December, 2022

• 25 December

  Fiji elects new leader

    Bloomberg Fiji has elected Sitiveni Rabuka as the nation’s prime minister, ending the 16-year rule of Frank Bainimarama. Rabuka gained 28 ballots to his predecessor’s 27 to become the new leader in a parliamentary vote, more than a week after a national election where no party held a majority of seats. While Rabuka’s party won fewer seats than Bainimarama’s, ...

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• 25 December

  UK pound’s tentative recovery masks worst year since Brexit

  

    Bloomberg A turbulent year for the pound is coming to an end with little evidence that 2023 will be much different. Signs of a painful UK economic downturn keep piling up, making analysts doubtful that the currency can extend — or even sustain — a recent rebound against the dollar. The options market also shows skepticism, with traders still ...

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• 25 December

  Interest rates need to reach ‘restrictive’ level: Schnabel

  

  Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel says interest rates will have to move into “restrictive territory” to bring inflation back to target. The danger of a policy overreaction by the ECB “continues to be limited, as real interest rates are still very low,” Schnabel said. Reflecting on the ECB’s string of four interest rate hikes, Schnabel ...

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• 25 December

  Sequoia-backed Wave takes on Telcos in Africa mobile-money war

  

    Bloomberg Mobile money agents in Ivory Coast halted service for Wave Mobile Money Inc few weeks ago, in an attempt to stymie the growth of the young fintech gobbling up market share across West Africa. The agents — brokers who enable unbanked people to store and send money through cellphones — were unhappy with their commissions and expected the ...

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• 25 December

  A car which can fly over traffic jams

  

    Bloomberg The crowd of hundreds roared in Mandarin as the gull-winged two-seater aircraft rose and hovered roughly 30 meters (100 feet) above their heads, before smoothly lowering back down to earth. In the past months, China’s Xpeng Aeroht has staged two maiden public flights for its aircraft. The 90-second exercise in October was followed by another in Guangzhou, China ...

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• 25 December

  Microsoft fights back against FTC claims on $69bn Activision deal

  

    Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. is fighting back against allegations from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would harm competition in video-gaming industry. In a filing with the FTC, Microsoft said the tie-up would create more choices for gamers and game developers. “The commission cannot meet its burden of showing that the ...

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• 25 December

  Huawei extends mobile patents deal with Nokia

  

    Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co has secured an extension to a patent licensing deal with Nokia Oyj, suggesting the Chinese company continues to lead in networking technology despite years of punishing US sanctions. The announcement indicates appetite for access to Huawei’s next-generation telecom patents remains strong, despite US accusations the Chinese giant poses a threat to national security. Huawei is ...

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• 25 December

  Stellantis boosts hydrogen van offering

  Bloomberg Stellantis plans to buy a stake in hydrogen company owned by tire-maker Michelin and car-parts supplier Faurecia SE as the automaker tries to bolster its low-emissions offerings. The maker of Fiat and Jeep vehicles will take a “substantial” stake in the Symbio business, with closing of the transaction expected for the first half of 2023, Stellantis said. “This move ...

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• 24 December

  Euro Auctions to set up largest auction house in Abu Dhabi

  

    Abu Dhabi / Gulf Time Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi – Kezad group, the integrated trade, logistics, and industrial hub of Abu Dhabi, has signed a lease agreement with Euro Auctions Middle East, a subsidiary of the Euro Auctions Group, to establish its largest auction house in the region for industrial plant, construction equipment and agricultural machinery. Under the ...

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• 24 December

  Abu Dhabi boosts health sector’s readiness for cyber challenges

    Abu Dhabi / WAM During the Healthcare Protective Shield Wargaming Conference, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, identified different risk scenarios and helped prepare healthcare entities in Abu Dhabi for cyber threats by evaluating effectiveness of entities’ incident response and communication plan with the help of simulated cyber ...

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