International News

Bloomberg Apple Inc. was told to pay VirnetX Holding Corp. $502.8 million, the latest jury verdict in a decade-long saga over patents for secure communications. The jury in Tyler, Texas, reached its verdict in about 90 minutes. It was asked to decide only how much Apple owes VirnetX in royalties for VPN on Demand, a feature that allows users access ...

Bloomberg Justin Trudeau’s fast-track visa program gave Canada an edge over the US in the global race for talent. The pandemic is eroding it, leaving some tech startups and their recruits in limbo. The visa has been used to accelerate the arrival of thousands of software engineers, computer programmers and other professionals since 2017. But the number of people entering ...

Bloomberg The Italian government may move as soon as this weekend to impose lockdowns on several cities hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, Corriere della Sera reported on Saturday. Italy, which has been under a partial lockdown for last week, could also add measures including a ban on travel between regions “in coming hours,” the daily reported, citing increased pressure ...

Bloomberg Ships carrying cargoes around the world are waiting for days to pass through the Panama Canal, as pandemic-hit staffing caused congestion at the key pinch point. Long waiting times are affecting shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US Gulf Coast to Asia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. The ...

Bloomberg As the European Union (EU) seeks to disburse funds from its 750 billion-euro ($888 billion) recovery program as soon as next year, some of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic are struggling to work out how to best keep their finances in check once they take on billions of euros of new loans. Spain, Greece and Portugal plan ...

Bloomberg The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) effort to name a new leader hit a new roadblock on Wednesday after the Trump administration said it won’t back the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the WTO’s next director-general. The US could not support a consensus decision to appoint Okonjo-Iweala, Deputy US Trade Representative Dennis Shea said during a meeting of WTO ...

Bloomberg Argentina is considering fiscal incentives to encourage companies to hire workers after unemployment spiked to the highest in at least 16 years amid pandemic. Labour Minister Claudio Moroni said he’s been working with the Production Ministry to lower some employer contributions. The incentives will probably be aimed at hard-hit industries in Argentina’s least-favoured provinces, he said. “The idea is ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government has approved a new relief package to help sectors hit hardest by the latest coronavirus restrictions amid growing protests in cities including Milan and Turin. Conte’s cabinet signed off on measures worth about 5 billion euros ($6 billion) to partially compensate businesses that suffer from the partial lockdown approved over the weekend. The ...

Bloomberg Consumer confidence unexpectedly pulled back in October as Americans became more concerned about prospects for employment, incomes and the economy. The Conference Board’s index decreased to 100.9 from a downwardly revised 101.3 reading in September, according to a report Tuesday. The reading fell below the median estimate of 102 in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The gauge of expectations slipped ...

Bloomberg The UK’s recovery already looks well past its peak, putting the economy on a shaky footing as it enters a winter of stricter restrictions to control the coronavirus. The worrying outlook prompted JPMorgan Chase to almost halve its forecast for fourth-quarter growth, with the bank expecting regional lockdowns to have a wider impact on sentiment across the country. That ...