September, 2021

• 20 September

  Alibaba’s Lazada hires Ant’s veteran

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Lazada Group is creating a new role to lead payments in Southeast Asia for the first time, and tapped a former Alipay executive for the position. Dayong Zhang, former general manager of Southeast Asia for Ant Group Co’s Alipay, will become Lazada’s head of payments, the company said, confirming a report by Bloomberg News. The ...

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• 20 September

  Hong Kong struggling to lure SPACs with strict rulebook

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong could have a hard time attracting blank check companies after it proposed a high threshold to list in the city. In a consultation paper, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd proposed that special purpose acquisition companies would need to raise at least HK$1 billion ($128 million) when listing and that retail investors would be barred from participating. ...

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• 20 September

  China neighbours worry Australia sub deal will destabilise region

  

  Bloomberg France isn’t the only country upset about a new security pact between the US, UK and Australia: Some Southeast Asian nations are also worried the partnership could provoke China and spur a regional arms race. The so-called Aukus partnership, which will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, prompted China last week to warn of an arms race in a region ...

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• 20 September

  North Korea warns of ‘nuclear arms race’ after Aukus subs deal

  

  Bloomberg North Korea warned of a “nuclear arms race” after the US and UK agreed to give Australia technology to build nuclear-powered submarines, and vowed to take counteraction for any adverse impact on its own security. “These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will upset the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and trigger off a chain of nuclear ...

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• 20 September

  Putin’s party claims big win in parliament vote

  

  Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin’s ruling party claimed a decisive victory in legislative polls, although discontent eroded support in some areas and opponents alleged widespread fraud. United Russia was on track to maintain its majority of more than two-thirds of the seats in the State Duma with 99% of ballots counted, according to the Central Election Commission. While the ruling party ...

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• 20 September

  Rich nations to miss climate fund goal

  

  Bloomberg Developed countries’ pledges to provide $100 billion of annual financing, made over a decade ago and seen as key to unlocking upcoming climate talks, are unlikely to be met even five years after the target, according to a new report. That not only threatens the success at the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow starting in weeks, but also ...

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• 20 September

  Johnson warns European Union over post-Brexit friction in Northern Ireland

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson said post-Brexit trade disruption in Northern Ireland must be sorted quickly and urged the European Union to show “common sense” in negotiations with his government. He also said that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had offered to mediate between the EU and the UK in the dispute during his visit to London last week, in ...

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• 20 September

  Johnson calls gas price surge in UK a ‘temporary’ problem

  

  Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said unprecedented surge in natural gas prices is a “temporary” problem caused by the global economy bouncing back after the pandemic, arguing a “phenomenal demand for gas” in Asia has affected UK supplies. “I want to give a general reassurance that the problems we’re seeing are temporary,” Johnson told reporters travelling with him to ...

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• 20 September

  Merck plans to spend $3.5bn on electronics unit amid chip crunch

  

  Bloomberg Merck KGaA plans to invest more than 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) through 2025 in its electronics business to capitalise on rising demand for semiconductor and display panel materials. The German company will expand production capacity, bolster research and development spending and is also considering bolt-on acquisitions, it said on Monday in a statement. Merck makes materials and technologies ...

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• 20 September

  Employment in 19 US states drop in August

  Bloomberg Employment declined in 19 states and the District of Columbia in August, while the majority of other states posted modest increases, elucidating the abrupt stepdown in US hiring seen last month. North Carolina, Iowa and Hawaii posted largest declines in employment over the month, according to Labour Department figures on state employment. Meantime, California, Texas and New York — ...

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