The Irish watchdog fined WhatsApp a record €225 million for violating EU data protection rules. The messenger was accused of insufficiently informing users about the collection and use of their personal information. The company intends to appeal the decision. The Data Protection Commission of Ireland has fined messenger WhatsApp for €225 million for violating EU rules on user privacy. The...

German media concern Axel Springer announced purchase of the American publication Politico from its founder Robert Allbritton. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but according to American media reports citing sources, the transaction amounted to $1 billion. Axel Springer is buying the publication Politico in full, including a 50% stake in its European business (the...

Two major airlines announced introduction of mandatory vaccinations for their employees. Lufthansa will limit the requirement to crews working on flights, while Delta Air Lines is ready to charge additional fees to all employees who are not vaccinated by November. Reuters reported, citing a statement from the German carrier, that Lufthansa is still negotiating with the union representatives to...

Facebook has reached out to academics and experts over plans to create an advisory body for elections around the world. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT), citing five sources. Two of them said that creating a third-party expert commission would allow the social network to avoid accusations of political bias. Facebook's election commission, in particular, would address issues of...

The number of applications for new companies in the U.S. has risen to a record high after decades of declining entrepreneurial activity. The coronavirus pandemic appears to have triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity in the United States, which has seen a decline in startups for decades. The New York Times reported this, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, Americans filed...

China has announced the need to fight "excessive income", Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting on financial and economic affairs. He called on citizens and companies with high incomes to "give more to society" so that "universal prosperity" can be achieved, as socialism demands.  "Universal prosperity is the prosperity of all people. It is the material and spiritual life of...

Net profit of Carlsberg Group, one of the world's leading beer producers, attributable to shareholders increased by 6% in annual terms in the first half of 2021 and reached 3.027 billion Danish kroner ($479.6 million), according to the company's financial statements. Diluted earnings per share for the six months were 20.9 kroner ($3.3) compared with earnings of 19.4 kroner ($3.07) a year earlier....

Australian company BHP Group - the largest mining company in the world - announced a merger of its oil and gas division with another Australian company Woodside Petroleum. Woodside will pay for these assets with its shares, so now a 48 percent stake in this company will belong to BHP shareholders. The current shareholders of Woodside will retain 52% of the shares. Thus, the oil and gas division...

The largest oil producer Saudi Aramco plans to buy shares of Reliance Industries holding owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, Bloomberg reports referring to its sources. Reliance is also engaged in oil and gas production and refining. Saudi Aramco intends to enter Reliance through a $20 billion to $25 billion acquisition of a 20 percent stake. The deal will close in the coming weeks,...