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A new rule forcing Germans to take their dog for a walk twice a day has unleashed a discussion on whether the state may decide what is best for the nation's 9.4 million pet canines. Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner declared this week she'd taken specialist guidance and was introducing a law to ensure puppies go for a walk or run in the backyard at least two times per day for a total of an hour. "Pets are not cuddly toys - their needs have to be considered," said Kloeckner, adding pets must acquire sufficient exercise rather than be left alone for a long time. With almost one in five German houses possessing a hound, the brand new"Animal Welfare Dog Legislation", which also places limitations on the transport of farm animals in hot weather, affects a significant proportion of the population. "Compulsory Walkies for Dog Owners? Rubbish!" Composed the top-selling Bild paper in an opinion piece about the new decree. A spokesman for the VDH German D

Singing is no more risky than talking when it comes to the possibility of spreading the new coronavirus, British scientists said on Thursday, adding that quantity is the most significant risk element. Weekly, the British government altered its guidance to allow professionals and non-professionals to resume singing rehearsals and performance, bringing the essential social distancing into line with usual COVID-19 principles and removing the requirement for additional mitigations. That choice was informed by a study by scientists based at the University of Bristol, who examined the number of aerosols and droplets made by 25 professional singers that did singing, speaking, coughing and breathing exercises. The researchers discovered that the aerosol mass generated increased steeply with an increase in volume of singing or speaking, by as much as 20 to 30 times. However, singing didn't create considerably more aerosol than talking at a similar volume, and there was not a significant dif

American traders do not appear to give a hoot about their politicians' posturing at Beijing. Shares of Chinese companies in New York have rallied even as legislators try to delist themand initial public offerings are still popping. Which could be partly investment banker greed, and perhaps traders' short attention spans. But it's also an implicit bet that President Donald Trump, along with his team of China hawks, are still bluffing. Firms from the People's Republic raised $5.6 billion from the United States so far this season, over double the amount they had increased via this period in 2020. That includes chandelier-smashing pops like KE Holdings BEKE.N, which opened 75% over its IPO price a week, and you will find more in the queue. Secondary market performance has been decent too; businesses from the People's Republic recovered an average increase of 7% in the Big Apple last quarter, or 15 percent when measured by market capitalisation, according to a Breakingvi

Authorities U-turns don't come much bigger. Popular fury compelled the abandonment of hypothetical calculations of likely grades for the UK's national A-level exams this week. The decision is a reminder that even well-intentioned calculations cause many errors that are harmful. The exams, which can be crucial to college admissions, were canceled as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. The authorities used an algorithm to estimate what could have happened. The furor erupted after nearly 40% of students had their scores downgraded from the predictions of their teachers, with students from disadvantaged schools affected. It is an unusually stark and public illustration of a much larger problem. For example, versions that spit out credit scores in the United States and elsewhere can make it hard for less wealthy individuals to borrow at reasonable rates of interest, in part because a decent credit score depends on already having a list of debt. Algorithms are also used in many U.S

Here's a joke doing the rounds in Belarus, where protesters over President Alexander Lukashenko's reported landslide victory in the Aug. 9 election threaten to finish his 26-year reign. Policemen arrest a man in Minsk, the capital. "But I hunted for Lukashenko," he acknowledges. "Do not lie" the police retort,"nobody voted for him!" Lukashenko's potential death is no laughing matter for the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The protests have attracted Belarus unusually international attention. The population of 10 million and gross domestic product of less than $60 billion are far too small to get much global effect. A couple international investors maintain Belarusian debt including Fidelity and Ashmore, according to Refinitiv data. But the government has only $7 billion of bonds in global circulation. The former Soviet state is of much greater significance to its main economic ally: Russia. To keep it shut, Russia sells the country oil in bel

Beijing Kingsoft Office Software this week posted a 143% leap in first-half profit and said China's requirement for information security is boosting earnings. SS) also sees governments and finance clients as new growth engines due to replacement demand, investor relations official Guo Xing said. However, Brian Bandsma, New York-based portfolio director at Vontobel Asset Management, stated the chances in replacement requirement could be limited, given less aggressive local offerings and what might be longer-than-expected adoption rates. "Companies like Microsoft have been in existence for decades and have a very complex bit of software that is being heavily used by multiple industries. There's a reason why Microsoft is in the position it is in," explained Bandsma. "There is probably too much optimism baked into valuations in terms of what these regional organizations are going to get out of China's focus on national suppliers."

Surging iron ore sales cushioned declines in other commodities, as underlying earnings attributable to continuing operations fell 4% to $9.1 billion for its fiscal year. Boss Mike Henry intends to ditch some high-polluting energy resources, though for economical, not for ecological, motives. It still makes tactical sense. That is in sharp contrast to the Anglo-Australian team's other companies, which contracted the rear of weak rates. Henry, who took the helm of the $135 billion company at the beginning of this year, announced long-anticipated intends to divest sustainable irrigation operations, following a similar departure by rival Rio Tinto in 2018. The branch is relatively modest, but as among the most polluting fuel categories, obtaining energy coal off the books ought to please investors seeking a more environmentally sustainable BHP. The chief executive will set a bet in the Australian Bass Strait petroleum venture up available as well. There are caveats. Thermal coal repres

Corona Capital is a daily column updated during the day by Breakingviews columnists around the world with short, sharp pandemic-related insights. Sweden's 17 billion euro EQT has been investors' favoured punt on the private equity sector this year. A warning on Thursday by Chief Executive Christian Sinding, who said that the group likely wouldn't have the ability to sell many portfolio firms in 2020 amid the outbreak, has dented its darling status. Shares were down up to 10 percent in morning trading. There's scope for additional disappointment given EQT's puffed-up valuation. Even after the collapse, Sinding's business trades in 33 times next year's forecast earnings, with all Refinitiv quotes, compared with business behemoth Blackstone's multiple of 19. The premium is partly premised on rapid growth as EQT raises new funds and rakes in profit from its older ones. The additional Sinding pushes out his objectives, the larger the gap between reality and i

A bar in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district has installed fish bowl-like screens created to protect against coronavirus transmission, aiming to lure back clients worried about the dangers of COVID-19. The Jazz Lounge En Counter bar reopened in late June, having shut down for many months after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency in April. But with earnings down 70% to 80% compared with pre-pandemic amounts, the bar decided to step up efforts to make sure customers feel safer. "When we do not take firm steps we would not be reacting to customers' requests. And they would not visit us because they are concerned," said manager Katsutoshi Iwazaki. The conical, clear acrylic screens - that were demonstrated to Reuters by bar staff on a current trip - hang from the ceiling and envelop the customers' head and shouldersacting as a barrier between them along with other drinkers, in addition to servers. Workers said they, too, felt more protected. "I can

Budget travel might be the ideal way to ride out the pandemic. This seems to be thinking of Accor Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin who is eyeing a $17 billion tie-up with his peer reviewed and Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. It's easy to see why Accor's Bazin may be appearing around. The pandemic has had a dire effect on the 7 billion owner of luxury brands like the Savoy in London. It is heavily exposed to both international tourism and executive travel, both of which have endured from quarantines. Accor's earnings per room, a key metric in the hotel industry, was down 88% year-on-year in the second quarter and it's burning 80 million euros of cash a month. The $10 billion InterContinental, meanwhile, has a larger presence in the more resilient U.S. and budget markets. A marriage would have benefits for both. The combined group would be one of the largest hotel operators in the world, giving customers a wider selection

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he does not know much about the QAnon conspiracy theory movement but understands it's gaining in popularity and also has a positive view of him. "I don't know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much," Trump told reporters at a briefing. "These are people that don't like seeing what's going on in areas like Portland, in places like Chicago and New York, along with other states and cities," he added, referring to anti-racism protests that have happened throughout the country over the passing of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in May. QAnon opinions espouse an intertwined series of faith based on anonymous internet postings from someone claiming special insider knowledge of this Trump administration. The core tenet is that Trump is covertly fighting with a cabal of child-sex predators including prominent Democrats. A spokesman for Democrat Joe Biden, Trump's o

Even before the pandemic, America's colleges and universities were in crisis. It is time to question long-held orthodoxies concerning the nature and purpose of higher education. Too much of this burden rests on those seeking it because it has not been recognized as a shared obligation. According to the Federal Reserve, now's average graduate has between $20,000 and $25,000 in education debt. Complete student debt tops $1.6 trillion -- the nation's second-largest source of customer debt after mortgages. Education is a public good, and it needs to be treated like that. It doesn't just offer challenging skills and factual knowledge. It instructs us to think critically, communicate effectively, and participate in our liberal democracy. And it's the indispensable driver of economic growth and social progress. Policymakers should invest more, while allowing innovation in the delivery of educational services. The goal must be to introduce any person who desires higher educ

Sanofi Chief Executive Paul Hudson is starting a potential M&A spree at a relatively safe fashion. The French drugmaker is purchasing American biotech Principia Biopharma for $3.7 billion, boosting its presence in the lucrative field of diseases where the immune system attacks the body. Purchasing an established collaborator reduces risk, while allowing Sanofi to save on royalty payments. Sanofi has plenty of money to splash around. In May, the $127 billion pharmaceuticals group sold a $12 billion stake in U.S. biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which Hudson plans to plough back to drug development and acquisitions to replenish his pipeline and also make up for stagnant diabetes medication sales. Jefferies analysts suspect that the group has around $25 billion of firepower, after factoring in its own relatively low debt. Sanofi's close acquaintance with its target removes some of the dangers. Principia's major medications, so-called Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors, seek t

Brexit protects to stop strength managers in Britain conducting "shell" investment funds from the European Union to keep access to its markets ought to be hardwired into EU law, the bloc's securities watchdog said on Wednesday. "Moreover, in light of the withdrawal of the UK in the EU, delegation of portfolio management serves to non-EU entities is probably going to further increase," ESMA stated in a letter to the bloc's financial services leader Valdis Dombrovskis. ESMA said there was virtue in providing"better legal drafting" in the bloc's laws on substance and delegation requirements in keeping with its earlier Brexit guidance. The EU might want to back up the"qualitative" standards on material using apparent quantitative criteria, or offer a list of heart or critical functions which might not be assigned at other and mutual funds, ESMA explained. "It is also doubtful that Luxembourg and Ireland is going to be happy with this

U.S. judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit to block subpoena for tax records Jay Sekulow, an attorney for Trump, told Reuters that the president would appeal the ruling and seek to delay enforcement of the subpoena. The subpoena is related to an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. In a court filing last month, Vance said his analysis was tied into"alleged insurance and bank fraud by the Trump Organization and its officers," among other things. Trump, who's campaigning for re-election at November, has fought efforts by lawmakers and prosecutors to receive his tax records, which should shed light on his financial dealings.

Some European Union regulators objected to Ireland's preliminary ruling in a landmark solitude evaluation of Twitter, the lead regulator said on Thursday, triggering a procedure where a vast majority decision will be sought. Twitter had seemed set to become the first huge technology company to confront a fine by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) under rougher EU data protection principles after it filed the choice to other member states in May. Underneath the EU's General Data Protection Regulation's (GDPR)"One Stop Shop" program introduced in 2018, authorities can impose penalties for violations of up to 4% of a organization's global revenue or 20 million euros ($22 million), whichever is greater. Ireland hosts the European headquarters of a range of U.S. technology businesses, producing its the EU's lead regulator for firms including Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Google. But it must discuss its preliminary decision with all concerned EU super

A firefighting helicopter pilot has been killed in a crash, and scores of homes burned in California on Wednesday as countless lightning-sparked blazes forced thousands of people to flee their dwellings. Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes were documented during a 72-hour stretch this week at the heaviest spate of thunderstorms to hit California in more than a decade, igniting 367 individual fires. Nearly two dozen of these have grown into major conflagrations, police said. Multiple fires raced through hills and mountains adjacent to Northern California's drought-parched wine country, shutting down Interstate 80 at Fairfield, about 35 miles (56 kilometers ) southwest of Sacramento, as flames leapt across the street, trapping drivers caught in a hectic evacuation. Police in the nearby town of Vacaville reported that advancing flames had prompted the evacuation of a state prison and a medical facility for offenders. Four taxpayers whose communities were overrun by flames hours before in

Connect to pay Additional $240 million to investors in collapsed Woodford Finance The latest supply, which is due to be paid on or around Aug. 26, takes the whole amount of cash returned to investors through the sale of its assets to 2.45 billion pounds. "It is supposed that further funding distributions will be created as and when suitable amounts of cash have been increased from the sale of the remaining assets of the Fund," Link said, while warning investors the resources were less liquid and sales may take a while. "This usually means that the method will drag on for much longer for investors, who only wish to get as much of the money back as possible and proceed from the sorry saga," AJ Bell analyst Laura Suter stated. The LF Equity Income fund, which once enjoyed the backing of investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HRGV.L), was suspended from June 2019 later it was unable to fulfill requests for investor following a period of underperformance. ($1 = 0.7628

His suggestion was the latest in a series of unorthodox treatments put forward from the president cabinet over the previous six months, ranging from prayer to rice wrapped in banana-leaf to chamomile necklaces. The treatments reflect the unscientific approach to fighting the coronavirus from the planet's fourth-most populous nation, in which the speed of testing is among the world's lowest, contact tracing is minimum, and authorities have resisted lockdowns even as illnesses spiked. Including people who perished with acute COVID-19 symptoms but were not tested, the death toll is three times higher. It currently has the fastest disease distributed in East Asia, with 17% of people tested turning out positive, rising near 25 percent outside the capital, Jakarta. Statistics above 5 percent imply an outbreak is not under control, according to the World Health Organization. "This virus has already spread around Indonesia. What we are doing is basically herd immunity," expla

Thought to be in her early 30s, Kim Yo Jong is the leader's only near relative with a general role in politics, recently spearheading a brand new, tougher campaign to put pressure on South Korea. Ha Tae-keung, an opposition party lawmaker on parliament's intelligence ministry, told colleagues that Kim was helping to run the regime with faked authority from her brother. "The bottom line is that Kim Jong Un still holds absolute power, but has turned into over a bit more of his authority compared to the past," Ha said, after a closed-door briefing from the South's National Intelligence Service. "Kim Yo Jong is a de facto second-in-command," Ha added in a transcript of remarks seen by Reuters. More authority on military and economic policy continues to be assigned to several other senior officials, but at a lower level, maybe to reduce strain on Kim Jong Un as well as help him avert blame for any failures, Ha said. Kim Yo Jong won fame before her brother'

Welcome to the hottest partisan flash point in the U.S. presidential election: the ballot drop box. Since U.S. election officials gird for a dramatic expansion of mail voting in the Nov. 3 election, Democrats across the country are promoting fall boxes as a convenient and reliable solution for voters who do not want to entrust their ballots into the U.S. Postal Service. President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, meanwhile, has sued to stop their use in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, alleging that the receptacles could enable voting fraud. Republican officials in other states have prevented their use. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett advised a U.S. Senate committee in July that drop boxes could empower people to violate a state law against collecting ballots. In Missouri, Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft decided not to distribute 80 drop boxes he'd purchased because state legislation requires those ballots to be returned by email. "We didn'

Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday assailed his successor, Donald Trump, as profoundly unfit for the office that he occupies and contended that voting for his former No. 2, Joe Biden, was crucial to guarantee the survival of American democracy. "He has shown no interest in putting in the job; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in utilizing the awesome power of his office to assist anybody but himself and his buddies; no interest in handling the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he wants," Obama said of Trump during the night of the Democratic National Convention. After avoiding direct criticism for most of Trump's first semester, the scathing broadsides from Obama comprised an unusually harsh evaluation of a single president by yet another - though Trump has rarely hesitated to assault Obama, frequently leveling accusations of misconduct with no evidence. Obama blamed Trump for the 170,000 Ame

From the greatest speech of his nearly 50 years in public life, Joe Biden will spell out his vision to its presidency on Thursday when he accepts the Democratic nomination to challenge Donald Trump from the Nov. 3 U.S. election. Biden's address about the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention will be a crowning moment in a lengthy political career for the former U.S. senator and vice president, who fared poorly in two previous runs for the White House in 1988 and 2008. It will conclude a nominating convention that has been held almost amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the party's biggest names, rising stars and perhaps even prominent Republicans lining up via video to encourage Biden and attest to the urgency of ending what they called Trump's disorderly presidency. Biden's vice presidential choice, Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American on a significant presidential ticket, approved her nomination on Wednesday and accused Trump

Police in the city of Portland said that they fired bunch control munitions and tear gas on Wednesday night to break up a gathering of approximately 200 people who threw stone, lit fires and vandalized a U.S. immigration bureau building. Law enforcement officials had declared a riot to get a second successive night, calling a demonstration near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office a"unlawful assembly". Federal officers fired pepper balls and set off a few smoke apparatus, the Oregonian newspaper reported previously. Protests against racism and police brutality have swept the United States since the death on May 25 of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American guy, after a white police officer knelt on his throat for nearly nine minutes. The Portland protests are one of those that have erupted sometimes in arson and violence, with federal officers delivered to the northwestern city repeatedly clashing with crowds targeting its own national courthouse. Wednesd

Belarus established a criminal case on Thursday against a new resistance body, accusing it of an illegal attempt to grab power, a day after President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to sweep the roads of protesters who reject his own re-election. Belarus has been facing its biggest political crisis since the breakup of the Soviet Union, with tens of thousands of demonstrators rejecting Lukashenko's success in an Aug. 9 vote his opponents say was rigged. Opponents of Lukashenko, a gruff former collective farm manager in power for 26 years, unveiled the Coordination Council on Tuesday with the stated goal of negotiating a transfer of power. Its heaps of members incorporate a Nobel Prize-winning writer and the ousted head of Minsk's main drama theatre, in addition to exiled presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, whose followers say she won the election. The general prosecutor's office explained the body as designed to seize power, calling the action of setting it up

CHINA has issued an immediate threat to democratic campaigners in Taiwan - cautioning them continuing opposition to the one-China principle is going to result in them becoming"burnt" and needing to"swallow the bitter fruit". The concept comes in a time of heightened tension between China and the US, with the USS Mustin delivered through the Taiwan Straits yesterday in a move which prompted furious condemnation from Beijing. The one-China principle sums up Beijing's attitude towards the island formally referred to as the Republic of China, which it regards as being a part of its territory. Present President Tsai Ing-wen is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, and as such is dedicated to Taiwan keeping its independence. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian was speaking in response to a statement issued from the Somali Ministry Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which yesterday launched a stinging assault on Taiwan, accusing it of a&q

The Federal Reserve awakened the financial markets Wednesday by not what they did, but what they didn't do. The minutes from last month's U.S. Federal Reserve assembly gave few clues about whether an even more dovish change in its policy frame is possible in the fall. The news came as a disappointment to a U.S. Dollar bears, setting off a chain-reaction from the financial markets, headed by a spike to the upside from the greenback. The spike in the dollar drove gold prices drastically reduced while inviting investors to also ditch the Euro and the high-flying Australian Dollar. Key Issue: Average Inflation Target Although most investors assumed the Fed minutes wouldn't reveal a lot of secrets about future Fed policy, speculation was rife the Fed will embrace an ordinary inflation target, and attempt to push inflation above 2% to make up for years it's run under, within a wider policy review, Reuters said. But the moments were vague about the issue and only said,"so

Britney Spears' requests on her longstanding conservatorship have gone unaddressed, days after the singer asked her father, Jamie Spears, be removed as her conservator. In a hearing Wednesday, Jamie's function in Britney's conservatorship remained unchanged, according to the most recent court docs obtained by ET. Britney's lawyer, Samuel Ingham, has until Sept. 18 to file a request. Britney fans held a #FreeBritney protest outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles throughout the hearing. Elizabeth Dinon, a supporter of the #FreeBritney motion, tells ET that the singer's ex-husband, Jason Alexander, was in attendance and came to the protest about 11:30 a.m. Dinon describes Alexander as with a"good spirit" and says he informed her that he was there because he stands with the #FreeBritney movement. "He is really happy to be here, super friendly, extremely grateful for us and this," Dinon says. In court records obtained by ET before this wee

Facebook Inc won preliminary approval late on Wednesday from a federal court for compensation of a lawsuit that claimed it collected and stored biometric data of millions of consumers without their approval. The social networking company had in July raised its settlement offer by $100 million to $650 million concerning the lawsuit, where Illinois users accused it of violating the U.S. state's Biometric Information Privacy Act. "Preliminary approval of the amended stipulation of class action compensation, Dkt. No. 468, is awarded, and a final approval hearing is set for January 7, 2021," the judge said in the eight-page purchase. Facebook allegedly violated the nation's law by its"Tag Suggestions" feature, which allowed users to recognize that their Facebook buddies from previously uploaded photos, according to the suit, which began in 2015. The business has recently faced criticism from lawmakers and regulators over its privacy practices.

TikTok celebrity Bryce Hall's house may have gone dim on Wednesday. The New York Times reports that the star has recently thrown crowded home parties amid the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in an order from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to close off the energy and water into the influencer's house. TMZ reported that water has been shut off in the property also, although Times reporter Taylor Lorenz said differently on Twitter. TIKTOK STARS BRYCE HALL, JADEN HOSSLER ARRESTED FOR DRUG POSSESSION: REPORTS TikTok stars Bryce Hall and Jaden Hossler, both members of the collective Sway House, reportedly have been detained on charges of drug possession. Hall, 20, allegedly was charged with possession of less than two ounces of marijuana -- a misdemeanor -- while Hossler, 19, has been charged with possession of less than two oz of marijuana and less than 400 grams of a controlled substance -- a felony. Hall posted $5,000 bail and Hossler posted $6,500 bond Tuesday, reports said. Aft

Since the U.S.-China"tech war" widens, investors are betting on China's attempts to substitute U.S. technology with indigenous applications to operate networks in the state sector. In recent months, both local authorities and state companies such as China Telecom have announced plans and procurements aimed at boosting a home-grown tech ecosystem to animate equipment from the likes of Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and IBM. An index tracking Chinese IT stocks .CSIINT has soared nearly 30 percent this season, doubling blue-chip gains .CSI300. "We're seeing more U.S. actions against China, and also the future tends to be'one world, two systems'," said Wu Kan, portfolio director at Soochow Securities Co, who has spent in local tech leaders including China National Software & Service Co Ltd (600536. SS). "Any segment that confronts decoupling risks represents big investment opportunities." Some market watchers warn valuations of China technology s

Former President Barack Obama tonight implored Americans to not sit out the Nov. 3 election, urging the country to "keep pushing in the face of hardship and injustice." "To the young people who directed us this summer, telling us we need to be better, in lots of ways, you're this country's fantasies fulfilled. Earlier generations needed to be convinced that everybody has equal value. For you, it is a given -- a certainty. And what I want you to know is that for all its messiness and frustrations, the body of self-government could be harnessed to assist you comprehend those convictions," Obama said from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. "You can present our democracy brand new significance. You can take it to some better location. You are the missing component -- the ones who will choose whether America becomes the nation that fully lives up to its creed." Democrats also have expected to harness Obama's still-high fame in th