The US Justice Department indicted two companies based in China and Taiwan and three individuals saying they conspired to steal trade secrets from US semiconductor company Micron relating to its research and development of memory storage devices. Source: Al Jazeera
Information Technology
A Japanese digital currency exchange has been hacked, and 6.7 billion yen ($60 million) worth of cryptocurrencies are gone. Source: The New York Times
Google says it has disabled dozens of YouTube channels and other accounts linked to an Iranian state broadcaster that it said was running a political influence campaign. Source: Radio Free Europe
Google was fined 4.3 billion euros ($5 billion) by the European Union and ordered to change the way it puts search and web browser apps on Android mobile devices, setting a global record for antitrust penalties. Source: Bloomberg
Apple launched a new $100bn share buyback scheme and lifted its dividend by 16 per cent, as it reported a 30 per cent jump in earnings and issued a confident outlook for iPhone sales in spite of concerns of a slowdown. Source: Financial Times
Cheaper Japanese cars and European cheese are on the way as the EU’s trade agreement after the European Commission announced on April 18 that it had cleared the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement with Tokyo. Source: New Europe
Russia’s state communications regulator on Tuesday said it had blocked IP addresses owned by Google and Amazon, saying they were being used by the Telegram messaging service which Moscow moved to ban this week. Source: CNBC
Poland’s justice minister said on Wednesday it was not possible to comply with a ruling by the top European Union court that the country’s new system for disciplining judges broke EU law and should be suspended. Source Reuters
Taliban spokesperson and Commander Moulana Yousaf Ahmadi in Kandahar spoke to India Today exclusively and said the group has taken over 85 per cent of Afghanistan and will gain control of the remaining parts soon. Source India Today
Syria’s air defences have intercepted an Israeli attack on al-Safirah area of southern Aleppo, Syrian state media reported, a location where Israel has repeatedly hit a growing Iranian presence. Source Al Jazeera
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape describes the fire which broke out at the Athlone train station on Monday, July 19, as another indictment of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA) inability to ensure safe and capable rail infrastructure in the province. Source CapeTown
Authorities in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus announced on Tuesday a partial reopening of an abandoned town for potential resettlement, drawing a strong rebuke from Greek Cypriot and international leaders. Source AL Jazeera
- Toyota has raised concerns with local authorities regarding the impact of the unrest and looting in KZN on the global giant’s operations and investments in the area.
- On Monday, Toyota said it has received a positive response to the concerns it raised.
- The unrest impacted Toyota’s manufacturing operations in Durban as well as key exports. Source Fin24
After two young children were injured in a shooting near Stockholm at the weekend, Sweden is again reckoning with a gun violence problem that has got worse in recent years. Source The Local
The police intervened to put an end to a wild motocross rodeo in Neuilly-sur-Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis) this Sunday evening. They arrested a man before being violently attacked by a hundred individuals who stoned them and used fireworks against them. Source Act17
Urban violence broke out in the Bastide district of Limoges (Haute-Vienne) during the night from Saturday to Sunday. The police were targeted by jets of Molotov cocktails. Several vehicles were also set on fire. Source Actu
Landing a civilian variant of military aircraft on the island of Taiwan is yet another “salami-slicing” provocation by the US, and it sent a wrong signal to Taiwan secessionists, Chinese mainland analysts said, after the US reportedly landed a civilian variant of a warplane on the island on Monday. Source Global Times
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had taken control of one of the main border crossings with Pakistan, perhaps the most strategic objective they have captured so far in a rapid advance across the country as U.S. forces pull out. Source Global News
The United States and Germany reached an agreement on Wednesday on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, ending a longstanding dispute between the allies, the Washington Post reported. Source Reuters
Turkish annual inflation has jumped to a two-year high of 17.53 percent in June, exceeding a forecast of 17 percent and continuing an extended rise after a brief dip, potentially delaying any interest rate cuts to later in the year. Source AL Jazeera
The federal government will be swimming in $3 trillion of red ink by the end of fiscal 2021, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Thursday that swelled 33% from the last forecast.
As a result of multiple stimulus measures aimed at combating the pandemic’s economic impact, Congress will run a budgetary shortfall this year equivalent to 13.4% of GDP, the second-largest level since 1945 and exceeded only by the 2020 spending. Source CNBC
The UK government has held emergency talks with retailers, logistics groups and wholesalers as a shortage of lorry drivers threatens to leave gaps on supermarket shelves. Source The Guardian
BP (BP.L) will continue producing hydrocarbons for decades to come and will benefit from rising oil prices even as it reduces output as part of its shift to low-carbon energy, Chief Executive Bernard Looney told Reuters on Tuesday. Source Reuters
Natural gas prices on European spot markets climbed to $360 per 1,000 cubic meters and continue growing on the back of high demand and low reserves in underground gas storages. The price is almost $100 above the February maximum, Gazprom told reporters on Wednesday. Source Tass
Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas project will start preparations on Friday to fill the first of two pipelines with natural gas within a few months, the Gazprom-led project said on Thursday. Nord Stream 2, which runs on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, has faced criticism from the United States, which says it will increase European reliance on Russian gas. Source Reuters
U.S. crude oil was $71.50 a barrel on Monday — its highest price since October 2018 — and Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, topped $73 a barrel.
Crude oil prices have risen steadily since the start of the year as businesses reopen and demand for air and auto travel bounces back. As of Monday, U.S. crude oil is about $23 a barrel more expensive than it was in January. Source MSN
The European Commission is preparing a case to assert the primacy of EU courts over rulings from Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. The issue relates to the buying of government bonds by the European Central Bank. Brussels is expected to launch an infringement procedure against Germany after a ruling by the country’s Federal Constitutional Court that is seen as incompatible with European Union law. Source Deutsche Welle
Europe has been “forged in the crises” and therefore must emerge strengthened from the pandemic, for example, by making permanent mechanisms such as the EU Recovery Fund or the Sure Fund, said Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco on Monday.
Visco also said the EU mechanisms are “common debt, well distinct” from the “previous debt of the single countries, which would remain national responsibility”, even if a part of this could enter into common management, “for example through an amortisation fund”. Source Euractiv
Testing work on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany will start next week, Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region where the pipeline starts, was cited as saying by the TASS news agency on Wednesday. Source Reuters
