January, 2023

• 10 January

  Alibaba leads China tech gains as regulatory woes ease further

  

    Bloomberg The page has finally turned for Chinese tech stocks, as the end of a years-long regulatory crackdown revives demand for an industry once dubbed “uninvestable.” The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 3.2% Monday, led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., after a top central bank official said the clampdown on the Internet sector was drawing to a close. The ...

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• 10 January

  Taiwan passes its chips act, offers tax credits to chipmakers

  

    Bloomberg Taiwanese lawmakers have passed new rules that let local chip firms turn 25% of their annual research and development expenses into tax credits, part of efforts to keep cutting-edge semiconductor technologies at home and maintain the island’s technology leadership. Officials there have repeatedly said they will ensure the latest chip technologies remain in Taiwan, a point that has ...

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• 10 January

  India mulls lifting rice export curbs as supply improves, prices stabilise

  

    Bloomberg India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is likely to lift restrictions on grain shipments in a move that would mark a further easing of a global wave of food protectionism after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Authorities are actively considering removing curbs on some rice exports as domestic prices are stable, according to a person familiar with the matter. ...

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• 10 January

  Pakistan seeks $8b to rebuild after floods

    Bloomberg Pakistan has appealed to the global community for $8 billion in three years to help it rebuild after devastating floods that left a third of the nation inundated in the summer. The South Asian nation needs a total of $16.3 billion to rebuild houses and farms along with rehabilitate people impacted by the floods, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ...

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• 10 January

  China, Pfizer hit Paxlovid price deadlock amid Covid surge

  

    Bloomberg Talks to negotiate a lower price for Pfizer Inc.’s Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid in China didn’t pan out, the health authority said, creating a quandary for the government amid a rampant outbreak in the world’s most populous nation. Pfizer and the government agency that oversees the state medical insurance program failed to agree on a further cut on ...

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• 10 January

  Brazil capital reels as anti-Lula rioters storm Congress, court

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s capital was recovering early Monday from an insurrection by thousands of supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed the country’s top government institutions, leaving a trail of destruction and testing the leadership of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva just a week after he took office. Rioters ransacked congress, the presidential palace and the top court in Brasilia on ...

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• 10 January

  Sweden signals all Turkish demands for Nato entry cannot be met

  

    Bloomberg In the latest sign that Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization isn’t imminent, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Turkey is asking for too much of the Nordic country in exchange for ratifying its membership. While Turkey has confirmed that Sweden has done what it said it would do, “they also say that they want things ...

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• 10 January

  US cuts Taiwan transits even as China steps up military pressure

  

  Bloomberg The US reduced its number of naval transits through the Taiwan Strait in 2022 to the lowest level in four years even as China stepped up military pressure on the island it vows to one day control. The US 7th Fleet sent nine warships through the body of water separating China and Taiwan last year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. ...

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• 10 January

  Kim’s vow of ‘exponential’ bomb output looks overblown

  

  Bloomberg Kim Jong Un rang in the new year the way he likes best — with a fresh threat to dramatically expand North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. This one is almost certain to fizzle. Kim used a speech published on Jan. 1 to call for an “exponential increase” in the country’s stockpiles of atomic weapons, implying output at an unprecedented pace. ...

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• 10 January

  UK mulls sending battle tanks to Ukraine

    Bloomberg The UK government is considering sending Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the discussions. If it goes ahead, the move would be the first time a Western country has provided Ukraine with modern battle tanks to fight Russian forces. No final decision has been taken, the people said on Monday. Neither wished ...

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