May, 2020

• 9 May

  US drilling sinks to record low with oil in retreat

  

  Bloomberg Oil and natural gas exploration plunged to an all-time low as the economic and industrial dislocations from the Covid-19 pandemic snuffed out the remnants of the American shale boom. Drilling in US oil and gas fields retreated by 34 rigs this week to 374, led by a precipitous drop in crude exploration that sank to levels not seen since …

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• 9 May

  Italy leads power demand recovery

  Bloomberg Italy’s electricity demand jumped as lockdown restrictions were loosened, signaling that an economic recovery may be on its way. While consumption rose in France and Britain and held steady in Germany and Spain from the previous week, it’s not clear how quickly demand will recover or if it’ll ever reach pre-crisis levels as the threat of a deep recession …

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• 9 May

  The fate of business travel could hang on Covid-19 tracing apps

  

  Bloomberg Mobile phone applications that trace the new coronavirus could help decide whether business travellers and vacation-goers get to meet clients or visit their favourite beaches this summer. But politics and disagreement over what system to use threatens to thwart that solution. Governments in Europe and elsewhere are turning to voluntary mobile apps to help trace possible infections of the …

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• 9 May

  ‘UK virus app has privacy loopholes’

  

  Bloomberg The UK’s contact-tracing mobile phone app includes code that could allow authorities access to a user’s detailed location data and to send information to Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, according to an initial technical analysis carried out by Privacy International. Like governments around the world, the UK is developing a voluntary mobile app that uses Bluetooth technology to …

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• 9 May

  Facebook users find excellent value in $550mn privacy deal

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. users asked a judge to approve a $550 million settlement in their class-action lawsuit that claimed the social-media giant illegally gathered biometric data through a photo-tagging tool. The class members will get from $150 to $300, or between 15% and 30% of the possible recovery on an individual claim, according to their lawyers. The settlement provides “excellent …

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• 9 May

  Automakers avoid recall of 56mn Takata air bags

  

  Bloomberg Automakers won’t have to recall roughly 56 million more air bag inflators made by the now-defunct Takata Corp., the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said, citing industry test data the agency said showed the parts won’t pose danger. The agency and an industry group will monitor safety of those Takata air bag inflators, which contain a moisture-absorbing …

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• 9 May

  Honda plans to restart US, Canada plants on May 11

  Bloomberg Honda Motor Co. will resume operations at its vehicle and auto-parts factories in the US and Canada starting on May 11, joining a caravan of other carmakers restarting North American production this month for the first time since mid-March. The Japanese automaker said it will gradually ramp up output and stagger its reopening to allow workers to get used …

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• 7 May

  Mohamed, Sierra Leone president discuss Covid-19 developments

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, have discussed bilateral relations, the global Covid-19 crisis and ways to contain the pandemic’s repercussions at various levels. In a telephone call, the leaders addressed the …

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• 7 May

  US and China trade chiefs set to speak as Trump threatens deal

  

  Bloomberg Top Chinese and US trade negotiators will speak as soon as next week on progress in implementing a phase-one deal after President Donald Trump threatened to “terminate” the agreement if Beijing wasn’t adhering to the terms. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will be on the call, according to people familiar with the matter. The US will be represented by …

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• 7 May

  UK house prices may fall 16% due to pandemic, BOE says

  

  Bloomberg UK house prices may fall 16% because of the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus, according to a desktop stress test by the Bank of England (BOE). That decline would be in line with the fall in residential property values during the financial crisis, though the central bank says that banks would not suffer “very material losses in the …

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