BUSINESS
Sony to unveil PlayStation subscription as soon as next week
The service, which has been in development under the codename Spartacus, is Sony’s answer to Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Game Pass, a sort of Netflix for video games that has amassed more than 25 million subscribers.
BUSINESS
As BRIC Fund assets collapse, Jim O’Neill Is keeping away
Two of the largest surviving funds, Schroder International Selection Fund - BRIC and Templeton BRIC Fund, started in 2005.
BUSINESS
Apple pays another round of rare $200,000 bonuses to some staff
Apple doled out the bonuses in recent days to a select group of employees in its software and hardware engineering departments.
BONDS
Rhino bond sold by World Bank in first issuance of its kind
The world’s first wildlife bond will be a five-year bond that will pay returns determined by the rate of growth in populations of black rhinos in two South African reserves.
BUSINESS
Uber will list New York taxis on its App in new alliance
The ride-hailing giant reached a deal with the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission’s technology partners, Creative Mobile Technologies and Curb Mobility, the companies said.
WORLD
EU analysis suggests China may send Tech Hardware to help Putin
The EU is concerned that China is ready to help President Vladimir Putin’s government weather the economic penalties it has put in place along with the U.S., the U.K. and Japan.
BUSINESS
Meta trades like value stock after $500 Billion rout
Meta now sells for less than 15 times estimated earnings, making it cheaper than the S&P 500 Value Index of companies.
BUSINESS
The U.S. dollar’s dominance is being stealthily eroded
BUSINESS
Instacart slashes its valuation by almost 40% to $24 billion
Instacart, best known for an app that lets consumers order groceries online from a range of stores, became a designated essential service at the height of the pandemic.
WORLD
Energy consumers pledge ‘Radical’ cutbacks in Russian imports
All of the IEA’s 31 members -- which includes the U.S., Japan and Germany -- outlined individual polices and plans to immediately reduce their intake following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
WORLD
Putin stirs U.S. concern that he feels cornered and may lash out
The internal assessment of senior officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, is that Putin’s tendency when boxed in is to escalate rather than back down.
BUSINESS
Edward Johnson III, fund pioneer at Fidelity, dies at 91
He died on March 23 in Florida, according to Fidelity. No cause was given. He was a resident of Wellington, Florida, according to the firm.
BUSINESS
Apple is working on a hardware subscription service for iPhones
The service would be Apple’s biggest push yet into automatically recurring sales, allowing users to subscribe to hardware for the first time -- rather than just digital services.
WORLD
Vladimir Putin’s war seen wiping out 15 years of Russian economic growth
The economy is expected to contract 15 percent in 2022, followed by a decline of 3 percent in 2023, leaving gross domestic product where it was about fifteen years ago, economists Benjamin Hilgenstock and Elina Ribakova wrote in a preliminary assessment of the impact of the war, noting that further sanctions may change their view.
WORLD
US hits Russian lawmakers, defense sector with new sanctions
The United States will impose full blocking sanctions on more than 400 individuals and entities, including the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, and 328 of its members, more than a dozen Russian elites and 48 Russian defense companies.
BUSINESS
A dotcom era pioneer in India readies second startup for an IPO
Mumbai-headquartered Netcore is a software-as-a-service, or SaaS, startup that specializes in offering customer communication and engagement solutions to businesses. It bought about a 90 percent stake in San Mateo, California-based e-commerce search-personalization company Unbxd Inc.
BUSINESS
Sanjiv Goenka Group scouts for Retail, IT sector targets
The group, with $4 billion in annual revenues, is also scouting for targets in power utilities as well as IT-enabled services, where it has already bought three companies in the past 12 months.
BUSINESS
NASA to seek a second moon lander, giving Bezos new opening
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to release a draft request for proposals by the end of March for moon lander concepts for missions after the Artemis III program, which aims to bring astronauts to the moon in 2025, the agency announced Wednesday. The initial lunar landings for Artemis will be supported by SpaceX.
BUSINESS
Tencent declares ‘Reckless’ tech era over as growth tanks
Co-founder Pony Ma and President Martin Lau led executives in endorsing Beijing’s year-long crackdown on Big Tech. They pointed out it mirrored a backlash against the enormous power of internet giants globally and argued more regulation will lead to healthier growth in the long run.
BUSINESS
Star chef José Andrés is sending Ibérico Ham into space
Details of the deal with Axiom were not disclosed, but Andrés will be using some of his own products, including his eponymous olive oil from Casas de Hualdo and La Cala almonds, packaged by famed chef Albert Adrià. The food will be thermostabilized to prevent spoilage and make it suitable for space travel.
BUSINESS
Here’s how Hollywood Is helping Ukraine during Oscars week
Co-host Amy Schumer suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speak at the Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which hosts the show, hasn’t publicly commented on her proposal. Other stars are raising money on their own or participating in a telethon to help the Ukrainian people.
BUSINESS
Vladimir Putin adviser Anatoly Chubais quits over Ukraine war, leaves Russia
Anatoly Chubais, 66, is one of the few 1990s-era economic reformers who’d remained in Putin’s government and had maintained close ties with Western officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
BUSINESS
Vaccine passports likely to become unnecessary, Airline Alliance CEO says
“There’s no way that this has been integrated in one place,” Star Alliance Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Goh said in an interview in Singapore. “If you look to the future, if we were all vaccinated, or if we were all 90% vaccinated, why would you get a vaccination certificate? There will come to a point where maybe you don’t really need this.”
BUSINESS
Russian stock trading to resume after record market shutdown
Even with the ban on short selling, local traders and strategists are bracing for a selloff, as international sanctions hit everything from Russia’s ability to access foreign reserves to the SWIFT bank-messaging system.
