International News

Bloomberg Face masks and hand sanitisers are becoming must-have accessories from Hong Kong to Japan as a deadly virus spreads across Asia. The only problem is getting hold of them. Pharmacies across Hong Kong sold out of masks aimed at preventing viral infection, prompting authorities to say more will arrive next week. Taiwan banned the export of masks for the ...

Bloomberg China is strengthening efforts to encourage direct financing of companies in a financial system that’s long been dominated by banks, as the private sector struggles with access to credit. Regulators in recent months relaxed rules for companies seeking listings on China’s stock markets, moving towards a registration-based system that in theory automatically green-lights applicants provided they meet set criteria. ...

Bloomberg Malaysia is offering airwaves for 5G networks at little cost to carriers to reduce the investment needed for the speedier wireless service, a model followed by China in its rollout of the technology last year. The government will forgo revenue from spectrum auctions and instead will allocate airwaves to a consortium of carriers via a tender starting after April, ...

Bloomberg India’s economy appears to be shaking off a slump, as activity in the services and manufacturing sectors expanded for a second straight month in December. The needle on a gauge measuring so-called animal spirits signalled the economy may be taking a turn for the better, as five of the eight high-frequency indicators tracked by Bloomberg News came in stronger ...

Bloomberg The Philippines lowered its alert on the Taal volcano south of the capital amid weaker eruptions and earthquakes that in the past weeks had spewed ash and molten rock, causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. The alert was reduced to 3 from 4 out of a 5 rating-scale, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said on ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator for a post-Brexit trade deal said he’ll work “night and day” for an agreement, though the UK‘s departure will have “innumerable and lasting consequences.” There is a risk the two sides will fail to get a trade agreement by the December 31 deadline and the UK crashes out of the bloc, Michel Barnier ...

Bloomberg Google engineers said a tool Apple Inc developed to help users avoid web tracking is fundamentally flawed and creates more problems than it solves. The Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature on Apple’s Safari web browser, which is meant to block tracking software used by digital advertisers, can be abused to do the exact opposite, according to a paper released by ...

Bloomberg Having just persuaded France to hold off on a digital tax that would hurt its biggest technology firms, the US is facing a similar threat from another part of Europe. The Czech Republic is debating plans to impose one of the world’s highest levies on global internet companies — albeit as a stop-gap measure — brushing aside possible US ...

Bloomberg A year ago, Uber Technologies Inc hiked the price of rides in London and placed the surcharges into a fund that would help drivers switch to electric vehicles. Uber said drivers would be able to start tapping into that fund in the form of discounts on electric cars made by Nissan Motor Co. The two companies agreed to offer ...

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess is preparing to muscle Elon Musk out of the electric-car lead. While Tesla Inc is paving the way in sustainable mobility, the world’s biggest automaker is buying software companies and ramping up investments in electric vehicles and battery cells, Diess said at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s an open race,” ...