Business

Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos to step down as CEO and become executive chairman

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO and become executive chairman, naming the head of its lucrative cloud computing division as successor in a…

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MITA’s vision for 2023 launched – towards Malta as a pioneer in digital innovation

“With a leadership mentality in the digital economy, we are aiming to further strengthening our position as a Malta that enjoys a reputation of a digital island, built on innovation,…

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GDP down by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU

In the fourth quarter 2020, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary…

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Increase in business registrations and bankruptcies in the EU

In the third quarter of 2020, the quarter when COVID-19 containment measures were somewhat relaxed in many Member States, the number of registrations of new businesses in the EU saw…

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10,000 full-time jobs created in a year – NSO

In September 2020, registered full-time employment increased by 4.6% while part-time employment as a primary job decreased by 9.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2019, the…

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Portos, Atos, Hopper and Edmund From GO’s Mobile App Campaign Get Adopted!

GO’s latest campaign promoting its popular mobile app in aid of the MSPCA featured Portos and Atos, two fox terrier mix brothers, Hopper, a mixed breed half pointer and half…

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Ford, Google join hands to offer cloud-based data services

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co will tap into software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing offered by Alphabet Inc's Google to develop new consumer services and modernize internal operations,…

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China’s New Year travel restrictions slow, but don’t stop oil demand recovery

China's efforts to keep people from travelling for Chinese New Year because of several clusters of COVID-19 infections are forcing analysts to revise first-quarter fuel demand estimates, but are not…

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ECB to stress test 38 euro area banks as part of the 2021 EU-wide stress test

he European Central Bank (ECB) will examine 38 significant euro area banks as part of the 2021 EU-wide stress test coordinated by the European Banking Authority (EBA). In line with the…

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Facebook to prompt users about personalised ads ahead of Apple privacy changes

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc said in a blog post Monday it will begin rolling out a notification for iPhone users globally about how data is used for personalized…

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Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss to cut Geneva flights further to “absolute minimum”

ZURICH, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International is reducing its Geneva flight operations further to an "absolute minimum", citing coronavirus travel restrictions, the company said on Monday. The…

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UK factory growth slows as COVID and Brexit combine – IHS Markit

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A gauge of British manufacturing growth was its slowest in three months in January as the combined impact of COVID-19 and Brexit weighed on new…

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Ryanair forecasts record annual loss as COVID-19 ‘wreaks havoc’

DUBLIN, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Ryanair expects to lose close to 1 billion euros in its current financial year, by far its worst ever performance, but Europe's largest low-cost carrier…

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Panasonic to end solar panel production

TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp will cease production of its own solar panels, national broadcaster NHK and the Nikkei newspaper said on Sunday, citing increasing price competition…

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Emirates, DP World, Dubai Airports aim to help transport 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines

DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates-based Emirates Skycargo, Dubai Airports and ports operator DP World will help "equitably distribute" 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries…

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Robinhood says it temporarily curbed buying of some securities as deposit requirement increased ten-fold

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Online broker Robinhood, one of the hottest venues in this week's retail-trading frenzy, said it put temporary buying restrictions on a small number of securities as…

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EU agrees ‘dark red’ COVID-19 zones with stricter travel limits

Hotspots of COVID-19 infection in the European Union will be labelled "dark red" zones to discourage all but essential travel, EU governments agreed on Friday. The EU has already set up…

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France economy slumps less than expected in fourth quarter despite lockdown

The French economy contracted much less than expected at the end of last year, official data released on Friday showed, as the growing prospect of a new lockdown wipes out hopes for…

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U.S. and China may meet at Singapore’s ‘Davos’, WEF says

United States President Joe Biden's new administration may hold meetings with Chinese counterparts at a World Economic Forum meeting in Singapore in May, the organisation's president said on Friday. Borge…

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BOV gets two-month correspondent banking respite, still seeking new relationships

Bank of Valletta has secured an extension to its US Dollar correspondence relationship with Raiffeisen Bank International by two months to 31st May 2021. Meanwhile, the Bank said that it…

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Small investors behind surge in GameStop and other shares hit by restrictions

An army of retail investors that has routed Wall Street's professionals in recent days was dealt a blow on Thursday, after online brokerages restricted purchases of red-hot GameStop and other stocks that…

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Oil steady as supply cuts offset demand worries on stalled vaccine rollouts

Oil prices were steady on Friday, sticking to ranges seen over the past three weeks, as investors looked for signs of changing supply and demand fundamentals. A cut in Saudi Arabia's oil supply…

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U.N. chief worried by power of social media companies

NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday he is "particularly worried" about the power of social media companies and that a regulatory framework should…

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Wizz Air presses crisis advantage as easyJet pulls back

LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Wizz Air vowed to use the coronavirus crisis to win market share from rivals including easyJet, as the no-frills airlines both posted sharp falls in quarterly revenue. As most carriers cut fleets…

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McHappy Day raises €25,000 for RMHC Learning Centre

McDonald’s customers have helped raise another €25,000 in aid of the Ronald McDonald House Charities’ Qawra Learning Centre during last November’s McHappy Day campaign. The funds were collected at Malta…

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First flashes of Brexit trade trouble appear in UK data

LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Early signs of disruption caused by Britain's shift to its new, less open trading relationship with the European Union are emerging in economic data. Although…

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Swatch looking to brighter 2021 after sales collapse in 2020

ZURICH, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Swatch Group said there was a "good chance" 2021 sales could return to pre-pandemic levels after the coronavirus plunged the world's biggest watchmaker into the…

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Toyota beats Volkswagen to become World’s No.1 car seller in 2020

TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp overtook Germany's Volkswagen in vehicle sales last year, regaining pole position as the world's top selling automaker for the first time…

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Europe lifts flight safety ban on Boeing 737 MAX jet

Jan 27 (Reuters) - European regulators on Wednesday lifted a 22-month ban on flights of the Boeing 737 MAX after a design and pilot training overhaul in the wake of…

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Air France and Airbus face Paris trial call over deadly crash – source

PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris public prosecutor has requested that Air France and Airbus stand trial on charges of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of flight AF447 from Rio de…

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Microsoft earnings rise as pandemic boosts cloud computing, Xbox sales

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Tuesday reported its Azure cloud computing services grew 50%, the second quarter of acceleration in a business that had begun to slow as the global…

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Working from home is losing its effectiveness, bank executives say

(Reuters) - Working from home has been surprisingly successful for global banks during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic but is losing its effectiveness, two prominent industry executives said…

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Britain starts work on post-Brexit asset management sector

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Britain set out options on Tuesday for increasing the global attractiveness of its 9.9 trillion pound ($13.59 trillion) asset management sector after Brexit put European…

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EU green light for 3 billion euro pan-European battery project

EU competition regulators on Tuesday approved a 2.9-billion-euro battery project funded by Germany, France, Italy and nine other EU countries, responding to the growing demand for car and industrial batteries in the…

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EU Council adopts conclusions on climate and energy diplomacy

EU Foreign Ministers have reached agreement on a numebr of Climate and Energy Diplomacy targets, with the intended objective of delivering on the external dimension of the European Green Deal. The Council recognised…

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Barilla boosts women’s representation in executive roles, achieves pay equality

MILAN, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Italian food company Barilla last year increased women's representation in executive roles and achieved gender pay equality for all employees, it said on Tuesday, as…

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Vaccine delays push European stocks to two-week low

European shares closed at two-week lows on Monday as a slump in German business morale underscored the damage from tighter COVID-19 restrictions, while investors feared a slow vaccine rollout could further…

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Turkey’s economy to grow by 6% in 2021 – IMF

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Turkey's economy will grow by about 6% in 2021, before settling back to a growth rate of about 3.5% annually from 2022, International Monetary Fund staff…

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China, NZ ink trade deal as Beijing calls for reduced global barriers

China and New Zealand signed a deal that upgrades their existing free trade pact on Tuesday, giving exports from the Pacific nation greater access to the world's second-largest economy. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern…

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Oil price slides continues as hopes for rapid approval of US stimulus plan fades

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as fading hopes for a rapid approval of new U.S. economic stimulus and mounting new coronavirus cases raised questions over the pace of any recovery in…

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EU Commission proposes harsher travel restrictions

The European Commission is pushing for further travel restrictions both within its borders as well as for passengers coming from third countries. This plan builds on proposals announced by President…

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Mastercard to increase charges for UK purchases from EU – FT

Financial Times - Mastercard will increase fees more than fivefold when a British shopper uses a debit or credit card to buy from an EU-based company, sparking alarm among companies…

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Debenhams stores in Britain to close permanently

All Debenhams stores in Britain will close permanently as part of the sale of its brand and website to online retailer Boohoo, its administrators said on Monday. "I expect that the agreement…

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Flydubai Says Catania And Naples, Salzburg And Malta Will Be Joining Its European Network

Jan 25 (Reuters) - FLYDUBAI - Flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, today announced that Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and Malta will be joining its European network from…

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Godiva to close shops in U.S.

CNN - Luxury chocolatier Godiva is closing or selling all 128 of its brick-and-mortar stores in North America, it announced in a statement. It plans to complete the closures and…

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About 500 Airbus staff under quarantine after Hamburg COVID-19 outbreak

BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Airbus said on Sunday about 500 of its staff had gone into quarantine after 21 workers at its aircraft factory in Hamburg tested positive for…

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Sick of working from home? Dread daily commute? Go hybrid, says office provider IWG

It's almost a year into the pandemic, and for many of us the novelty of working from home has well and truly faded. Yet we have no intention of returning…

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U.K. consumer confidence falls back in January on economy worries – GfK

A gauge of confidence among British consumers slipped back in January because of worries about the economy which has been largely locked down again, a survey showed. The consumer confidence…

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Eyeing a recovery, some U.S. airlines resume pilot hiring

American Airlines' wholly owned regional subsidiary PSA Airlines and budget carrier Frontier Airlines plan to resume pilot hiring this year, a positive sign for an industry ravaged last year by…

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Photo Story: Restaurants in Milan protest against closure during pandemic

A restaurant with a protest banner reading 'We are not a switch' as it remains closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Milan, Italy. The Lombardy region is cllassed as a…

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No Xbox Live Gold price hike by Microsoft

Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase. The company announced a price hike on Friday that would have doubled the cost of a yearly subscription to the service, which is…

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UK body sets billion-pound budget for COVID financial firm collapses

Britain's scheme for compensating consumers hit by financial company failures has set itself a billion-pound ($1.37 billion) budget for the coming year to cope with a likely surge in collapses…

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Sweden’s Trustly plans $11 billion IPO as digital payments boom

Swedish payments firm Trustly plans to take advantage of a surge in digital transactions in the COVID-19 pandemic with a second-quarter flotation that could value it at up to 9…

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Moody’s warns over Italy’s credit rating if unable to manage EU funds

Moody's said that Italy's inability to take advantage of the available EU resources to boost its economy's growth potential would likely exert downward pressure on its credit rating. The ratings…

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Lufthansa’s Airlines to require crew, passengers to wear medical masks

From February 1, all passengers and crew members on Lufthansa flights must wear a medical mask. In a statement, Lufthansa said that passengers will be required to wear either a…

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Economists cut euro zone growth forecast for 2021: ECB survey

The pandemic-stricken euro zone economy is likely to rebound this year but at a slower pace than expected only a few months ago, before making up for the lost ground…

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UK retail sales recover weakly in Dec, borrowing jumps

British retail sales bounced back weakly in December as shops in England emerged from November's four-week lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, while public borrowing this financial year has…

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