December, 2022

• 28 December

  Modi’s building boom setting up India as global steel savior

  

    Bloomberg With China’s massive construction sector still in a funk and the US and Europe likely heading into recessions, India has emerged as a savior for flagging global steel demand. Poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous country next year, India is in the midst of a building boom. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to modernise ...

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• 27 December

  PLDT to cancel projects to cut $860m overspend

  

    Bloomberg PLDT Inc is in talks with suppliers and vendors to cancel some projects and seek discounts as the Philippines’ biggest phone company by revenue aims to cut its 48-billion peso ($860 million) spending overrun. “The discussion also includes the possible replacement of certain projects that will be cancelled, with new projects that will improve revenue growth and customer ...

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• 27 December

  India’s CBI arrests Videocon chief after ICICI bank ex-CEO

    Bloomberg India’s top investigating agency arrested the founder of Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot, after it arrested Chanda Kochhar, a former chief executive officer at ICICI Bank Ltd, and her husband Deepak Kochhar on charges related to alleged improper lending. Dhoot was called in for questioning and arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to his lawyer Sandeep ...

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• 27 December

  China industrial profits drop as Covid outbreaks slow output

  

    Bloomberg Profits at industrial firms in China declined in the first 11 months of the year, as production slowed and factory-gate prices fell amid Covid disruptions. Industrial profits in the January-November period fell 3.6% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. That compared with a decline of 3% in the first 10 months of the ...

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• 27 December

  Apple Japan hit with $98m in back taxes

    Bloomberg Apple faces about $98 million in back taxes in Japan, a bill that appears to be tied to bulk sales of duty-free devices to foreign tourists, Nikkei reported. Japan’s tax-free shopping for visitors staying less than six months doesn’t apply to purchases for resale purposes, according to the report. At least one transaction at an Apple store involved ...

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• 27 December

  Japan to require tests for visitors coming from reopened China

  

  Bloomberg Japan will require negative Covid-19 test results for travellers coming from China, as the country of 1.4 billion throws open its borders from January 8 and abandons its Covid Zero policy at a rapid pace. The policy will take effect from December 30, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Tokyo. Those who have been in mainland China within ...

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• 27 December

  South Korea sends drones into North in unprecedented move

  

  Bloomberg South Korea sent drones across the border into North Korea for the first time, an unprecedented tit-for-tat military move after Kim Jong-un’s regime dispatched five unmanned aerial vehicles into its air space. The exchange of drones, which briefly stopped flights from taking off at major airports near Seoul, came as Kim opened a major political meeting to set security, ...

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• 27 December

  Ukraine must surrender or face continued war: Russia

  

  Bloomberg Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine must surrender or face continued war, even as Moscow’s troops have been forced to retreat in a series of damaging defeats. In an interview with the state-run news service Tass, Lavrov said Ukraine must cede sovereignty over territories annexed by Russia since President Vladimir Putin’s February 24 invasion. He reiterated unfounded claims ...

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• 27 December

  Taiwan extends military service on China row

  

  Bloomberg Taiwan announced it is extending its compulsory military service to one year from the current four months, a signal to Beijing and Washington it is serious about defending itself. President Tsai Ing-wen said at a press briefing in Taipei that the change coming in 2024 was necessary to ensure international support and that China’s expansionism threatened regional stability. “This ...

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• 27 December

  Serbian army put on highest alert over Kosovo tensions

  

  Bloomberg Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has ordered the nation’s army on full alert after weeks of rising tensions in neighbouring Kosovo where the local Serb minority has been confronting the authorities over new registration requirements, putting up road blockades and holding protests that threaten to tip into violence, the defense ministry says. “The President of the Republic of Serbia, as ...

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