The nearly overnight collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has left the US tech scene in shock, wondering how one of its most valued institutions could vanish so suddenly, shunned by the companies that used it most.. "I think the ripple effects of this in Silicon Valley are going to be felt for the next decade," Ives said. arp-juj-leb/caw/dw
A California appeals court on Monday upheld a state law letting Uber, Lyft and other app-based, on-demand companies treat drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.. The labor legislation heavily backed by Uber, Lyft and other app-based, on-demand services effectively overturned a California law requiring them to reclassify their drivers and provide employee benefits.
China will once again start issuing a range of visas to foreigners as of Wednesday, the country's embassy in Washington said, a major easing of travel restrictions in force since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.. In addition to new travel documents being reviewed and approved, visas issued before March 28, 2020 that are still valid will once again allow entry to China, said the embassy notice posted Monday, translated by AFP from Chinese.
Customers of under-pressure US banks said Monday they were reassured after authorities stepped in to protect deposits, even as markets fretted about systemic contagion.. Governments in Europe and the United States have moved to reassure markets that the world is not in for a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, when the global banking system seized up.
Ukrainian soldiers wrap up this week a four-week training course in Spain on how to operate the Leopard 2 tanks Western allies have agreed to deliver to help Kyiv fight Russian forces, the Spanish ministry said Monday.. Spanish Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said during a visit to Kyiv in February that Spain would be sending six Leopard 2A4 tanks immediately and hoped to send four more later.
Britain on Monday detailed plans to bolster military and security spending to confront the "epoch-defining challenge" posed by China while also countering Russia, as London updated its strategic foreign and defence policy.. "China poses an epoch-defining challenge to the type of international order we want to see, both in terms of security and values -- and so our approach must evolve," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in the review's foreword.
The Biden administration, brushing aside pressure from environmentalists, on Monday approved a controversial oil drilling project on Alaska's North Slope.. During the 2020 presidential race, Joe Biden had vowed not to approve any new leases for oil and gas projects on federal lands and his administration had been under intense pressure by environmental groups in recent days not to approve the so-called Willow Project.
The CEO of German auto giant Volkswagen and its luxury subsidiary Porsche on Monday backed moves by Berlin to block a European ban on new combustion engines from 2035.. Behind Germany's block are domestic political imperatives, with the liberal FDP, part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition, setting themselves against the ban on internal combustion engines.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Monday that it had reached a deal to buy biotech firm Seagen, specializing in innovative cancer treatment, for $43 billion.. The deal with Seagen would double Pfizer's early-stage oncology clinical pipeline, the pharmaceutical firm added.
The United Nations and Russia began talks Monday on renewing the Ukraine grain export deal, which has helped ease the global food crisis triggered by Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.. More than 24.1 million tonnes have been exported under the UN and Turkey-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), according to the UN. The BSGI deal, which has helped ease the global food crisis caused by the invasion, will automatically renew on March 18 unless Moscow or Kyiv object.
