European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she remained cautiously optimistic about EU’s potential to return to growth in the second quarter of 2021. Lagarde said that Europe possesses all needed tools to secure economic rebound.

Yes, we know - the title says it all! First, lets turn the clock back two years to 2019, when the foldable hype was at a fever pitch. Samsung kicked things off with an early look at its Galaxy Fold, followed a few days later by Huawei's Mate X. Motorola capped off the year with the Razr. Things were supposed to ramp up in 2020, with more foldables coming, and this forecast turned out to be true. But the early activity at this year's weirdest CES suggests we may be notice far more breakthroughs and mind-blowing concepts in the smartphone industry.

The US State Department addressed European companies and reaffirmed threat to impose sanctions targeted at everyone involved in the construction Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Reuters reported.

The Spanish telecom operator Telefonica has confirmed it had reached a deal to sell its mobile phone masts both in Europe and in South America. The deal is estimated at some 9,41 billion dollars and the buyer is the US telecom infrastructure operator American Towers, Reuters reported.

US airplane producer Boeing enjoyed a rise in sentiment in December but the optimism was not strong enough to make up for entire poor 2020, AP reported. Boeing said it still receives more cancellations than new orders for its 737 Max jet, which was grounded for nearly two years following after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that ended with 346 fatalities.

The long-expected merger of two leading payment-processing companies has stalled due to antitrust concerns, AP reported. The $5,3 billion deal between Visa and Plaid has been called off, Visa said the company cited, US Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit filed last year to block the deal.

Google News announced a special initiative aimed at fighting misinformation related to Covid-19 vaccines and the vaccination process. The initiative will be financed by a $3 million worth open global fund, Reuters reported.

German automaker Volkswagen said it tripled sales of battery-only cars in 2020, but sales of its core brand dropped by 15% to 5.3 million vehicles as the outbreak of Covid-19 and lockdowns imposed to restrict infections hit car dealerships around the world, AP reported.

Venture capital firm Index Ventures has rated three Baltic nations as the most “startup-friendly” in Europe after new policies on stock options made it easier for startups to attract and retain employees.

Germany’s Deutsche Bank said it would not be involved in any future business activities with outgoing American president Donald Trump or his companies in the wake of his supporters’ assault on the US Capitol, Reuters reported quoting the New York Times.