International News

Bloomberg Wirecard AG’s Chief Executive Officer Markus Braun tried to put fraud allegations behind him as questions persisted after an external probe failed to resolve issues from potential criminal behavior in Singapore to unexplained transactions. Braun said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that the company views the issue as closed, saying: “Everything is on the table. The ...

Bloomberg Some projects to develop new power cables between the UK and France are on hold because of uncertainties related to Brexit, throwing into question the delivery of infrastructure intended to reduce electricity costs in the UK. Work continues on two new interconnectors that were already under construction between the countries. However, talks on 3 other subsea power lines have ...

Bloomberg Filings for US unemployment benefits fell more than expected to a four-week low, as the labour market tightens further following the end of a five-week government shutdown. Jobless claims fell to 221,000 in the week that ended on March 16, beating economist forecasts for 225,000, Labor Department figures showed. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, ticked up to 225,000 ...

Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc. has fired multiple legal shots at Apple Inc. aiming to use patents to get an import ban on the iPhone. In separate rulings, one hit and one missed. The US International Trade Commission invalidated a Qualcomm patent for a battery-saving feature. Earlier in the day, a separate trade judge said Apple infringed a different Qualcomm patent and ...

Bloomberg BT Group Plc, Britain’s dominant phone company, is considering a deeper restructuring under new Chief Executive Officer Philip Jansen that could see its 100,000-strong workforce shrink by a quarter over five years, according to people with knowledge of the matter. BT has internally discussed a target of reducing its headcount to 75,000, partly through accelerated automation of back-office processes, ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Vision Fund is joining a $300 million investment in Cloudminds, helping the Chinese robotics and artificial intelligence startup ramp up production capacity with the goal of tripling its revenue this year. Cloudminds, which last raised money in 2017 at a $440 million valuation, aims to sell half a million of its robots this year to Chinese customers from ...

Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd may get its cheapest dollar-denominated syndicated loan ever as it negotiates with banks to amend terms of its existing $4 billion borrowing. The Chinese Internet giant wants to cut the interest margin of the facility that it signed in May 2016 by 25 basis points to 85 basis points over Libor, said people familiar with ...

Bloomberg China’s former top internet regulator was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, completing the downfall of a once-high-flying official who mingled with executives from Apple Inc and Facebook Inc. Lu Wei was found guilty of taking bribes on Tuesday by the Ningbo People’s Intermediate Court in the eastern province of Zhejiang, according to the official Xinhua News ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joining forces in the consumer credit business, launching the Apple Card for iPhones. The card is tied to Apple Pay, a service that lets people load banking information and pay in store or use it for purchases online. It works globally where Apple Pay is accepted, lets users track spending in ...

Bloomberg European dealmaking is on course for its worst first quarter since the height of the credit crisis. Unless something dramatic happens by the end of the week, Europe’s on track to have the worst quarter for M&A since 2013, when unemployment and austerity plans were causing protests and countries were asking the European Union to bail out their banks. ...