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
Over 50 percent of Americans would like to see the army deployed to the streets of US cities to help police tackle the riots raging across the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The US has been gripped by a massive wave of protests for over a week, as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to call for justice for the African American man, who was choked to death by a police officer during a detention process. Source RT
Opposition leaders, including anti-immigrant League party chief Matteo Salvini, marched with hundreds of protesters on Italy’s national day Tuesday to demand the government resign.
Banned from holding large rallies due to the coronavirus, the demonstration was announced as a silent sit-in respecting physical distancing rules. Source RTL
China reiterated on Friday that it is prepared to use all means necessary – including force – to prevent the self-ruled island of Taiwan from becoming independent. Source Al Jazeera
Incidents took place during the demonstration against police violence, Porte de Clichy in Paris (17th century), near the court, on Tuesday evening. Source Actu17
Germany’s capital has approved plans to build new refugee homes as coronavirus and housing shortage bite. Some refugee homes are struggling to maintain hygiene guidelines.
A total of 38 new accommodations, made of prefabricated concrete blocks and guaranteed to last 80 years, are to be built over the next few years. Eight of these, with a total capacity of around 2,000, are expected to be completed by next summer. Source Deutsche Welle
- The Minnesota National Guard plans to test all of its deployed members for the coronavirus after one tested positive and nine others have presented symptoms, a spokesman told CNBC on Tuesday.
- The state’s National Guard has deployed nearly 7,000 officers in response to mass protests sparked by George Floyd’s death.
- It remains unclear when the infected service member tested positive and how much interaction they had with other service members and the public. Source CNBC
- The Minnesota National Guard plans to test all of its deployed members for the coronavirus after one tested positive and nine others have presented symptoms, a spokesman told CNBC on Tuesday.
- The state’s National Guard has deployed nearly 7,000 officers in response to mass protests sparked by George Floyd’s death.
- It remains unclear when the infected service member tested positive and how much interaction they had with other service members and the public. Source CNBC
General Konstantinos Floros sent a strong message to Ankara during a Commemorative Prayer for Fallen Paratroopers, which took place at Vouliagmeni, saying that those who “underestimate us are making a mistake.” Specifically, the Chief of General Staff, referring to the special forces, stated that “the ties of those who serve or have served in the Special Forces are indestructible and are never broken. We are the descendants of easy and brave warriors. Source Greek City Times
In Montpellier, traders in the city center are worried: weakened by the coronavirus crisis , they are the target of unaccompanied minors – MNA – who rob at night and attack customers during the day.
Every night, unaccompanied minors and former unaccompanied minors, young adults who are homeless, carry out raids: they kick violently at store doors, at random. When they give in, they steal everything that can be sold, as well as cash. They climb buildings to take goods, including bikes. Source Actu France
After hours of peaceful protest in downtown Atlanta, some demonstrators suddenly turned violent, smashing police cars, setting one on fire, spray-painting the iconic logo sign at CNN headquarters, and breaking into a restaurant. The crowd pelted officers with bottles, chanting “Quit your jobs.” Source New York Post
Five British mercenaries involved in an operation to fly assault helicopters for Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar were offered bounties of up to $150,000 each for their role in the daring plot which went awry.
The men, comprised of former Royal Marines and RAF personnel, were among 20 foreign mercenaries who traveled to Libya last June in an operation to pilot assault helicopters and speed boats to intercept Turkish ships ferrying weapons to Haftar’s opponents – the UN-backed government in Tripoli. Source Telegraph
Sections of 24 blocks outlined in the Turkish Government Gazette on May 30 stemming from the contentious maritime borders agreement signed last November between Turkey and the Tripoli-based government in Libya come within or beyond 6 nautical miles of the coasts of eastern Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes, and overlap the Greek continental shelf. Source Ekathimerini
French carmaker Renault said on Friday it was launching talks with unions to restructure some plants and potentially close others as it confirmed plans to cut around 15,000 jobs worldwide to ride out a slump in sales. Source France 24
More than 3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, raising to more than 42 million the number of workers who have lost jobs since the coronavirus crippled the economy. Source CBSNews
American consumer spending ground to a halt during the coronavirus lockdown, and that is a massive problem for the spending-addicted US economy.
April’s personal consumption data showed a 13.6% drop in consumer spending, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report released Friday. That’s equal to $1.89 trillion, and drags spending down to a level not seen since September 2014.
It was the largest month-to-month decline since the BEA began tracking the data in 1959, and worse than economists had expected. Source ABC
- The International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that global energy investment will fall by almost $400 billion in 2020 compared to last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Before the pandemic, the global energy investment was on track for 2% growth, but now it fall by 20%.
- IEA is also forecasting that oil demand could drop by 9 million barrels per day by 2025 .Source Business insider
- The basic income is meant to reach 850,000 households and 2.5 million citizens.
- The plan to install a basic income was a pre-electoral promise, but it was accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Spain has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the euro area and this is set to worsen given the Covid-19 crisis. Source Spain
France’s economy is on course to contract 20% in the second quarter from the previous three months as the country emerges from a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the INSEE official statistics agency estimated on Wednesday. Source France24
The airline industry’s global debt could rise to US$550 billion by year-end, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
In an analysis released yesterday, IATA that that is a US$120 billion increase over debt levels at the start of 2020.
It said US$67 billion of the new debt is composed of government loans (US$50 billion), deferred taxes (US$5 billion) and loan guarantees (US$12 billion). Source The Edge Market
The package includes an increase to the state subsidies given to motivate potential buyers of new electric and hybrid cars. The plan also includes a state loan worth €5 billion for troubled carmaker Renault. Source Deutsche Welle
Boeing Co (BA.N) said Wednesday it was eliminating more than 12,000 U.S. jobs, including involuntary layoffs of 6,770 U.S. workers as the largest American planemaker restructures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Source Reuters
China seeks to have its planned sovereign digital currency ready in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics here, the central bank revealed Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerates a shift away from cash.
The government plans to run pilot tests at Olympic venues, though there remains no official timetable for a release, People’s Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang told Chinese media in an interview released by the central bank. Limited trials are underway in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and the Xiongan New Area in the northern province of Hebei, he said. Source Asian Review
