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]

D.C. police personnel files accessed by hackers in ransomware attack: CNN(Reuters) – Hackers obtained the personnel files of some Washington, D.C. police department officers in a ransomware attack disclosed on Monday, CNN quoted the department’s acting police chief as saying late on Thursday.

“HR-related files with personally identifiable…[Read more]

Russia says Twitter is complying with demand to remove ‘banned content’MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian state communications regulator Roskomnadzor said on Friday that U.S. social network Twitter had started complying with its demand to remove content banned in Russia.

It said Twitter had removed 60% of such content since Moscow slowed the speed of its…[Read more]

Exclusive: Airbus turns up heat on suppliers over production and qualityPARIS (Reuters) – European planemaker Airbus has ordered suppliers to demonstrate as soon as possible that they are factory-fit for increased single-aisle jet output, in a letter that lays bare the extent of recent industrial quality problems.

In the letter to suppliers in…[Read more]

Reopening optimism pushes European stocks closer to record high(Reuters) – European stocks neared record high on Tuesday on optimism around several countries easing economic restrictions, falling unemployment rate in the United Kingdom and strong earnings reports from companies.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7% by 0716 GMT, trading just…[Read more]

Australia’s Seven West Media finalises news content deals with Google, Facebook(Reuters) – Australia’s Seven West Media Ltd said on Monday it finalised its licensing deal with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc’s Google and signed a long-term agreement with social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to provide content to the tech companies.

The signing of…[Read more]

Steeped in spycraft, cybersecurity firm Darktrace rockets on London debutLONDON (Reuters) -Darktrace, a cybersecurity company advised by former MI5 and CIA spymasters, leapt more than 40% on its market debut on Friday, delivering a boost to the London market after the spectacular flop of Deliveroo last month.

The company was priced at 250 pence…[Read more]