By SYDNEY (Reuters) - The U.S. government has asked Australia to scrap proposed laws that will make it the first country in the world to force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news sourced from local media outlets.Slideshow In a submission asking the government to “suspend” the plans, assistant U.S. trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers, suggested Australia instead “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code.”Under the law, which has broad political support and is currently before a senate committee, Google and Facebook will be...…By SYDNEY (Reuters) - The U.S. government has asked Australia to scrap proposed laws that will make it the first country in the world to force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news sourced from local media outlets.Slideshow In a submission asking the government to “suspend” the plans, assistant U.S. trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers, suggested Australia instead “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code.”Under the law, which has broad political support and is currently before a senate committee, Google and Facebook will be...WW…

By SYDNEY (Reuters) - Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do, by using their gaze to “point” and ask for help, researchers said in a study published on Wednesday.The study involved 11 kangaroos that lived in captivity but had not been domesticated. Ten of the 11 marsupials intently gazed at researchers when they were unable to open a box with food, according to the report. Nine alternately looked at the human and at the container, as a way of pointing or gesturing toward the object.“We interpreted this as a deliberate form of communication, a...…By SYDNEY (Reuters) - Kangaroos can learn to communicate with humans similar to how domesticated dogs do, by using their gaze to “point” and ask for help, researchers said in a study published on Wednesday.The study involved 11 kangaroos that lived in captivity but had not been domesticated. Ten of the 11 marsupials intently gazed at researchers when they were unable to open a box with food, according to the report. Nine alternately looked at the human and at the container, as a way of pointing or gesturing toward the object.“We interpreted this as a deliberate form of communication, a...WW…

By SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia cancelled the production of a locally made vaccine against COVID-19 after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis, with the government instead securing additional doses of rival vaccines.Antibodies generated by the vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) and biotech firm CSL, one of four candidates contracted by the Australian government, were found to lead to some false positive HIV test results, the makers said.While the vaccine had elicited a “robust” immune response to the novel SARS-COV-2 virus without serious adverse...…By SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia cancelled the production of a locally made vaccine against COVID-19 after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis, with the government instead securing additional doses of rival vaccines.Antibodies generated by the vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) and biotech firm CSL, one of four candidates contracted by the Australian government, were found to lead to some false positive HIV test results, the makers said.While the vaccine had elicited a “robust” immune response to the novel SARS-COV-2 virus without serious adverse...WW…

By , SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian share markets began the new month with a bang on Tuesday, buoyed by the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine fueling a global economic recovery, buoyant Chinese factory activity and expectations of continuing fiscal and monetary support.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.08% after closing the month 9% higher, the best November since 2001.China’s blue-chip CSI300 index jumped to be 1.56% higher on Tuesday, after a business survey showed on Tuesday activity in China’s factory sector accelerated at the fastest pace in a decade in...…By , SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Asian share markets began the new month with a bang on Tuesday, buoyed by the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine fueling a global economic recovery, buoyant Chinese factory activity and expectations of continuing fiscal and monetary support.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.08% after closing the month 9% higher, the best November since 2001.China’s blue-chip CSI300 index jumped to be 1.56% higher on Tuesday, after a business survey showed on Tuesday activity in China’s factory sector accelerated at the fastest pace in a decade in...WW…

FRANKFURT/SYDNEY/HONG KONG/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank laid-off staff from Sydney to New York on Monday as it began 18,000 job cuts in a 7.4 billion euro ($8.3 billion) “reinvention” which will lead to yet another annual loss and knocked its already battered shares. Germany’s largest lender said on Sunday it would scrap its global equities operations and cut some in fixed income in a retreat from a long-held ambition to make its struggling investment bank, with 38,000 staff, a force on Wall Street. Shares in Deutsche Bank, which has almost 91,500 staff around the world, erased...…FRANKFURT/SYDNEY/HONG KONG/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank laid-off staff from Sydney to New York on Monday as it began 18,000 job cuts in a 7.4 billion euro ($8.3 billion) “reinvention” which will lead to yet another annual loss and knocked its already battered shares. Germany’s largest lender said on Sunday it would scrap its global equities operations and cut some in fixed income in a retreat from a long-held ambition to make its struggling investment bank, with 38,000 staff, a force on Wall Street. Shares in Deutsche Bank, which has almost 91,500 staff around the world, erased...WW…