December, 2021

• 13 December

  Ofgem invites bids for ‘subsea power’ cables to Europe

  

    Bloomberg The UK’s energy regulator is inviting bids to build more high-voltage cables to connect the country’s electricity grid to the European continent. Ofgem is launching a new round of investment bids to build the sub-sea cables, according to a statement. The regulator says the plans will help boost national energy security and electrification plans which could help the ...

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• 13 December

  The fight for democracy needs some hypocrisy

  

    It doesn’t take a genius to see that a subtext of President Joe Biden’s “Summit for Democracy” last week was an effort to raise the ideological stakes in the competition between the US and China. And only a fool would believe that the strategy will work without a healthy dose of diplomatic hypocrisy. The notion of an “alliance of ...

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• 13 December

  Will it be a blue omicron Christmas?

  

  It’d be an understatement to say that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson needs the public’s support right now, as a worrying new Covid variant spreads across the land. It’d also be an understatement to say that he and his fellow Conservatives are doing a bad job at rallying that support. To sum up Partygate: There were accusations of a Christmas ...

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• 13 December

  Cash is dying, but we aren’t ready to bury it

    The demise of cash is near. As consumers, though, we should hope that the end doesn’t arrive too soon. It isn’t the pandemic that’s putting this popular means of payment out of existence. All that Covid-19 has done is to accelerate a trend that was already with us. When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, he began ...

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• 13 December

  Fed needs to go beyond doubling its taper rate

    After the hot inflation numbers out of the US, it would be inadvisable and unfortunate if the Federal Reserve were to resist at its policy meeting this week what have become broad-based calls for it to double the rate at which it is tapering its monthly bond purchases. In fact, the Fed should go well beyond that. Sadly, the ...

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• 13 December

  Southwest Airlines skeptics are ‘missing the point,’ says CEO

  

    Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co executives are pushing back against a rising chorus of analysts who say the company’s days as the airline industry’s disruptive force are over, reined in by higher wages and tougher operational challenges. The carrier known for its no-frills aesthetic and competitive prices is under pressure because its model is being put to the test, 50 ...

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• 13 December

  Asia’s richest man looking to buy bankrupt textile company Sintex in India

  

    Bloomberg Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, along with a partner, are among those bidding to take over bankrupt Indian textile firm Sintex Industries Ltd, according to a stock-exchange filing, as the billionaire attempts to diversify from an oil empire and into telecommunications, green energy and fashion. Reliance is partnering with Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd to bid for ...

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• 13 December

  Amazon-backed grocer More Retail weighing India IPO at $5b value

  

    Bloomberg More Retail Pvt, an Indian grocery chain backed by Amazon.com Inc, is considering an initial public offering that could value the company at as much as $5 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company is weighing a first-time share sale in Mumbai as early as June, the people said, asking not to be identified ...

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• 13 December

  Travellers from US, UK sent to quarantine camps in Hong Kong

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong businessman Sam Wong, 60, has scrapped his holiday plans. An executive director at China Renewable Energy, Wong was booked to fly to the US to spend Christmas with his two children who are studying there. He hasn’t seen them in six months. One week before his flight, the Hong Kong government declared that travellers returning from ...

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• 13 December

  Ghana to charge airlines $3,500 for unvaccinated passengers

    Bloomberg Ghana will charge airlines $3,500 for every passenger flown in the country who isn’t fully vaccinated against Covid-19, part of a push by the West African country to avoid a fresh wave of infections. Carriers that take vaccinated passengers without negative PCR test results into Kotoka International Airport will also be fined starting from Tuesday, the Ghana Health ...

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