Tag: Euros

Dutch family sells everything to bet on bitcoins

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — A Dutch family has sold virtually all they own, including a business, their home, two cars and a motorbike and invested the takings in bitcoin just as the virtual currency is soaring to new heights. “We are putting everything into bitcoin, we’ve sold everything to invest in this currency,” Didi Taihuttu told AFP. The 39-year-old is currently living in a camping ground with his family, aiming “to put as much […]

Google hit with record 2.4-billion euro EU fine

by Alex Pigman Agence France Presse The European Union hit Google with a record 2.4-billion-euro fine Tuesday for illegally favoring its shopping service in search results, in a fresh assault on United States firms that risks the wrath of President Donald Trump. Hard-charging European Commission competition chief Margrethe Vestager said the tech giant “abused its market dominance” as the world’s most popular search engine to give an advantage to its Google Shopping service. “What Google has […]

Italy to pay up to 17 bln euros to deal with two troubled banks: govt

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy will pay up to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) to break up two insolvent Venetian banks, which have posed a threat to the country’s banking system, the government announced Sunday. Both face bankruptcy and European authorities had urged Italy to devise a rescue framework, selling off the good assets of the stricken Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca and transferring their toxic assets to a “bad bank,” essentially financed […]

European Commission fines Facebook 110 million euros over WhatsApp takeover

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CCTV) — The European Commission (EC) imposed a fine of 110 million euros (122 million U.S. dollars) on Facebook on Thursday for providing misleading information about the WhatsApp takeover. The decision was announced during a press briefing in Brussels, which came six months after the European Union’s (EU) executive arm opened a case against Facebook in December. After investigation, the Commission now concluded that Facebook has denied its capability of matching user accounts […]

Ukraine reaches prelim agreement with IMF

  by Dmitry ZAKS KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — The International Monetary Fund said Saturday it had reached a preliminary agreement with Ukraine that could see the war-scarred and cashed-starved nation receive fresh aid in the first half of the year. The news was particularly good for the ex-Soviet republic because the IMF statement referred to a loan of $1 billion (0.9 billion euros) and not the lesser sums discussed in earlier months. Ukraine also gets […]