March, 2023

• 19 March

  North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile

  

  BLOOMBERG North Korea test-fired a suspected short-range ballistic missile, adding to its barrage of launches in the past month that included two rockets designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. The missile was fired towards waters to the east of the Korean peninsula, Yonhap News reported, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It flew for about ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Thaksin’s daughter widens lead for Thai premiership in poll

  

  BLOOMBERG Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and her Pheu Thai party widened leads as the voters’ top choice in the latest opinion poll ahead of a general election tentatively scheduled for May. Paetongtarn, who represents the Southeast Asian nation’s largest opposition party, garnered 38.2% of support in a poll of 2,000. It’s the latest edition of ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  M&S gaining on John Lewis in £20b fight for UK middle class

  

  BLOOMBERG For decades John Lewis Partnership Plc has been considered the pinnacle of British retailing, overshadowing archrival Marks & Spencer (M&S) Group Plc. While the owner of the John Lewis department store and upmarket grocer Waitrose was lauded for its employee-ownership, service levels and quality, M&S struggled with never-ending turnaround plans, a revolving door of CEOs and plunging profits. But ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Heathrow security staff vote to strike over pay

  

  BLOOMBERG London Heathrow stands to suffer severe disruptions during the busy Easter travel period after some workers at the airport voted in favour of walkouts, the latest flareup in the country that has seen months of strikes over pay amid a cost of living crisis. More than 1,400 security workers at the hub voted in favour of 10 days of ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Port Authority to spend extra $1bn on JFK Airport project

  

  BLOOMBERG The massive renovation to New York City’s John F Kennedy International Airport has gotten even more expensive. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey increased its funding authorisation for the infrastructure portion of the project by about $1 billion, making the new budget $3.9 billion, after costs surged due to higher inflation, soaring labour expenses and supply ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  McDonald’s faces franchisees decrying ‘destructive path’

  

  BLOOMBERG McDonald’s Corp is facing rising unrest among certain US franchisees — a potential stumbling block as the burger chain plots aggressive expansion. Squeezed by higher costs and grumbling at new operating rules, franchisees invited to a meeting with the company’s board will press their case in person. The session will give US operators “an opportunity to share with the ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Midsize US banks ask FDIC to insure deposits for two years

  

  BLOOMBERG A coalition of midsize US banks asked federal regulators to extend FDIC insurance to all deposits for the next two years, arguing the guarantee is needed to avoid a wider run on the banks. “Doing so will immediately halt the exodus of deposits from smaller banks, stabilise the banking sector and greatly reduce chances of more bank failures,” the ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Deutsche Bank’s global head of FX sales resigns

  

  BLOOMBERG Deutsche Bank AG’s global head of foreign exchange sales Hans Ephraimson is leaving after more than three decades at the German lender. A successor will be announced shortly and Ephraimson will “facilitate a smooth transition” of his responsibilities, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. There was no mention of a reason behind Ephraimson’s exit. A Deutsche ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Credit Suisse’s First Boston plan in doubt amid crisis discussion

  

  BLOOMBERG Michael Klein, the CEO-designate of Credit Suisse Group AG’s investment-banking spin off, may struggle to realise his dream of building a new CS First Boston as the Swiss lender nears a forced sale to UBS Group AG. UBS is showing little appetite for Credit Suisse’s investment banking business as part of a government-brokered takeover, putting plans to legally and ...

  Read More »
• 19 March

  Google unveils AI features for cloud customers

  

  BLOOMBERG Google announced a raft of new artificial intelligence (AI) – powered features for customers of its cloud-computing business, as the technology giant jostles for dominance in the burgeoning field with rivals such as Microsoft Corp. and startup OpenAI. As Silicon Valley buzzes about so-called generative AI — software that can create images, text and video based on user prompts ...

  Read More »