Month: March 2022

China tries to limit economic blow of Shanghai shutdown

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Read time : 5 mins

Level : Intermediate

(Jiang Aishan/Xinhua via AP)

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — As millions of people in Shanghai line up for coronavirus tests, authorities are promising tax refunds for shopkeepers in the closed-down metropolis and to keep the world’s busiest port functioning to limit disruption to industry and trade.

This week’s shutdown of most activity in China’s most populous city to contain virus outbreaks jolted global financial markets that already were on edge about Russia’s war on Ukraine, higher U.S. interest rates and a Chinese economic slowdown.

On Wednesday, the government reported 8,825 new infections nationwide, including 7,196 in people with no symptoms. That included 5,987 cases in Shanghai, only 329 of which had symptoms. Continue reading

EU agrees on new digital rules to rein in Big Tech dominance

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

By KELVIN CHAN and SAM PETREQUIN Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union set the stage for a stepped-up crackdown on big tech companies with an agreement on landmark digital rules to rein in online “gatekeepers” such as Google and Facebook parent Meta.

EU officials agreed late Thursday on wording for the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, part of a long-awaited overhaul of its digital rulebook. The act, which still needs other approvals, seeks to prevent tech giants from dominating digital markets, with the threat of whopping fines or even the possibility of a company breakup. Continue reading

Draghi leads push for common EU response to energy crisis

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi hosted leaders from three fellow Mediterranean countries Friday to push for an urgent, common European response to the energy crisis, which has been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is threatening the economic recovery of small businesses and ordinary citizens.

The prime ministers of Spain and Portugal participated in person in the meeting in Rome, while Greece’s leader, who has tested positive for COVID-19, joined by a video hookup from Athens. Continue reading

Pressure mounts for multinationals in Russia to leave

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

By TALI ARBEL AP Business Writer

As the war in Ukraine drags on, international companies still in Russia are coming under increasing pressure to leave.

Some seem to be determined to stay, some say they are reconsidering or trying to figure out an exit and some aren’t speaking at all — a testament to the fraught nature of the situation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is stepping up the country’s pleas to pressure companies to exit Russia. In an address to Congress Wednesday, he asked lawmakers to press U.S. businesses still operating in Russia to leave, saying the Russian market is “flooded with our blood.” Continue reading

‘The Power of the Dog’ wins best picture at UK’s BAFTAs

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Sci-fi epic “Dune” won five prizes and brooding Western “The Power of the Dog” was named best picture as the British Academy Film Awards returned Sunday with a live, black-tie ceremony after a pandemic-curtailed event in 2021.

New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion was named best director for “The Power of the Dog,” becoming only the third woman to win the prize in the awards’ seven-decade history.

Lead acting trophies went to Hollywood star Will Smith and British performer Joanna Scanlan, as an event that has worked to overcome a historic lack of diversity recognized a wide range of talents — including its first deaf acting winner in Troy Kotsur for “CODA.” Continue reading