December, 2022

• 23 December

  Monstrous winter blast batters US amid holiday travel rush

  

  Bloomberg A massive, once-in-a-decade winter storm is battering the US with blizzard conditions and life-threatening temperatures, while causing mayhem for travellers across the country at the peak of the holiday season. As of Friday, more than 200 million people — around 60% of the nation’s population — were under some form of winter weather warning or advisory, according to the ...

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• 23 December

  Germany pushes back on Lufthansa plan for bonuses

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s plans to retroactively pay out manager bonuses contravene agreements made with the government as part of the airline’s rescue package, according to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s chief spokesman. The state stepped in during 2020 to rescue Lufthansa after pandemic-related restrictions all but grounded air travel. While the airline repaid its 9 billion-euro ($9.6 billion) bailout ahead of ...

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• 23 December

  Britain cuts back on Christmas gift giving after inflation jumps

  

  Bloomberg British consumers have cut back on Christmas gift-giving after the tightest cost-of-living squeeze in memory reduced disposable income, official figures showed. Six in 10 adults in the UK surveyed said they were planning on cutting spending in the holiday period by buying fewer and less expensive presents and eating out less, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Household ...

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• 23 December

  China to cut quarantine for overseas travellers from January

  

  Bloomberg China plans to cut quarantine requirements for overseas travelers in January, according to people familiar with the matter, as the country dismantles the last vestiges of its Covid Zero policy. Officials are considering a “0+3” policy, where the requirement to spend time in a quarantine hotel or isolation facility would be scrapped, and arrivals into the country instead subject ...

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• 23 December

  Nestle CFO foresees tough start to 2023

    Bloomberg Nestle SA Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger foresees a challenging six months before inflation starts to ease in the second half of 2023. “We are likely going to go into a recession — we know that the next six months are probably going to be complicated and difficult,” the executive at the maker of Nescafé and KitKat said ...

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• 23 December

  UK produces record amount of wind power, easing gas crisis

  

  Bloomberg Britain’s wind farms generated a record amount of electricity this year as gusty weather and a growing fleet of turbines softened the impact of soaring natural gas prices. Wind power will be a critical factor in how well Europe manages an energy crisis that’s already cost more than $1 trillion. Higher wind speeds will ease the need to burn ...

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• 23 December

  Green methane may solve hydrogen export dilemma: Fortescue

  

  Bloomberg Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), one of the leading proponents of hydrogen, is exploring a more efficient way to ship the zero-emissions fuel overseas by using “green methane.” Green methane — essentially synthetic natural gas made using renewable energy — is a promising technology that would avoid the costs and technical difficulties of liquefying pure hydrogen, according to Mark Hutchinson, ...

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• 23 December

  BHP makes $6.4bn binding offer to acquire OZ Minerals

    Bloomberg BHP group Ltd has made a binding offer to acquire Australian copper producer OZ Minerals Ltd. for $6.4 billion, securing its biggest deal in more than a decade and boosting exposure to key materials used in clean energy and electric cars. The A$28.25-a-share bid, first announced in November, will now go to shareholders for approval in late March ...

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• 23 December

  Germany set to boost its reliance on coal as it battles energy crisis

  

  Bloomberg Germany is set to boost its reliance on coal as it battles an unprecedented energy crisis — even at the expense of its ambitious climate goals. Europe’s largest economy is burning the fossil fuel for electricity at the fastest pace in at least six years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It’s also poised to be one of the few ...

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• 23 December

  Shell shuts floating LNG facility

    Bloomberg Shell Plc suspended production at a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off the west coast of Australia after a fire broke out, tightening fuel supplies to Asia right as winter starts to boost consumption. The “small fire” at the Prelude LNG facility was detected and was “quickly contained using a hand-held extinguisher,” Shell said in a statement. ...

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