Bloomberg The US Justice Department and eight states sued Alphabet Inc.’s Google, calling for the break up of the search giant’s ad-technology business over alleged illegal monopolization of the digital advertising market. “The lawsuit we have filed today seeks to hold Google to account for what we allege are its longstanding monopolies in digital advertising technologies that content creators use ...
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Murdoch ditches Fox, News Corp merger after investor objections
Bloomberg Rupert Murdoch said he was abandoning plans to explore a merger of Fox Corp. and News Corp., two media companies he controls, after investors pushed back on the deal. Fox said Tuesday that it had received a letter from Murdoch saying that he and his son Lachlan, the chief executive officer of Fox, had determined a combination was ...
Read More »Italy braces for disruption as gas stations strike
Bloomberg Italy is bracing for two days of disruptions after gas station operators across the country started a strike late Tuesday to protest against a new policy introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. A last-ditch attempt by the government to convince unions to call off the strike failed. But some of the groups organizing the protest decided to ...
Read More »Microsoft erases gains after saying Azure growth to decelerate
Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. shares declined after the company warned that revenue growth in its cloud-computing business will decelerate in the coming months and corporate software sales will slow, fueling concern about demand for the products that have driven its momentum in recent years. Shares fell as much as 2.7% to $235.51 in pre-market trading. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said ...
Read More »Britain’s NHS black hole devouring whole country
Bloomberg For the 8,000 people suffering from cystic fibrosis in the UK, Kaftrio is a miracle drug. For the cash-strapped National Health Service, it’s a foretaste of an unaffordable future. Costing £100,000 ($123,000) a year per patient, Kaftrio could add hundreds of millions of pounds to the £180 billion annual NHS bill, a new liability even as the service struggles ...
Read More »Germany’s economic pressure eases over services sector growth
Bloomberg The squeeze on Germany’s economy eased further at the start of the year as the services sector grew for the first time since June, another sign the country may dodge a recession that many had predicted as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Private-sector activity in the country remained resilient in January, and inflationary pressures continued to ...
Read More »Vodafone sells British HQ and rents part instead
Bloomberg Vodafone Group Plc sold the headquarters it’s held for decades in Newbury, England, and will rent just over half of the site’s premises back as it downsizes and cuts costs. Iqon Capital agreed to buy the total of seven buildings known as “The Connection†on behalf of Aljazira Capital for an undisclosed figure, it said in a statement ...
Read More »Euro-area business activity shows region could dodge recession
Bloomberg The private-sector economy in the euro area unexpectedly returned to growth at the start of 2023, offering further signs the region may avoid a recession and comforting the European Central Bank’s focus on underlying inflation risks. S&P Global’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.2 in January, better than the 49.8 reading predicted in a Bloomberg survey and ...
Read More »Gropyus secures €100m for expansion plan
Bloomberg An Austrian startup that aims to streamline housing construction raised about €100 million in fresh cash from a group of investors led by Vonovia SE, Germany’s largest landlord. Gropyus AG will use part of the Series B funding to expand its factory in southwest Germany, according to Chief Executive Office Markus Fuhrmann. The Vienna-based company targets output of ...
Read More »UK recession risks grow with record deficit, output slump
Bloomberg British companies signaled output dropped at the fastest pace since the start of the pandemic as the government budget deficit widened to a record, adding to evidence that the economy probably has lurched into a recession. S&P Global said its index of sentiment from purchasing managers fell more sharply than expected in January, led by a deterioration in ...
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