March, 2020

• 11 March

  Construction on US pavilion begins at Expo 2020 Dubai

  

  DUBAI / WAM US Ambassador to the UAE John Rakolta Jr. and Counselor of the Department of State T. Ulrich Brechbuhl have officially inaugurated the construction of the US pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, according to a press release issued by the US Embassy website. At the first concrete pour, Ambassador Rakolta said, “The US pavilion will showcase how freedom ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Tokyo Disneyland extends shutdown until early April

  

  Bloomberg Tokyo Disney Resort will extend its shutdown until at least early April, responding to a call by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to extend cancellations of large events for another ten days as Japan battles the spread of the coronavirus. Operator Oriental Land Co had initially planned to keep the Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea parks shut until March 15, ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Japan’s Abe faces calls for more stimulus to stem virus impact

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still faces calls to put together another large-scale stimulus to shake off the impact of the coronavirus, despite a second round of emergency measures unveiled on March 10. Most economists see the world’s third-largest economy falling into recession despite the two rounds of measures aimed at helping struggling businesses and workers. With the virus keeping ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Market drop adds to pressure on Indian tycoons to sell stakes

  

  Bloomberg India’s cash-strapped tycoons may need to ready more yard sales of their crown jewels as stock volatility and ongoing credit market uncertainty pressure their ability to pay loans. At issue is the loans that Indian business leaders often take against the backing of their main assets — stakes in their listed firms. The value of such pledged shares has ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Singapore tourism’s woes deepen over virus

  

  Bloomberg Singapore is bracing for a harder hit to tourism than initially expected from the coronavirus as the outbreak spreads to more than 100 countries, impacting global travel plans, Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran said. “Now it’s really the fact that there’s a global spread of this virus and therefore we will have to reevaluate certainly the numbers,” ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Indonesia copies financial crisis playbook to quell market rout

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia is reintroducing a raft of market measures deployed during the global financial crisis as authorities warn the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the markets and the economy will be more damaging. The nation’s only stock exchange tightened trading-halt rules on March 10, with the first suspension kicking in with a 5% slump instead of 10% earlier. ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  IHH offers on-demand Covid-19 test

  Bloomberg Asia’s biggest hospital group is offering on-demand tests for new coronavirus in Malaysia, while helping Singapore’s authorities diagnose cases, even as other countries struggle with a shortage of kits. IHH Healthcare Bhd’s Gleneagles and Pantai hospitals around Kuala Lumpur and Melaka are endorsed to perform the tests by Malaysia’s health authority, which has sought to “Uber-ise” the service by ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Los Angeles aims to be first to power US city with renewable hydrogen

  

  Bloomberg Los Angeles is aiming to become the first city in the nation to use renewable hydrogen to produce electricity, with the goal of ending the use of carbon-based natural gas entirely. The city has a two-step plan to replace 1,900 megawatts of coal-fired generation produced at a Utah power plant owned by the Intermountain Power Agency. The first step: ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  Eskom wins court decision against regulator on tariffs

  

  Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, South Africa’s indebted power utility, won a High Court ruling against the nation’s energy regulator, which had blocked the company from recovering some costs it says it incurred during the 2019 financial year. Eskom had asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for an 18.9% tariff increase to allow it to generate 219.5 billion ...

  Read More »
• 11 March

  PG&E strikes deal with US agency over $3.9bn in fire claims

  

  Bloomberg PG&E Corp reached a deal with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency over $3.9 billion in relief Washington provided after the utility’s power lines sparked devastating wildfires. The settlement, which requires court approval, calls for FEMA to reduce its claim to $1 billion and allow victims of wildfires blamed on PG&E equipment to be paid in full first, lawyers ...

  Read More »