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UK’s Conservatives face leadership “bloodbath” as party seeks new direction

By Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) – The recriminations and jostling for top positions among Britain’s Conservative lawmakers began long before Thursday’s crushing election defeat to Labour that some party figures said left the party facing the prospect of a decade out of power. After 14 years in government – the last eight marked by chaos and divisions following the Brexit vote – the Conservatives are now confronted by an internal struggle among lawmakers, grassroots members … Read more…

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Crypto hacking thefts double to $1.4 billion in first half of 2024, researchers say

LONDON (Reuters) – The amount of cryptocurrency stolen in hacks globally more than doubled in the first six months of 2024 from a year earlier, driven by a small number of large attacks and rising crypto prices, blockchain researchers TRM Labs said on Friday. Hackers had stolen more than $1.38 billion worth of crypto by June 24, 2024, compared with $657 million in the same period in 2023, TRM Labs said in a report. The … Read more…

Robinhood considering offering crypto futures in US, Europe, Bloomberg reports

(Reuters) – Robinhood Markets is considering offering cryptocurrency futures in the U.S. and Europe in the coming months, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The commission-free trading app is hoping to use the licenses of crypto exchange Bitstamp, which it agreed to buy last month in a $200 million deal, once the transaction closes next year, the report said. It also wants to launch CME-based futures in the U.S. for … Read more…

Musk suggests late Twitter disclosure was a mistake, seeks to end lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk wants to dismiss a lawsuit by former Twitter shareholders who said he waited too long in early 2022 to reveal his large ownership stake in the social media company, saying “all indications” show his delay was a mistake. In a late Wednesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Musk called it implausible to believe he wanted to defraud shareholders who didn’t know he had taken a … Read more…

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VP Harris top choice to replace Biden in election race if he steps aside, sources say

By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to replace U.S. President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic. Biden’s fumbling, sometimes-incoherent and widely-panned first-debate performance against Republican rival Donald Trump last week set off a wave of panic within … Read more…

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Meta’s pay or consent model in crosshairs for breaching EU tech rules

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Meta Platforms was charged by EU antitrust regulators on Monday for failing to comply with landmark tech rules as they took aim at the U.S. company’s newly introduced pay or consent advertising model, already the target of privacy regulators and activists’ ire. The tech giant launched the no-ads subscription service for Facebook and Instagram in Europe last November, saying users who consent to be tracked get a free service … Read more…

Skydance Media’s deal to gain control of Paramount could be sealed this weekend, sources say

By Dawn Chmielewski (Reuters) – Skydance Media’s deal to acquire theater operator National Amusements, with its controlling interest in Paramount Global, could be finalized by Monday, sources familiar with the deal process said. Parties are expected to work throughout the weekend to finalize the deal before Tuesday’s start of Allen & Co’s annual gathering of technology and media titans in Sun Valley, Idaho, which Paramount Global Chair Shari Redstone typically attends. Skydance Media, an independent … Read more…

Exclusive-KKR to buy Varsity Brands from Bain Capital for $4.75 billion, sources say

By Abigail Summerville (Reuters) – Private equity firm KKR & Co agreed to acquire Varsity Brands, a U.S. maker of sports uniforms and school yearbooks, from buyout firm Bain Capital for about $4.75 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. KKR will own Varsity Brands through its Americas private equity fund, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the deal has not yet been announced. KKR has committed to offering rank-and-file employees … Read more…

US FDA approves Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave a green light to Eli Lilly’s donanemab for patients with early Alzheimer’s, making it the second approved drug for slowing the progress of the brain-wasting disease. The approval for the drug branded Kisunla is in line with the recommendations of the agency’s outside experts who unanimously backed the use of the drug in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, saying that the benefits of the drug outweighed … Read more…

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Exclusive-Vista Equity in talks to hand over Pluralsight to creditors, sources say

By Milana Vinn (Reuters) – Private equity firm Vista Equity is in talks to cede control of its company Pluralsight to lenders, according to three people familiar with the matter and fund documents reviewed by Reuters. The financial information in the documents sheds light on how Pluralsight is set to become the first major debt restructuring of a company that borrowed from “shadow banks”. The term is used on Wall Street to describe lenders that … Read more…