August, 2022

• 10 August

  Pfizer’s GBT deal to aid more sickle-cell patients

    Pfizer continues to spend its Covid windfall wisely. The pharma company said it would spend $5.4 billion to buy Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT), which has one approved drug to treat sickle-cell disease and two more in development. It’s a smart deal for both companies. Pfizer can put needed marketing muscle behind GBT’s products. In return, Pfizer will be able ...

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• 10 August

  Trump raid should be Garland’s opening act

    We now know that the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have an active interest in Donald Trump because Trump told us so. “My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a rambling statement. “They even broke into my safe!” ...

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• 10 August

  Boeing gets green light to deliver 787s after FAA nod

  

  Bloomberg Boeing Co is poised to resume deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner jets as soon as August 10, almost two years after they were disrupted by manufacturing flaws. The first is set to go to American Airlines Group Inc now that US regulators have cleared the Arlington, Virginia-based planemaker to restart deliveries. The carrier plans to take the Dreamliner, its ...

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• 10 August

  Thai Air to get $2.3bn aid from government

  

    Bloomberg Thai Airways International Pcl will receive key financial support from the government for its 80 billion baht ($2.3 billion) capital raising and debt-to-equity swap plan aimed at helping the state-controlled carrier come out of its pandemic-induced bankruptcy. State-owned banks will lead in funding new loans, converting debt and injecting equity capital into Thai Air as part of a ...

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• 10 August

  Whole Foods co-founder builds chain of cafes, wellness centres

  

  Bloomberg Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey is planning a second act when he retires from the Amazon-owned grocer next month: building a chain of plant-based restaurants and wellness centres that offer fitness and spa services. Corporate records list Mackey, 68, as a partner in Healthy America LLC, a startup that raised about $31 million from investors earlier this year ...

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• 10 August

  UK airfares up 30% as demand runs up against flight caps

  

  Bloomberg Britons booking a break in some of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations this summer are seeing airfares climb by almost a third amid booming demand, high oil prices and curbs on airline capacity. Fares in the first week of August, the peak month for UK travel, were up 30% on average for the top 36 routes compared with pre-pandemic ...

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• 10 August

  HK quarantine reduction not enough, says airline group

    Bloomberg Hong Kong’s move to reduce mandatory hotel quarantine for international travellers isn’t enough to bring back tourists, according to Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Director General Subhas Menon. “It’s not time to bring out the bubbly,” Menon, whose group represents 14 Asia Pacific carriers including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s always ...

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• 10 August

  Alibaba cut staff by 10,000 in 3 months

    Bloomberg Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd let go of 9,241 employees in the three months to June, according to the company’s latest filing. The Hangzhou-based firm reported it had just over 245,000 employees at the end of the most recent reporting quarter, cutting back during a period that marked its first ever contraction in revenue. Alibaba also ...

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• 10 August

  Pelosi trip hinders Biden effort to galvanise Asia against China

  

  Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s swing through Asia aimed to convey the US’s “strong and unshakable” support for the region. It ended up leaving many countries in stunned silence as China conducted unprecedented military drills around Taiwan. The shockwaves from the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in a quarter century are still reverberating around the region days after she flew ...

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• 10 August

  China military drills show preparation for possible invasion, Taiwan says

  

    Bloomberg China used US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei as a pretext to prepare for a possible Taiwan invasion and expand its control throughout the region, the island’s foreign minister said, adding Beijing had been planning the move for some time. China’s recent military drills in the seas and air around Taiwan were aimed at changing the ...

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