International News

Bloomberg British Brexit negotiators are trying to find a way to avoid checks on goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, according to the Sunday Times newspaper. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit team, run by chief negotiator David Frost, wants to get around aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement agreed with the European ...

Bloomberg Your sleek new Tesla Model S or electronic BMW has a distinctly 19th century feature that you may not be aware of, among its batteries. A company in Estonia wants to change that. Skeleton Technologies Group OU is working on supercapacitors, light-weight and long-life components that can distribute intensive bursts of power. These may help eliminate lead-acid batteries, a ...

Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised the country’s infectious-disease alert level to the highest and signalled the potential for unprecedented steps to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six and infected hundreds. The government ordered that schools delay resuming lessons after a holiday break as more than 600 people were confirmed to have been infected, a 20-fold surge ...

Bloomberg Australia’s government will work to set new long-term plans on reducing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a key global summit this year, though signalled it won’t pursue policies that pose risks to jobs or growth. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has faced pressure over his climate and energy strategy in the wake of Australia’s deadly wildfires, has criticised opponents ...

Bloomberg As global streaming giants Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co spend millions of dollars to grab viewers in India, a country that could become their biggest overseas market, a homegrown rival is preparing to defend its turf. Zee5, top domestic streaming platform set up by India’s biggest television broadcaster, is betting on local content to fend off big-spending rivals, ...

Bloomberg For a global financial hub, Hong Kong has been a notable laggard in pushing its investment industry to adopt environmental, social and governance criteria. Now, a key operator in the city’s $125 billion pension system is helping change that. BCT Group will screen new fund managers based on socially responsible criteria for the money it allocates in its Mandatory ...

Bloomberg Japan’s government stuck to its view the economy is recovering despite the sharpest contraction in more than five years last quarter and forecasts from private sector analysts that the coronavirus epidemic will trigger a recession. In it’s monthly report for February, the Cabinet Office maintained its stance the economy is “recovering at a moderate pace” amid continued weakness in ...

Bloomberg Disease outbreaks like the coronavirus often unfold too quickly for scientists to find a cure. But in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) could help researchers do a better job. While it’s probably too late for the fledgling technology to play a major role in the current epidemic, there’s hope for the next outbreaks. AI is good at combing through ...

Bloomberg Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc has shelved plans to issue a US dollar bond after investors demanded too high an interest rate to compensate for the risk the coronavirus poses to the luxury carmaker, according to people familiar with the matter. Jaguar hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to meet investors in the US recently ahead of a potential ...

Bloomberg China’s top leaders said they will exercise more flexibility in monetary and fiscal policy, signaling a greater focus on reviving an economy pummelled by the virus outbreak. Fiscal policy will be more proactive, while construction projects will be accelerated, according to a statement issued after a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping on February 21. The central bank ...