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Back to the paddy fields. COVID smashes Indian middle-class dreams

DUTTA NAGAR, India (Reuters) – Until late March, Ashish Kumar was helping to make plastic boxes for Ferrero Rocher praline chocolates and the plastic spoons tucked inside Kinder Joy eggs to scoop out the milky sweet cream inside. With a diploma in plastic moul... More »

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Death at home: the unseen toll of Italy’s coronavirus crisis

MILAN (Reuters) – It took Silvia Bertuletti 11 days of frantic phone calls to persuade a doctor to visit her 78-year-old father Alessandro, who was gripped by fever and struggling for breath. When an on-call physician did go to her house near Bergamo, at the e... More »

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Mother of invention: the new gadgets dreamt up to fight coronavirus

LONDON/OAKLAND/BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Driving to work at his factory to the west of London last week, designer Steve Brooks had coronavirus on his mind. What could he make that would let him open a door without touching the handle? “Everyone has to use their li... More »

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Coronavirus emerges as major threat to U.S. election process

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. election officials looking to construct a safe voting system in a worsening coronavirus pandemic are confronting a grim reality: there may not be enough time, money or political will to make it happen by the November election. The p... More »

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No phones, no leaks: How Lagarde is making her mark on ECB

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Gathered in a German mountain castle last November for an evening retreat that ended with a whiskey-tasting, rebel European Central Bank policymakers and Christine Lagarde, their newly confirmed president, made a pact. Lagarde pledged to ... More »

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Don’t be misled by Brexit jobs trickle – London finance chief

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s vast financial services industry will lose more jobs to Europe over the coming years because of Brexit, the City of London’s policy chief told Reuters, warning people not to be duped by the low number of job moves to the continent ... More »

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London retains global finance throne amid Brexit chaos

LONDON (Reuters) – From the pinnacle of the City of London’s largest skyscraper, Stuart Lipton is wagering a $1.2 billion bet that the British capital remains a master of the international financial universe no matter what happens with Brexit. The 76-year-old ... More »

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Swine fever toll in China may be twice as high as reported,…

BEIJING (Reuters) – As many as half of China’s breeding pigs have either died from African swine fever or been slaughtered because of the spreading disease, twice as many as officially acknowledged, according to the estimates of four people who supply large fa... More »

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Outrage at acquittals in rape cases sparks calls to fix Japanese law

TOKYO (Reuters) – Miyako Shirakawa was a 19-year-old college student when she was raped by an older man. She said that when the attack started, her mind went blank and she froze up. “When I became aware, he was on top of me,” said Shirakawa, 54, now a psychiat... More »

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Oil loses luster as banks cash in on cleaner commodities

LONDON (Reuters) – Investment banks are beefing up trading teams in markets such as gas, metals and carbon permits that are flourishing as businesses and economies become greener, according to recruitment consultants. The shift in staffing at the world’s bigge... More »

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Less to lose: Germany’s poorer East embraces tech revolution

JENA, Germany (Reuters) – From the 12th floor of Jenoptik’s headquarters, chief executive Stefan Traeger points to his laser factory and the university that provides it with talent. Welcome to “Optics Valley” – a role model for Germany’s East in a big year for... More »

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Denials of U.S. immigrant visas skyrocket after little-heralded…

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When Arturo Balbino, a Texas construction worker, walked into his visa interview at the American consulate in the northern Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez in March, he wasn’t nervous. He felt good. Balbino, a 33-year-o... More »

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How U.S. bike companies are steering around Trump’s China tariffs

(Reuters) – U.S.-based bicycle manufacturer Kent International has found a way around President Donald Trump’s tariffs – by shifting production out of China. Like almost all U.S. bike makers, Kent has long relied on low-cost Chinese labor and parts, but Trump’... More »

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U.S. Steel wins tax breaks from one of America’s poorest cities

GARY, Indiana (Reuters) – United States Steel Corporation founded Gary, Indiana in 1906 – naming it after co-founder Elbert Henry Gary – and the city’s fortunes have been closely tied to the company ever since. When the firm started losing business to cheap As... More »

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Ahead of Bangladesh vote, opposition says it has been silenced

DHAKA/NOAKHALI, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Bangladesh has a general election this weekend, but opposition candidate Abdul Moyeen Khan says he has yet to hold a single public meeting in his constituency about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Dhaka, the capital. Thousa... More »

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For ‘French Tech’, Macron’s global appeal a double-edged sword

PARIS (Reuters) – When the founder of France’s Qwant search engine went to his local tax office to catch up on business, an agent there had to look up the firm using U.S. rival Google. When she did, Qwant’s home page was blocked – by the government tax office’... More »

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Software and stealth: how carmakers hike spare parts prices

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) – Carmakers including Renault, Jaguar Land Rover and Peugeot have boosted revenues by over $1 billion in the past decade by using sophisticated pricing software, according to sales presentations prepared by the software vendor, Accenture... More »

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Kenya moves to regulate fintech-fuelled lending craze

(This May 25 story corrects first name of Capital Markets Authority CEO to Paul, not Peter, paragraph 29) By Maggie Fick and Omar Mohammed NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya built a reputation as a pioneer of financial inclusion through its early adoption of a mobile m... More »

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Vietnam set to tighten clamps on Facebook and Google, threatening…

HANOI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A struggle over internet laws in Vietnam is pitting a government keen on maintaining tight control against U.S. technology companies trying to fight off onerous new rules – with the country’s online dissidents among the biggest lose... More »

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French leader Macron’s power system: never explain, never apologize

PARIS (Reuters) – When Emmanuel Macron was gearing up for his presidential campaign in 2016, he set out on an unprecedented “great march” – a door-to-door campaign to hear voters’ grievances in what promised to be a new, more open way of running the country. A... More »

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Too many cancer drugs? Crowded market gives investors pause

LONDON (Reuters) – In London’s world-famous Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, Dr. Karin Straathof is excited about a new cell-based medicine that offers hope for toddlers with incurable nerve tissue cancer. Her progress with a handful of children for wh... More »

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Insect farms gear up to feed soaring global protein demand

LANGLEY, British Columbia (Reuters) – Layers of squirming black soldier fly larvae fill large aluminum bins stacked 10-high in a warehouse outside of Vancouver. They are feeding on stale bread, rotting mangoes, overripe cantaloupe and squishy zucchini. But thi... More »

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Trade war backfire: Steel tariff shrapnel hits U.S. farmers

KANE COUNTY, Ill. (Reuters) – Lucas Strom, who runs a century-old family farm in rural Illinois, canceled an order to buy a new $71,000 grain storage bin last month – after the seller raised the price 5 percent in a day. The reason: steel prices jumped right a... More »

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As Hungary roars ahead, Orbanomics leaves some of the poorest behind

HOSSZUHETENY, Hungary (Reuters) – The pre-election fanfare over Hungary’s stellar growth and surging wages hardly registers with Laszlo Reisch, an employee in a government works program who is stuck on the wrong side of a growing social divide. Prime Minister ... More »

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Big pharma, big data: why drugmakers want your health records

FILE PHOTO: A surgery nurse is seen beside the heart beat monitor in the operating theatre of the Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin (UKB) hospital in Berlin, Germany February 29, 2008. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch /File Photo LONDON (Reuters) – Drugmakers are racing to scoo... More »

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Pot Pharm: Booming Canada weed sector plots next-wave medicines

A worker collects cuttings from a marijuana plant at the Canopy Growth Corporation facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, January 4, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie TORONTO (Reuters) – Canopy Growth Corp, one of the world’s biggest medical marijuana producers, ... More »

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Why Canada is the next frontier for shale oil

FILE PHOTO: A construction site at the new Suncor Fort Hills oil sands mining operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, September 17, 2014. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The revolution in U.S. shale oil has battered Canada’s ... More »

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Inspection battle threatens Egypt`s wheat supply

Wheat shipments to Egypt, the world's largest buyer, are being disrupted by a dispute involving government inspectors angered by a ban on the expenses-paid foreign trips they once enjoyed to approve cargoes at their ports of origin. More »

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Voters sense betrayal in Britain`s Brexit heartlands

There is a whiff of betrayal in the air across Britain's Brexit heartlands where many impatient voters fear Prime Minister Theresa May is going soft on implementing last year's decision to leave the European Union. More »

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Merkel may win election, but lose her finance minister

German Chancellor and leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party CDU Angela Merkel and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (R) attend the CDU party convention in Essen, Germany, December 7, 2016. Wolfgang Schaeuble has won his parliamen... More »

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After dieselgate, Volkswagen loosens reins on empire

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a row of Volkswagen e-Golf cars during the company’s annual news conference in Berlin, Germany March 13, 2014. Picture taken March 13, 2014. When Volkswagen boss Matthias Mueller vowed to reform the carmaker after its emissions sca... More »

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Destructive weed threatens U.S. corn fields

The Palmer amaranth weed is pictured in Harrison County, Iowa, United States in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters March 31, 2017. Bob Hartzler/Iowa State University/Handout via REUTERS A U.S. government program designed to convert farmland to wild... More »

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British government’s vaunted China export deals don`t add up

FILE PHOTO: The new Land Rover Discovery 7 is displayed on media day at the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo Each aluminum Land Rover body that rolls along the production line at Solihull carries a length... More »

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China, Europe drive shift to electric cars as U.S. lags

FILE PHOTO — A 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV is displayed during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo Electric cars will pick up critical momentum in 2017, many in the auto industry be... More »

How JPMorgan could not save Italy`s problem bank

The main entrance of the Monte dei Paschi bank headquarters is seen in Siena, Italy March 13, 2012. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo On the morning of July 29, former Italian Industry Minister Corrado Passera was traveling in a high-speed train towards the medieva... More »

Yahoo security problems a story of too little, too late

A photo illustration shows a Yahoo logo on a smartphone in front of a displayed cyber code and keyboard on December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration In the summer of 2013, Yahoo Inc launched a project to better secure the passwords of its customers, a... More »

Euro zone nations turn to hedge funds to meet borrowing needs

A two Euro coin is pictured next to an English ten Pound note in an illustration taken March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Illustration/File Photo Euro zone governments are increasingly relying on hedge funds to help them meet their borrowing needs, which risks... More »

Hate speech seeps into U.S. mainstream amid bitter campaign

“KKK” is shown spray painted on a telephone pole in Kokomo, Indiana, U.S. November 1, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Eisler The lettering is crude, scrawled in black spray paint on the sidewalk in front of Karen Peters’ neatly kept home in the quiet, working class neighb... More »

Most states on track to meet emissions targets they call burden

The John Amos coal-fired power plant is seen behind a home in Poca, West Virginia May 18, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo The 27 states challenging Obama’s Clean Power Plan in court say the lower emissions levels it would impose are an undue burden. ... More »

For one Zika patient, lingering symptoms and few answers

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 6, 2016. REUTERS/Alvin Baez/File Photo It began with what felt like a punc... More »

Yieldcos enabled SunEdison’s debt-fueled acquisition spree

At an early 2015 investor conference, SunEdison’s then-chief financial officer, Brian Wuebbels, trumpeted the profit potential in the solar developer’s relationship with a venture it had recently spun off. SunEdison had established TerraForm Power Inc as a “yi... More »

Taking on Tesla: China’s Jia Yueting aims to outmuscle Musk

BEIJING/DETROIT Tomorrow’s cars will be all-electric, self-driving, connected to high-speed communications networks … and free. And probably Chinese. That, at least, is the vision of Jia Yueting, a billionaire entrepreneur and one of a new breed of Chinese who... More »

How a boardroom feud left Brazilian steel giant on the brink

CUBATAO, Brazil On a warm September morning in 2014, the 10-man board of Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas met on the ninth floor of a blue glass tower in Sao Paulo. In the room, the board members grappled over whether to fire the company’s chief executive and two... More »

Ties between Germany and Russia enter new chill

BERLIN At an hour-long meeting in Moscow on March 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov irritated his German counterpart by raising the case of a German-Russian girl who said she was raped by migrants in Berlin earlier this year. After the girl’s claims w... More »

Trump’s investment funds lose money, billionaire unfazed

NEW YORK Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is built on his business acumen. But some of the Wall Street funds that he has invested in have proven less successful, underperforming industry benchmarks in the last 15 months, according to a Reuters examination.... More »

Obama’s prisoner clemency plan faltering as cases pile up

WASHINGTON In April 2014, the administration of President Barack Obama announced the most ambitious clemency program in 40 years, inviting thousands of jailed drug offenders and other convicts to seek early release and urging lawyers across the country to take... More »

Bank of Japan scrambles to find positives in negative rates

TOKYO Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials have been scurrying to commercial banks to explain and apologize for its surprise adoption of negative interest rates in January, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has distanced himself from a decision that is proving unpopula... More »

Mosquitoes’ rapid spread poses threat beyond Zika

LONDON As the world focuses on Zika’s rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. The battle against the in... More »

Big U.S. banks to take on tech rivals with instant payments

NEW YORK Depositors at some of the largest U.S. banks are finally going to get the chance to do something quick and simple: send money to another person’s account instantaneously by mobile phone. The idea has been in the works for at least five years, and in t... More »

In slump, oil firms turn to labs, data centers for help

GRAND FORKS, N.D. In a basement lab of a North Dakota research center, Beth Kurz and an assistant are peering through a scanning electron microscope, studying samples from the state’s vast Bakken shale oil formation. Kurz, a hydrogeologist, is part of a team, ... More »

Trump’s outrage finds ready audience in struggling South

LUCEDALE, Miss Mississippi’s vast flatlands, laced with the remains of a fading industrial base, are fertile ground for the incendiary populism of Donald Trump. For the insurgent presidential candidate, there’s plenty of voter outrage to tap into here and in a... More »

Doctors puzzle over severity of defects in some Brazilian babies

NEW YORK/BRASILIA Experts on microcephaly, the birth defect that has sparked alarm in the current Zika virus outbreak, say they are struck by the severity of a small number of cases they have reviewed from Brazil. Consultations among doctors in Brazil and the ... More »

The frequent-flyer U.S. Congress: lawmakers work less in DC

WASHINGTON Anyone seeking a table at Carmine’s Italian restaurant near Capitol Hill on a Tuesday or Wednesday needs to battle a mid-week crush of Congress members and their staff. But Mondays are far quieter — just like the floor of Congress. There are usually... More »

Did Brazil, global health agencies fumble Zika response?

Rio de Janeiro Last January, long lines formed outside health clinics in Recife, a city in Brazil’s northeast hit hard in recent years by outbreaks of dengue, a painful tropical disease. Doctors were on guard because federal health officials and the World Heal... More »

A rebranded Saab at the center of China’s green car push

BEIJING The Swedish automaker once known as Saab has emerged as part of China’s push to make electric vehicles a mass-market alternative to petrol cars, after getting a $12 billion order for EVs. Chinese-owned National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) – the comp... More »