Amazon hires founders of Covid-testing firm to curb spread

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc has hired several employees of a Covid-19 testing startup as part of efforts to curb outbreaks among its workers. Caspr Biotech’s cofounders, Chief Executive Officer Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez, joined Amazon in December, according to a person familiar with the situation. The pair, along with several other startup employees, are working on a ...

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Germany planning $1.1b bailout of major airports

Bloomberg Germany is planning a 900 million-euro ($1.1 billion) bailout of the country’s airports, adding to a multibillion-euro outlay already aimed at helping the aviation sector survive the coronavirus. The government will offer Berlin-Brandenburg, Cologne-Bonn and Munich a package of loans, grants and stake purchases worth more than 400 million euros, according to a transport ministry document seen by Bloomberg ...

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Jollibee Foods eyes 450 new stores

Bloomberg Jollibee Foods Corp will boost capital spending by a fifth to open 450 new stores mostly overseas, as the Philippines’ largest restaurant operator foresees a return to profit this year following its first annual loss in nearly three decades. The company will spend 12.2 billion pesos ($255 million) this year, up 22% from the 10 billion pesos in 2020. ...

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Myanmar junta tightens control, orders new internet blackout

Bloomberg Myanmar’s junta strengthened its grip on power over the weekend, ordering an internet blackout overnight and making it easier for authorities to make arrests as it looks to quell surging protests against its February 1 coup. Protests continued on Monday after tens of thousands of people continued to demonstrate in defiance of the military even as the regime stepped ...

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Sudan accuses Ethiopia of escalating tensions over disputed territory

Bloomberg Sudan accused Ethiopian forces of entering its territory, escalating a dispute over land that straddles their border. “Sudan strongly condemns the aggression carried out by Ethiopia, in which its forces entered into territories that legally belong to Sudan,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It described the incident as “a direct violation” of Sudanese sovereignty. Relations between Sudan ...

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Ethiopia politicians in hunger strike urge end to impasse

Bloomberg Time is “running out” to resolve an impasse with imprisoned Ethiopian opposition leaders who’ve spent almost three weeks without food, according to a lawyer for one of the key figures behind the protest. Media mogul Jawar Mohammed’s representative said the hunger strike was endangering the inmates’ lives and urged the government to seek a quick resolution. “We are running ...

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Ex-Kosovo PM’s comeback may hurt Serbia ties more

Bloomberg Ex-Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti won snap elections in a comeback that could worsen already tense relations with neighbouring Serbia. Kurti’s party, whose last government lasted just four months, got 48% in the ballot, according to preliminary results with 97% of votes counted. Four other parties are also on track to enter parliament, as well as minority lawmakers who ...

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Catalan separatists keep control and Sanchez gets a boost

Bloomberg Catalan separatist parties won a majority in the regional parliament in the election, but Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was one of the night’s big winners. Sanchez’s Socialist party won the most votes and saw its main national rival, the conservative People’s Party, suffer a humiliating defeat. All the same, the next regional leader is set to come from ...

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UK economic scars emerge with jobless excluded from benefits

Bloomberg More than 10% of the UK workforce is out of a job and struggling to tap government benefits, exposing economic scars set to remain long after the coronavirus fades. About 3.8 million people including actors and musicians in London’s famous theaters don’t qualify for the most lucrative welfare payments, according to the Standard Life Foundation, which campaigns for those ...

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Google, Facebook nearing deals to pay for news in Australia

Bloomberg Google and Facebook Inc. are nearing agreements to pay domestic media companies for news, in a sign a regulatory standoff may be softening, Australia’s government said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg held talks with Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Google counterpart Sundar Pichai over the weekend. “We’re very close to some very significant commercial deals,” Frydenberg told the ...

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