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Spotify gets boost as Tencent Music kicks off share sale

Bloomberg Music-streaming service Spotify Technology SA saw its market value jump $779 million as China’s Tencent Music Entertainment Group kicked off its long-awaited US initial public offering. Spotify owns 8.9 percent of the company, whose largest shareholder is Tencent Holdings Ltd. with 59 percent, according to its IPO filing. Spotify closed up 3.2 percent to $140.68 a share on the ...

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Euro area strikes deal on joint budget plan, new bond rules

Bloomberg Less than a decade after the financial crisis nearly tore the euro area apart, a long-anticipated push to shore up the single currency finally started taking shape at a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers, though it will likely underwhelm those calling for tighter integration. The compromise struck on Tuesday after almost 16 hours of talks in Brussels paves ...

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France, Germany reach compromise on technology tax

Bloomberg France and Germany agreed to a compromise proposal on how to tax large tech companies that scales back the broad plan initially envisioned by Paris, according to a joint statement issued in the early hours of Tuesday. The new proposal would only tax the European advertising revenue of digital companies at 3 percent, rather than a wider base encompassing ...

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Apple reassigns marketing staff to boost iPhone sales

Bloomberg Apple Inc is experimenting with iPhone marketing strategies it rarely uses — such as discount promotions via generous device buyback terms — to help goose sales of its flagship product. Company executives moved some marketing staff from other projects to work on bolstering sales of the latest handsets in October, about a month after the iPhone XS went on ...

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Brexit: Europe drug regulator unplugs from UK

Bloomberg Europe’s medicines watchdog is bracing to make do without one of its most trusted partners. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) stopped assigning work to the UK’s pharmaceutical regulator earlier this year, unsure whether the two organisations will need to stop collaborating after Britain leaves the European Union in March. Preparing for a potential split, the EU body has also ...

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Microsoft boosts rural broadband efforts

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp, which last year announced a plan to bring broadband to 2 million people in the rural US, is boosting the program to reach another 1 million customers across more states. The Microsoft Airband Initiative will now be in 25 states by this time next year, more than doubling the program’s original reach and adding states including California, ...

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Pompeo to seek NATO aid to pressure Russia on N-treaty

Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was expected to use a gathering of NATO leaders on Tuesday to ramp up pressure on Russia over what the US has long said is Moscow’s failure to comply with a 1987 treaty on nuclear weapons. The US wants to “stay in sync” with American allies over how to address Russia’s non-compliance, according to ...

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Ukraine says Russia partially unblocked its Azov Sea ports

Bloomberg Ukraine said Russia had partially restored access to its ports on the Azov Sea following months of disruption and a week after its navy was fired on by its neighbour. As of Monday, ships were allowed to move in both directions through the Kerch Strait separating the Azov and Black Seas, according to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan. Russia ...

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Macron reverses fuel-tax hike post protests

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s government reversed course and suspended a planned fuel-tax hike that had sent as many as 300,000 protesters into the streets for three weeks in sometimes violent clashes. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the decision after detailing the plan in his regular meeting with governing party lawmakers. “No tax merits putting the nation in danger,” Philippe ...

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Sweden political crisis enters ‘new phase’: PM

Bloomberg Social Democratic leader Stefan Lofven said Sweden’s political crisis has now entered a “new phase” as he prepares to start “sharp” negotiations with key opposition parties on forming a viable coalition. The Social Democrats will hold negotiations with the Center Party and the Liberals, as well as its ally the Green Party, he said. “We will make every effort ...

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