International News

Bloomberg Elon Musk inquired about converting “large transactions” of Tesla Inc.’s balance sheet into Bitcoin in a Twitter exchange with Michael Saylor, a prominent booster of digital currency. In a series of tweets, Saylor, chief executive officer of Microstrategy Inc., encouraged the billionaire to shift US dollars from the electric-car maker to Bitcoin and “do your shareholders a $100 billion ...

Bloomberg More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home as a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England, part of Boris Johnson’s attempt to control a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus. The measures ban household mixing in the capital and the southeast, and restrict socialising to just Christmas Day across the rest ...

Bloomberg The UK will spend as much as 11.7 billion pounds ($15.7 billion) on purchasing, manufacturing and roll-out of coronavirus vaccines, according to estimates from the public spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report the cost includes UK investment in global efforts to find a vaccine — but not the potential future expense of any multiyear ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. said its systems were exposed to the malware used in the Russia-linked hack that targeted US states and government agencies, adding that investigations so far show the malicious software wasn’t used to attack others and didn’t impact customer data or outward-facing systems. The company is a customer of SolarWinds Corp., whose software the hackers are believed to ...

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. halted some construction work at its German plant project after failing to make a security deposit with local authorities. Brandenburg’s environment ministry stopped tree removal activity and the installation of paint-shop machinery at the site until the funds are received, reports said. Tesla needs to provide a 100 million-euro ($122 million) deposit with local authorities to cover ...

Bloomberg Italy is set to keep its economic policy expansionary next year to support its coronavirus-battered economy, as agreed with European Union partners, Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said in an interview with La Stampa on Sunday. That could require widening the deficit further next year to support economic growth, but that won’t impact a planned reduction after 2021 and will ...

Bloomberg At least three US states are investigating Alphabet Inc.’s Google over the fees it takes from developers for purchases and subscriptions inside apps, and they may file an antitrust lawsuit against the company early next year, according to people familiar with the matter. The attorneys general of Utah, North Carolina and New York are among states that are preparing ...

Bloomberg The US Commerce Department announced it’s blacklisting Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co and more than 60 other Chinese companies “to protect US national security.” “This action stems from China’s military-civil fusion doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” the Commerce Department said. Commerce ...

Bloomberg In balmy Singapore, a tiny island nation that sits almost directly on the equator, it’s usually flowers, meat and seafood that gets whipped away into SATS Ltd’s cool rooms upon landing at Changi Airport. Now one of the world’s biggest ground handlers is gearing up for a more vital task. Like cargo operators everywhere, SATS is preparing for the ...

Bloomberg The economic blow from coronavirus has wiped out 81 million jobs across Asia-Pacific this year, with women and young people disproportionately affected, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). “Covid-19 has inflicted a hammer-blow on the region’s labour markets,” Chihoko Asada Miyakawa, the group’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. “Low levels of social ...