Global shipments of personal computers rose at their fastest pace in two decades in the first quarter as people bought computers to help them work and study remotely during the COVID-19 crisis, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

A Munich-based company hopes to help usher in a new era of coronavirus testing with an eye scan that, it says, takes just three minutes to identify carriers of the disease and has a hit rate of 95%.

Despite the pandemic, the ongoing economic crisis and punitive tariffs, China's exports rose by 30.6% in March compared to the same period last year, marking further strong growth for the country's foreign trade. Customs data released Tuesday also indicated an unexpectedly strong showing for imports, which grew by 38.1%.

Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen has agreed a wage deal with Germany's most powerful union for 120,000 employees, representing 18% of its workforce. The deal with IG Metall, struck after 14 hours of negotiations in the fifth round of talks, will see salaries rise by 2.3% from January 2022.

Grab Holdings, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery company, is expected to announce today its merger with US-based Altimeter that will value Grab at nearly $40bn and lead to a public listing, Reuters said, citing own sources. The merger, which will be the biggest blank-check company deal ever, will surpass electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors' $24bn deal struck with a SPAC in February.

UK cyber security company Darktrace backed by tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch announced it was launching an estimated $4 billion London listing, Reuters reported. The main objectives linked to the IPO plans were tied to securing new funds to accelerate product development and strengthen its balance sheet. Darktrace was founded in 2013 in the university city of Cambridge. It uses AI to understand IT networks and detect attacks by identifying unusual behaviour.

The pressure on Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba is increasing as major shareholders urged the management to seek new options for potential buyers to compete to the $20bn buyout offer from CVC Capital partners, Reuters reported. The intentions of CVC were to take off Toshiba from the stock exchange and transform it in a private company in a move to improve corporate governance and improve market performance.

The official Chinese authorities announced they had imposed a record $2.75 billion fine on the e-commerce giant Alibaba, Reuters reported. An anti-monopoly probe found Alibaba had abused its dominant market position for several years. The fine accounts for about 4% of Alibaba’s 2019 domestic revenue, comes as a result of a crackdown on technology companies and indicates China’s antitrust enforcement on internet platforms has entered a new era.

The leading South Korean producers of batteries for electric vehicles SK Innovation and LG Chem announced they had reached an agreement to end a $1.8bn worth painful dispute, Reuters reported. The deal will facilitate the efforts of the two firms t stay on top of battery developments. LG Energy Solution, a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Chem, and SK Innovation also agreed to drop all litigation in the United States and South Korea and not to sue each other for 10 years, after the core dispute had threatened the EV plans of Ford and Volkswagen.

Microsoft is reportedly trying to lure and buy Nuance Communications, which is known for helping Apple develop the artificial intelligence for its virtual voice assistant, Siri. The reports have suggested that Microsoft is offering Nuance a $16bn buyout to get the company from its original management and incorporate its technology for the big tech.