December, 2021

• 7 December

  Malaysia court dismisses Najib’s plea, SRC verdict

  

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s court dismissed former leader Najib Razak’s application to add new evidence in the first of his 1MDB-linked trials, and maintained that the verdict on his appeal would be delivered on Wednesday. Najib was convicted last year of money laundering, corruption and criminal breach of trust over 42 million ringgit ($10 million) of funds belonging to SRC International, a ...

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• 7 December

  Ireland braces for weather bomb with Storm Barra

  Bloomberg Ireland braced for a weather bomb, with Storm Barra’s violent winds and rain slamming the country through Wednesday. The Irish Meteorological Service issued a red wind warning for three counties in the west and south of the country, with people advised to shelter indoors and some transport and health services suspended. At least 12,000 homes and businesses had lost ...

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• 7 December

  Whistle-blower says UK wasted time during Kabul airlift

  

  Bloomberg A whistle-blower who worked on the UK’s response to the Afghanistan crisis has laid bare what the young diplomat says were serious shortcomings in how then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab — and even the ministry itself — handled the evacuation of vulnerable people from Kabul. Raphael Marshall, a junior officer in the British foreign service, told a parliamentary committee that ...

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• 7 December

  France considers furlough extension post Covid curbs

  Bloomberg The French government will provide support to any sector hit by latest Covid restrictions, including extending financing of furlough beyond the end of this year, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. The finance ministry is working with the labour ministry to extend the current mechanism and make it easier to access for firms affected by government decisions including the ...

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• 7 December

  Canada adds 153,700 jobs as unemployment rate declines

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s labour market blew past expectations in November as the end of income support programs helped fuel new hiring. Employment rises 153,700 last month, Statistics Canada reported in Ottawa. That’s more than quadruple the 37,500 gain economists were predicting, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The numbers show just how close the nation’s economy is to ...

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• 7 December

  German factory orders drop 6.9% in October

  

  Bloomberg German factory orders plummeted in October as demand for investment goods declined, putting the economy on weak footing in the final months of the year. Orders fall 6.9% following a 1.3% increase the previous month. That’s the biggest drop in the volatile index since August and a worse reading than predicted by a single economist in a survey of ...

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• 7 December

  UK new car registrations reverse four-month slide

  

  Bloomberg New car registrations in the UK rise in November for the first time after four consecutive months of declines, driven by a demand for electrified vehicles. Sales increased 1% in November from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). That’s still 31% below the pre-pandemic five-year average, the SMMT said. ...

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• 7 December

  US ship logjam stretching far into Pacific is longer than ever

  

  Bloomberg The number of container ships headed for the busiest US port complex has risen to close to 100 under a new counting method, underscoring the magnitude of the economy-restraining logjam that the Biden administration is trying to help alleviate. The backup outside the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, involves 96 container carriers, up from 86 ...

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• 7 December

  Denmark plans to cut fiscal stimulus

  Bloomberg Denmark’s government plans to reduce fiscal stimulus next year, citing an “incredible” shape of the Nordic economy in a budget deal agreed by the ruling Social Democrats and their supporting bloc in parliament. Measures including a tax cut for home improvement services would have a limiting effect on the gross domestic product of 0.1%, the finance ministry said in ...

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• 7 December

  Uber loses UK court fight over London business model

  

  Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc and its London rivals will have to overhaul their business models in the city after losing a bid to challenge part of a landmark ruling which led its drivers to be re-classified as workers. UK judges ruled that the tech firm should enter into a direct contract with passengers when providing car journeys and therefore assume ...

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