Blast heard from Baghdad's Green Zone, cause unclear: Reuters witnesses

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A blast was heard in Baghdad late on Wednesday coming from the fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign embassies in the Iraqi capital, Reuters witnesses said.

The cause was not immediately clear.

An Iraqi soldier stationed in the Green Zone confirmed the noise originated from the zone but gave no other details.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Wednesday declared a curfew in Baghdad until further notice after at least seven people were killed and more than 400 injured during two days of nationwide anti-government protests.

BREAKING Bradley Airport crash kills seven as WW2-era plane smashes into runway

At least seven people have died and six have been injured after a WW2-era plane crashed at an airport in the US.

The vintage B-17 plane smashed into the runway during an aborted takeoff at Bradley Airport in Hartford, Connecticut.

Authorities haven't released the names and ages of the victims yet.

Couple who vanished on way to party found dead ‘cradling’ one another in woods

‘You’re Not Going To Destroy Me,’ Biden Warns Trump

Joe Biden is giving a preview of a potential general election face-off with Donald Trump by taking a more aggressive tone and assailing the president for his “abuse of power” and for “smearing” him and his family.

”Let me make something clear to Trump and his hatchet men and the special interests funding his attacks against me — I’m not going anywhere,” Biden will say Wednesday, according to prepared remarks for a speech in Reno, Nevada. “You’re not going to destroy me. And you’re not going to destroy my family.”

Biden will say that “like every bully in history,” Trump is “afraid. He’s afraid of just how badly I would beat him next November.”

The remarks come as the president, angry over being the subject of a House impeachment inquiry, has sought to tarnish Biden as “corrupt” because of his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. Trump has made discredited claims that the former vice president used his office to intervene with the eastern European country’s law enforcement to protect Hunter Biden.

Biden called Trump “desperate and defensive” for “warning direly of civil war” after a whistle-blower filed a complaint over his conversation asking Ukraine’s president to “look into” the Bidens

Vice Media expands its reach, will acquire Refinery29

Vice Media LLC said it has completed a deal to acquire female-focused digital media company Refinery29 Inc. as it looks to build up its global footprint and add new revenue streams.

Vice didn’t disclose the price. The deal was a mixture of cash and stock and valued Refinery29 at at least $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Vice and Refinery29 were working to finalize a deal.

Refinery29 employees will report to Vice Chief Executive Nancy Dubuc, the company said. Refinery29’s founders and senior managers plan to stay, The Journal has reported. Leadership changes will be announced after the transaction is complete, which is expected by year-end. Through the deal, Vice expects content production to grow by 20% across all of its platforms.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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Kim Shattuck Dies: Leader Of The Muffs And LA Music Stalwart Was 56

Kim Shattuck, who made an impact on the Los Angeles music scene with her band The Muffs and several other projects, died today after a two-year battle with ALS.  She was 56 and her death was announced in an Instagram post by her husband, Kevin Sutherland.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Ib3JUprRA/

InBev exercises over-allotment option for Bud IPO

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (ABI.BT) has fully exercised the over-allotment option for the initial public offering of its Asian unit, Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC Ltd. 1876, it said Thursday.

The world’s largest brewer will raise $750 million in gross proceeds from the exercise that it will use to repay debt.

Last month, AB InBev raised $5 billion through an IPO of its Asian operations in Hong Kong, making it the world’s second-largest listing so far this year, behind U.S. ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc.’s (UBER) $8.1 billion New York listing in May, according to Dealogic.

Budweiser, which sells its namesake beer as well as Corona, Stella Artois and other brands in the region, is now worth more than Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. (2502.TO), Denmark’s Carlsberg A/S (CARL-A.KO) and local rival China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co. (0291.HK).

Shares of Budweiser closed 5.3% higher on Wednesday at 29.70 Hong Kong dollars (US$3.79).

Write to P.R. Venkat at [email protected]

Microsoft Unveils New Surface Laptops And Foldable Phones

Microsoft unveiled five new Surface Laptops that will be available this holiday season, and two new dual-screen mobile devices, Surface Neo and Surface Duo, coming in Holiday 2020.

The new Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7 and Surface Pro X are available for pre-order today in select markets.

Surface Laptop 3 has a choice of a 13.5″ or 15″ display and new colors. Surface Laptop 3 13″ starts at $999 and Surface Laptop 15″ starts at $1199.

Surface Laptop 3 13.5″ is updated with the 10th Generation Intel Core processor, while Surface Laptop 3 15″ has new AMD Ryzen Surface Edition processor.

Surface Pro 7 is now twice as fast with a 10th Generation Intel Core processor, both USB-A and USB-C and an all-day battery. Surface Pro 7 starts at $749 and Surface Pro X starts at $999, the company said in a statement.

The company also unveiled Surface Earbuds priced at $249.

Surface Duo is a foldable smartphone with two 5.6-inch displays side by side and works with Android.

The company also unveiled dual-screen device Surface Neo, which built for productivity on Windows 10X. A 360-degree full-friction hinge connects two 9″ screens, enabling Surface Neo to adapt to whatever posture need in the moment.

Surface Neo is built for productivity and multitasking like a true PC would be – running full productivity apps, with a removable keyboard and compatibility with Surface Pen and Bluetooth mouse, the company said.