded on Tuesday.

Zombie firms,…[Read more]

Spanish telcos welcome 40-year 5G licence windfallMADRID (Reuters) – Spanish telecoms firms welcomed the government’s decision to double radio frequency licences to 40 years at future auctions, including for 5G networks, calling it an important step for the struggling sector.

The change will give mobile operators and investors better visibility…[Read more]

Facebook to help creators earn money from ecommerce sales (Reuters) – Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday the company will build features for content creators to earn money from recommending products on the app and getting a cut of product sales.

While speaking with Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri on an Instagram Live…[Read more]

Russia, China sow disinformation to undermine trust in Western vaccines, EU report saysBRUSSELS (Reuters) -Russian and Chinese media are systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their latest disinformation campaigns aimed at dividing the West, a European report said on Wednesday.

From December to April, the two…[Read more]

WarnerMedia plans to price HBO Max with ads at $9.99 a month – CNBC(Reuters) – WarnerMedia is planning to price an advertising-supported version of its HBO Max video streaming service, set to launch in June, at $9.99 per month, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

HBO Max, home to titles like “Wonder Woman 1984” and…[Read more]

French watchdog warns of big tech’s sway over payment servicesPARIS (Reuters) – Digital payment services developed by U.S. tech giants such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google risk reinforcing their market power by giving them greater sway over consumers’ data, France’s antitrust authority said on Thursday.

The remarks,…[Read more]

Online terrorist content law wins EU lawmakers’ backing amid rights concernsBRUSSELS (Reuters) – A proposed EU law that forces Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter to remove terrorist content within an hour of publication cleared its final hurdle after EU lawmakers gave their backing despite concerns from civil rights…[Read more]

Chinese regulators summon internet finance firmsBEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese financial regulators on Thursday summoned 13 internet platforms engaged in financial business, including heavyweights Tencent and ByteDance, to order them to strengthen their regulatory compliance, the central bank said.

The move by the four regulators is part of efforts…[Read more]

Telecom Italia looking to drop Huawei from Italy 5G network: sourcesMILAN (Reuters) – Telecom Italia (MI:TLIT) is looking to cancel a contract with Huawei for supplying equipment to build part of the telecom firm’s 5G network in Italy, three sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

Losing 5G work from Telecom Italia, one of Huawei’s biggest…[Read more]

Blocking Google class action would deny justice, UK court toldLONDON (Reuters) – Blocking a proposed British class action against Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), that alleges it secretly tracked millions of iPhone users a decade ago, risks allowing big firms to behave with impunity, a lawyer told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for…[Read more]

Germany’s financial watchdog warns crypto exchange Binance over “stock tokens”BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned that Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, risked being fined for offering its securities-tracking digital tokens without publishing an investor prospectus.

On Monday, Binance said it…[Read more]

U.S. will launch $3.2 billion temporary broadband subsidy May 12WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Communications Commission said it will launch on May 12 a temporary $3.2 billion program to provide lower-income Americans with discounts on monthly internet service and on purchasing laptops or tablet computers.

The discounts, which were funded by…[Read more]

EU countries, lawmakers reach deal to tackle online child sexual abuseBRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU countries and EU lawmakers agreed late Thursday evening to allow Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to scan and remove online child sexual abuse, potentially paving the way for a deal in the coming months on privacy rules targeting online…[Read more]