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Bloomberg Google workers will listen to audio snippets of people speaking to its digital voice assistant to help improve the product’s quality — if users give the company permission to do so. Alphabet Inc’s Google paused all human review of assistant audio in July after a Dutch contractor leaked some clips to a journalist, who was then able to identify ...

Bloomberg Germany’s private sector is suffering its worst downturn in almost seven years as a manufacturing slump deepens, raising pressure on the government to add fiscal stimulus. A Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 49.1 in September from 51.7 a month earlier, according to IHS Markit. The reading was worse than economists predicted and the lowest since October 2012. It’s also ...

Bloomberg The UK government deployed the “largest repatriation in peacetime history” to bring home more than 150,000 tourists stranded on overseas beaches and in vacation hotspots by the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook Group. The massive airlift, using chartered jetliners, follows the collapse of the 178-year-old company after eleventh-hour fundraising talks with investors failed. The move saw all bookings, ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s economic situation continues to darken, with the city’s trade body now expecting exports to shrink this year to the worst levels in a decade amid the ongoing US-China trade war and slowing global economy. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council slashed its 2019 growth forecast to a 4 percent contraction, a further reduction from prior expectations of ...

Bloomberg China imported the most palm oil in more than 6 years last month after the outbreak of African swine fever hurt domestic soybean crushing and the country cut soy imports from the US as their trade conflict escalated. China bought 590,000 tons of palm oil in August, almost double last year’s amount and the highest monthly total since December ...

Bloomberg The government of one of China’s top technology hubs is dispatching officials to 100 local corporations including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the latest effort to exert greater influence over the country’s massive private sector. Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, is assigning government affairs representatives to facilitate communication and expedite projects, the city government said on ...

Bloomberg It took Tesla Inc about 15 years to rack up $5 billion in losses. The company known as China’s Tesla did it in four. The bleeding continues. Shanghai-based NIO Inc is poised to report that it lost another 2.6 billion yuan ($369 million) — around $4 million a day — during the second quarter, according to the average of ...

Bloomberg Hyundai Motor Group will spend $1.6 billion to develop autonomous vehicles with Aptiv Plc, marking one of the biggest investments yet by a traditional carmaker into the burgeoning robocar industry. Aptiv will take a 50 percent stake in the venture, while Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis Co and Kia Motors Corp will contribute a combined $1.6 billion in cash and ...

HODEIDAH / WAM Through its humanitarian arm, the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), the UAE provided relief aid to Yemenis who survived the Houthi militias artillery shelling in Hais, southern Hodeidah, west of Yemen. A team from the ERC distributed shelter aid and food baskets to the families in Hais, following an appeal from the local authorities. The families who benefitted ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE consolidated government expenditure rose AED119 billion during Q1 2019, a growth of 21.6% as compared with the same period in 2018, according to figures released by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). In its quarterly review, CBUAE said, UAE government expenses went up y-o-y by 16.3% during Q1. Moreover, capital spending, measured by ...