news_business

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump was upbeat on Tuesday about contacts with China as the two countries discussed a road map for the next stage of their trade talks. "Very productive conversations going on with China! Watch for some important announcements!" Trump said in a Twitter post after a telephone call between Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) … [Read more...] about Trump says “very productive” talks with China

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - African fibre company Liquid Telecom has won a $180 million (141.42 million pounds) investment from British development finance agency CDC Group, which the firm said it will use to deliver high-speed broadband further into central and western Africa.The Mauritius-based, privately owned firm said in a statement on Tuesday that the money will allow it to accelerate the expansion of its pan-African fibre network, which it says is already the largest on the continent, stretching from Cape Town at the southernmost tip of South Africa to Cairo in Egypt. gi Nic Rudnick, Liquid Telecom's CEO, said this will bring a fast and reliable connection and cloud services to communities and businesses in some of the most remote parts of Africa. "Once completed, it will bring significant social and economic benefits - from providing access to online educational resources to supporting national economies, creating more jobs and driving the adoption of new technologies," he said. … [Read more...] about Liquid Telecom gets $180 million from UK for pan-African fibre network

LONDON (Reuters) - WM Morrisons <MRW.L> shares jumped on Tuesday as traders cited market rumours that the UK supermarket chain could be subject to a takeover approach by U.S. online retail giant Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>.They rose as much as 2.9 percent in midday trade and were up 1.9 percent by 1215 GMT, outperforming their UK peers. The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was up 1.5 percent.gi Chatter about the rumour was mentioned on the Financial Times' Alphaville markets chatroom. The chatroom moderator said: "There's a mad story going round the traps about Amazon going for Morrison ... Looks to me like wild speculation, but stranger things I guess..."The supermarket chain has struck wholesale supply deals with Amazon and is widely seen as a potential takeover target for the U.S. company as it moves into bricks-and-mortar retailing after its takeover of Whole Foods. Morrisons was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Helen Reid, additional reporting by Paul Sandl; … [Read more...] about Morrisons shares rise on takeover chatter

LONDON (Reuters) - Justin King, the former chief executive of British supermarket group Sainsbury's <SBRY.L>, is to re-join Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> as a non-executive director, the clothing and food retailer said on Tuesday. King led Sainsbury's revival before stepping down in 2014. He is also a former head of food at M&S and has previously worked for Asda. He will take up his new role at M&S on Jan. 1. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young) … [Read more...] about Former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King to re-join M&S as non-exec director

By Leigh ThomasPARIS (Reuters) - France is on course to overshoot the European Union's budget deficit ceiling next year without new spending cuts after President Emmanuel Macron caved in to anti-government street protests.gi Macron announced wage increases for the poorest workers and a tax cut for most pensioners on Monday to defuse discontent, leaving his government scrambling to come up with extra budget savings or risk blowing through the EU's 3 percent of GDP limit.His concessions to protesters have put pressure on French bond yields with the spread over German yields spiking up to the highest level since May 2107. <DE10FR10=RR>Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was due on Tuesday to address parliament to detail how the measures will be financed in a redraft of the budget weeks before it takes effect."Under all likelihood, the 2019 public deficit will print above the 3.0 percent benchmark," Societe Generale economist Michel Martinez wrote in a research note.However, the deficit … [Read more...] about Macron’s concessions set to blow out French deficit