The trial is the government’s next best shot at curbing what a judge has ruled is Google’s monopoly power

International News via Reuters:

Alphabet’s Google will seek to avoid a forced sale of part of its online advertising business in its latest face-off with U.S. antitrust enforcers at a trial starting on Monday in Alexandria, Virginia.

The trial is the government’s next best shot at curbing what a judge has ruled is Google’s monopoly power, after losing a separate bid to make Google sell its Chrome browser earlier this month. Online publishers and rival ad tech developers, some of whom have separately sued Google for damages, will be watching the case closely.

The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states are seeking to make Google sell its ad exchange, AdX, where online publishers pay Google a 20% fee to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load websites. The government also seeks to require Google to make the mechanism that decides the winner of those auctions open source.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who will preside over the trial, ruled in April that Google holds unlawful monopolies in web advertising technology. After this week’s trial, she will decide what remedies to impose on the company.

The company has asked Brinkema to take the same cautious approach as a judge in Washington, D.C., who recently rejected most of the DOJ’s proposals in a separate case over Google’s monopoly in online search.

The cases against Google are part of a larger bipartisan crackdown by the U.S. on big tech firms, which began during President Donald Trump’s first term and includes cases still pending against Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple.

Google says the DOJ’s proposal is technically unworkable and would lead to prolonged uncertainty for advertisers and publishers. 

Google had previously offered to sell AdX, however, during private negotiations to end an EU antitrust investigation, Reuters reported last year. Google’s internal studies on that potential sale may come into evidence at this week’s trial.

Instead of selling AdX, Google has now proposed changing its policies to make it easier for publishers to use and support competing platforms. The DOJ has said such requirements alone are not adequate to restore competition.

A former News Corp executive and executives at DailyMail.com and Advance Local, which operates local news outlets in eight states, are among those expected to testify at the trial.

Some of those witnesses testified last year when the DOJ convinced Brinkema that Google locked publishers into using its publisher ad server – a platform used by websites to store and manage their digital ad inventory – by unlawfully tying the platform to Google AdX.

Doing so allowed Google to engage in practices that were not in publishers’ interests, such as giving Google’s advertisers the first and last opportunity to bid on ads, Brinkema wrote in her April ruling.

If the DOJ’s proposals have not bolstered competition within four years, Google should also be required to sell its publisher ad server, the government said in court papers.

Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by Edmund Klamann

Financial terms of the deal, expected to close in early 2026, were not disclosed

International News via Reuters:

CMA CGM on Monday announced the acquisition of Freightliner UK Intermodal Logistics, a rail logistics specialist, as the French shipping group continues to expand its presence in non-maritime transport.

Financial terms of the deal, expected to close in early 2026, were not disclosed.

Freightliner UK transports containers between British ports and inland terminals, handling 770,000 containers last year, CMA CGM said.

Freightliner UK, which also runs lorry services, will operate as a standalone business within CMA CGM. Its current owner Freightliner Group will retain bulk cargo and non-UK activities.

CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping line that is controlled by the French-Lebanese Saade family, has invested heavily in land and air logistics to be less reliant on a volatile shipping sector.

Logistics accounted for around a third of its group sales last year.

Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

Law enforcement was involved to investigate, the agency ENISA said in a statement, without providing details on where the cyberattack originated from

International News via Reuters:

Several of Europe’s biggest airports still faced disruptions on Monday after hackers knocked out automatic check-in systems provided by Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, affecting dozens of flights and thousands of passengers since Friday.

The disruptions were caused by a cyberattack, the EU’s cybersecurity agency confirmed on Monday, highlighting the growing risks of such attacks to critical infrastructure and industries.

Law enforcement was involved to investigate, the agency ENISA said in a statement, without providing details on where the cyberattack originated from.

Governments and companies have been the targets of cyberattacks in recent months, including luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, which had to pause production as a result.

Collins said on Monday that it was working with the affected airports, including Brussels and London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, and was in the final stages of completing updates to help restore full functionality.

Berlin airport, which was facing higher passenger numbers than usual on Monday due to the Berlin Marathon, still did not have its check-in systems restored and reported delays of over an hour for departures.

One passenger described the boarding process as akin to the early decades of commercial air travel, with handwritten boarding passes.

Brussels Airport was using iPads and laptops to check passengers in online. Of roughly 550 departing and arriving flights, 60 had to be cancelled on Monday, it said.

Dublin Airport was experiencing “minimal impact” and had some manual processes in place.

A survey of some 1,000 companies by German industry group Bitkom found that ransomware – malicious software that locks up data until the victim pays to have access restored – was the most common form of cyberattack, with one in seven companies having paid a ransom.

Reporting by Chrisoph Steitz in Frankfurt, Klaus Lauer and Sabine Siebold in Berlin, Bart Meijer in Brussels, Conor Humphries in Dublin, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More and Bernadette Baum

Roche acquired this drug candidate in late 2023 when it acquired U.S. biotech firm Carmot Therapeutics

International News via Reuters:

Shares in Roche Holding rose around 2% on Monday, outperforming a broadly unchanged European healthcare index, as the drugmaker said it was advancing its experimental obesity drug CT-388 to a late-stage clinical trial.

Roche acquired this drug candidate in late 2023 when it acquired U.S. biotech firm Carmot Therapeutics in its first major bid to challenge the dominant makers of weight-loss drugs Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Roche shares jumped nearly 5% when it reported results from an early-stage trial of this drug showing it led to significant weight loss.

The Swiss drugmaker was presenting an update on its obesity drugs pipeline at an investor day in London. Roche’s pharmaceutical division head Teresa Graham told investors that the company aims to become a major player in the lucrative obesity drug market and plans to secure a strong entry to this market with competitive products by 2030.

“Our goal is to become a Top 3 player (in the obesity drug market), and I want you to know I’m serious about this goal,” Teresa Graham, the head of Roche’s pharmaceutical division, told investors, saying that Roche had a track record of successfully moving into new therapeutic areas with competitive drugs that became blockbusters.

Reporting by Maggie Fick; editing by Danilo Masoni and Louise Heavens

The military-led government in Guinea, which is home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, already missed a December 31, 2024 deadline it had set itself for a return to civilian rule

International News via Reuters:

Guinea holds a long-awaited referendum on Sunday on a new constitution that could permit coup leader Mamady Doumbouya to run for president if he chose to, something he vowed not to do when he seized power in 2021.

The military-led government in Guinea, which is home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, already missed a December 31, 2024 deadline it had set itself for a return to civilian rule. Its presidential election is currently expected to take place in December.

Critics fear the constitutional referendum is the latest attempt by a military-run government to legitimise its rule in West and Central Africa, where eight coups between 2020 and 2023 reshaped the regional political landscape.

While the referendum is seen as a step towards elections and the return to civilian rule in Guinea, Doumbouya’s opponents have criticised it as a power grab by him.

Doumbouya has not said yet whether he intends to run for office. A transition charter adopted by his government after it took power said junta members would be barred from standing in the next election.

The referendum seems likely to pass because the two main opposition leaders, Cellou Dalein Diallo and deposed former President Alpha Conde, have called for a boycott of the vote.

Their parties are currently suspended, and Human Rights Watch has accused the government of disappearing political opponents and arbitrarily suspending media outlets.

The government has denied any role in disappearances but has vowed to investigate such allegations.

Voting centres were scheduled to open at 7 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Sunday and close at 6 p.m. (1800 GMT). It is unclear when results are expected.

The new constitution would lengthen the presidential term from five years to seven, renewable once, and create a Senate, with one-third of senators directly appointed by the president.

In the final days of campaigning, the capital Conakry was dotted with small white posters featuring the word “Yes” next to a green checkmark.

On Thursday, S&P Global Ratings assigned Guinea its first-ever sovereign rating, B+ with a stable outlook. This makes Guinea the third best-rated economy in West Africa, according to the ratings agency.

It noted, however, that despite some progress towards establishing a civilian administration, “social needs are high and tensions with the opposition are elevated with accusation of arbitrary arrests and rising pressure on the media”.

Reporting by Guinea newsroomWriting by Portia CroweEditing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Frances Kerry

Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in China

International News via Reuters:

A Chinese journalist jailed for four years after documenting the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak from the pandemic’s epicentre was sentenced on Friday to four more years in prison, Reporters Without Borders said.

Zhang Zhan, 42, was sentenced on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in China, the same charge that led to her December 2020 imprisonment after she posted first-hand accounts from the central city of Wuhan on the early spread of coronavirus, the international press freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, said on Saturday.

China’s Foreign Ministry could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment. Reuters could not determine whether the citizen-journalist had legal representation.

“She should be celebrated globally as an ‘information hero’, not trapped in brutal prison conditions,” RSF Asia-Pacific advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska said in a statement.

“Her ordeal and persecution must end. It is more urgent than ever for the international diplomatic community to pressure Beijing for her immediate release.”

Zhang was initially arrested after months of posting accounts, including videos, from crowded hospitals and empty streets that painted a more dire early picture of the disease than the official narrative. Her lawyer at the time, Ren Quanniu, said Zhang believed she was “being persecuted for exercising her freedom of speech”.

She went on hunger strike the month after that arrest, according to court documents seen by Reuters, prompting police to strap her hands and force-feed her with a tube, her lawyers said at the time.

Zhang was released in May 2024 and detained again three months later, eventually being formally arrested and placed in Shanghai’s Pudong Detention Center, RSF said.

Friday’s sentencing followed Zhang’s reporting on China’s human rights abuses, RSF said. Her former lawyer Ren posted on X that the new charges were based on Zhang’s comment on overseas websites and she should not be deemed guilty.

China’s authorities have never publicly specified what activities Zhang was charged for.

“This is the second time Zhang Zhan has faced trial on baseless charges that amount to nothing more than a blatant act of persecution for her journalism work,” said Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. “Chinese authorities must put an end to the arbitrary detention of Zhang, drop all charges, and free her immediately.”

China has the world’s largest prison for journalists, with at least 124 media workers behind bars, RSF said. The nation ranked 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.

A week before Zhang’s latest Sentencing, China’s top lawmakers passed a bill to accelerate public health emergency responses by allowing people to report emergencies, bypassing the government’s usual hierarchical structure.

Reporting by Clare Jim and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong, Branda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by William Mallard