21 states sue to keep net neutrality as Senate Democrats reach 50 votes

(Reuters) - A group of 21 U.S. state attorneys general filed suit to challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to do away with net neutrality on Tuesday while Democrats said they needed just one more vote in the Senate to repeal the FCC ruling. The state attorneys, including t...

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U.S. Senate Democrats close to majority in drive to restore net neutrality

(Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats said on Tuesday they had the backing of 50 members of the 100-person chamber to overturn the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision to reverse the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, leaving them just one vote short of a majority. Sen...

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U.S. lawmaker asks Intel, others for briefing on chip flaws

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic U.S. lawmaker asked Intel Corp and two other microchip makers on Tuesday to provide a briefing on the recently detected Spectre and Meltdown security flaws that could allow hackers to steal information from most computers and devices. “I am looking to better...

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Senate Democrats close to majority in drive to restore net neutrality

(Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats said on Tuesday they had the backing of 50 members of the 100-person chamber to overturn the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision to reverse the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, leaving them just one vote short of a majority. Sen...

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Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies tumble on government crackdown worries

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin slid as much as 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week low, as worries about a regulatory crackdown on the market spread after reports suggested it was still possible that South Korea could ban trading in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s slide triggered a selloff a...

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Senate to vote to renew NSA's internet surveillance program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday planned to vote to advance a bill to renew the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program, as privacy advocates made a final push to derail the measure. The legislation would extend the NSA program, which gathers infor...

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Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies tumble on govt crackdown worries

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin slid as much as 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week low, as worries about a regulatory crackdown on the market spread after reports suggested it was still possible that South Korea could ban trading in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s slide triggered a selloff a...

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Bitcoin, rival cryptocurrencies plunge on crackdown fears

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin slid as much as 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week low, as fears of a regulatory crackdown on the market spread after reports suggested it was still possible that South Korea could ban trading in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s slide triggered a selloff across the broa...

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Google to expand cloud infrastructure with new regions, submarine cables

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Tuesday it would add five regions and build three new submarine cables as it expands its infrastructure for cloud customers. The company, which has invested $30 billion in infrastructure over the past three years, said its Netherlands and Montreal regi...

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Maersk, IBM to launch blockchain-based platform for global trade

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The world’s largest container shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk is teaming up with IBM to create an industry-wide trading platform it says can speed up trade and save billions of dollars. The global shipping industry has seen little innovation since the container was inve...

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Qatar central bank to consider topic of virtual currencies: governor

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar’s central bank will consider the topic of virtual currencies and there may be an opportunity in the future to introduce them in Qatar, central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani said on Tuesday. Sheikh Abdullah made the remark as he delivered a speech on Qat...

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Qatar central bank chief: will consider issue of virtual currencies

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar’s central bank will consider the issue of virtual currencies and there may be opportunity in future to introduce them in Qatar, central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani said on Tuesday. Sheikh Abdullah made the remark as he delivered a speech on Qatar&rsqu...

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Bitcoin slides 18 percent on crackdown fears; crypto rivals also plunge

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin tumbled 18 percent on Tuesday to a four-week trough close to $11,000, after reports that a ban on trading of cryptocurrencies in South Korea was still an option drove fears grew of a wider regulatory crackdown. Bitcoin’s slide triggered a massive selloff across the b...

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Bitcoin slides 14 percent on crackdown fears, hits four-week low

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin slid as much as 14 percent on Tuesday to hit a four-week low below $12,000, as fears grew of a regulatory crackdown after reports that South Korea’s finance minister had said banning trading in cryptocurrencies was still an option. South Korean news website Yonhap re...

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Exclusive: U.S. lawmakers urge AT&T to cut commercial ties with Huawei - sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are urging AT&T Inc, the No. 2 wireless carrier, to cut all commercial ties to Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] and oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile Ltd to enter the U.S. market because of national security concerns, said ...

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PBOC official says China's centralized virtual currency trade needs to end: source

BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese central banker says authorities should ban centralized trading of virtual currencies as well as individuals and businesses that provide related services, an internal memo from a government meeting seen by Reuters showed. In the memo outlining details of discussio...

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Google says 'no changes' to mapping platform in China after report

BEIJING (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google said on Tuesday it has made “no changes” to its mapping platform in China, denying an earlier media report that claimed it was re-launching the function in China, where many of its services are blocked. Japan's Nikkei reported ear...

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JD.com widens Southeast Asia presence by investing in Vietnam's Tiki.vn

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc has made an investment in Vietnamese e-commerce firm Tiki.vn, expanding its Southeast Asia business amid growing competition in the region from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Amazon.com Inc. JD.com co-led the financing with Vietnamese entertainme...

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JD.com, VNG Corp lead investment in Vietnamese e-commerce firm Tiki.vn

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese online retail firm JD.com Inc said on Tuesday it has led an investment in Vietnamese e-commerce firm Tiki.vn, expanding its Southeast Asia business amid competition from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Amazon.com Inc. JD.com co-led the financing with Vietnamese entertainmen...

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China consumer group seeks answers from Apple about slowing iPhones

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese consumer group has asked Apple (AAPL.O) for information about the slowing of older iPhones after operating system updates, demanding a reply before Friday, state news agency Xinhua reported. The query from the Shanghai Consumer Council came in response to consumer feed...

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Global carmakers to invest at least $90 billion in electric vehicles

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co’s plan to double its electrified vehicle spending is part of an investment tsunami in batteries and electric cars by global automakers that now totals $90 billion and is still growing, a Reuters analysis shows. That money is pouring in to a tiny sector that am...

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BlackBerry launches cybersecurity software for self-driving cars

(Reuters) - Canadian software maker BlackBerry Ltd on Monday launched a new cybersecurity software, which identifies vulnerabilities in programs used in self-driving cars. The product, called Blackberry Jarvis, is being marketed first to automakers - a group of customers the former smartphone maker ...

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Google to relaunch map service in China: Nikkei

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google will relaunch its map service in China after an eight-year absence, Nikkei reported on Monday. The company has set up a China-specific version of the Google Maps website and introduced a map app for Chinese iPhones, Nikkei said. When users of the app...

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Any rule on Bitcoin must be global, Germany's central bank says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Any attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin must be on a global scale as national or regional rules would be hard to enforce on a virtual, borderless community, a director at Germany’s central bank said on Monday. National authorities across the globe, and pa...

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China to block cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralized trading: Bloomberg

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities plan to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralized trading, Bloomberg reported Monday citing sources. Chinese authorities will also target individuals and companies that provide market-making, settlement and c...

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Xiaomi taps CLSA, Morgan Stanley, Goldman for IPO sponsor role: sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Xiaomi has tapped CLSA, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint sponsors for its proposed IPO, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, in what could potentially value the Chinese smartphone maker at up to $100 billion. The initial public offering could be the world&r...

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Auto1 says no need for IPO after Softbank invests

BERLIN (Reuters) - German used-car dealing platform Auto1 said a 460 million euro ($561 million) financial infusion from Japan’s Softbank meant it was under no pressure to launch an initial public offering to fund its pan-European growth plans. Softbank, through its Vision Fund, will make arou...

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SoftBank considers IPO for Japan wireless unit, said to seek $18 billion

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) said on Monday it was considering listing its Japanese wireless business, seeking to raise a reported $18 billion in a move that would accelerate the conglomerate’s transformation into one of the world’s biggest tech investors. A spin-off - ...

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Ford plans $11 billion investment, 40 electrified vehicles by 2022

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) will significantly increase its planned investments in electric vehicles to $11 billion by 2022 and have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model lineup, Chairman Bill Ford said on Sunday at the Detroit auto show. The investment figure is sharply hig...

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Singapore central bank head hopes cryptocurrency tech will survive 'crash'

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The head of Singapore’s central bank said on Monday he hoped the technologies underpinning cryptocurrencies such as blockchain would not be undermined by an eventual crash in the digital money. The city-state has been positioning itself as a hub for fintech - or financial...

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