Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors on Thursday labelled the independent media outlet SOTA an "undesirable" organisation, in what amounts to ban of its work in the country.

The designation, which Moscow has handed to a host of Russian independent media as well as Western nonprofits, could put anyone working for the outlet or sharing its content online at risk of punishment by authorities.

SOTA is known for its coverage of anti-Kremlin... (continue reading...)

By Anna Tong

(Reuters) - Vercel, a software startup that provides a platform for building cloud-based web applications, on Thursday said it has raised $250 million in a Series E funding round that values the company at $3.25 billion.

The round was led by Accel with participation from existing investors CRV, GV, Notable Capital, Bedrock, Geodesic Capital, Tiger Global, 8VC and SV Angel, the startup said.

Vercel said it... (continue reading...)

By Sabine Siebold

BERLIN (Reuters) - Scrambles of NATO jets to intercept Russian aircraft approaching allied airspace over the Baltic Sea region went up 20% to 25% in the first quarter of 2024, a NATO source said on Thursday, with the increased Russian activity likely due to a hike in NATO drills.

The source declined to give a concrete figure for the number of Russian military flights encountered close to NATO territory.

DUBAI (Reuters) - All ships heading to Israeli ports will be targeted by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis and not just in the Red Sea region, the group's leaded Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

The group has threatened to extend their attacks on ships heading to Israeli ports to the Mediterranean Sea, in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

Al-Houthi... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly breached the 40,000-point level for the first time on Thursday, the blue-chip index's fastest 10,000-point climb, powered by strong quarterly results and rising bets of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The index surpassed its previous record high of 39,935.04, hit on Wednesday, and has recovered nearly 40% from its October 2022 lows. At 10:33 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 0.2% at 39,984.95.