March, 2020

• 22 March

  London papers slash costs as virus scares off readers, ads

  

  Bloomberg The cries of London’s iconic newspaper vendors are being silenced because the coronavirus is forcing millions of commuters to stay home and advertisers are snapping shut their wallets. The Evening Standard newspaper, which distributes about 800,000 free copies a day in the capital, said it will pivot to home delivery to reach workers who would normally pick up the ...

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• 22 March

  Fintechs seeking funds to help make business loans

  

  Bloomberg Financial-technology firms including PayPal Holdings Inc. are lining up to help speed lending to small businesses during the coronavirus crisis — and are pushing for a slice of emergency US government funding. Industry group Financial Innovation Now urged Congress to provide capital to online lenders including PayPal and Square Inc., and to permit firms to disperse Small Businesses Administration ...

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• 22 March

  Restaurant suppliers stuck with tons of unsold food

  

  Bloomberg Franco Fubini, who founded fruit and vegetables seller Natoora Ltd., is used to charging celebrity chefs a premium price for carefully tended produce, like white peaches from Italy, Sicilian pomegranate and Essex heirloom tomatoes. But in the past week, sales have evaporated. As shoppers empty supermarket shelves of pasta and dried beans, wholesalers like Natoora, which buys from more ...

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• 22 March

  BMW to idle its biggest plant in US

  Bloomberg BMW AG’s South Carolina SUV factory, one of the last US auto assembly plants still operating, will be idled early next month. The factory, which makes the brand’s lucrative X3, X5 and X7 sport utility vehicles, will shut down starting April 3 for more than two weeks, the German company said in a statement, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News ...

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• 22 March

  China orders local staff out of US news outlets in Beijing

  

  Bloomberg Authorities in Beijing have forced at least seven Chinese nationals to stop working for American news outlets there, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the US and China over media access. Members of the New York Times, Voice of America and two other outlets were dismissed from their jobs on ...

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• 22 March

  Italy’s virus deaths rise by record 793 to 4,825

  

  Bloomberg Italy suffered its worst day of coronavirus deaths and shut down almost all industrial production for 15 days, with the pandemic dealing blow after blow across an entire European continent in lockdown. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that Italy will temporarily halt all non-essential business activity as the country of 60 million faces its biggest challenge since World War ...

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• 22 March

  Anwar says he no longer believes Mahathir

  

  Bloomberg Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he no longer believes former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad following a series of broken promises between the two political stalwarts. Anwar, in an interview with CNBC, said “not now” when asked if he still trusted in the former prime minister. “I am just human, I take people at face value and I think ...

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• 22 March

  Ethiopia mulls delaying elections on coronavirus

  

  Bloomberg Ethiopia is considering whether it can hold elections as scheduled in August as the coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic spreads. “If we can control the disease and get through it in a short time, like China did, then elections would be held on schedule. This is preferable,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a televised address to the public on March ...

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• 22 March

  Virus crisis boosts Duda before vote in locked-down Poland

  

  Bloomberg Polish President Andrzej Duda has rarely been busier than since he suspended his election campaign and called on rivals to follow suit amid the coronavirus outbreak. The incumbent has criss-crossed the country and made television appearances at a border checkpoint, a hospital, a food bank and even oil group PKN Orlen SA’s new production line of hand sanitiser. His ...

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• 22 March

  Trump sends letter to Kim offering help fighting virus

  Bloomberg US President Donald Trump sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offering help fighting the coronavirus outbreak. The letter also included a plan for advancing ties between the countries, according to a statement from Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, that was published by Korean Central News Agency. North Korea has said it has avoided the virus pandemic ...

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