February, 2020

• 18 February

  Britain to spend $1.6bn on climate supercomputer

  Bloomberg The UK said it will spend 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) on developing the most powerful weather and climate supercomputer in the world. The programme aims to improve weather and climate modelling by the government forecaster, the Met Office, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said in a statement on Monday. The machine will replace the UK’s existing supercomputer, which is ...

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• 18 February

  UK’s consumers to face higher prices for EU goods, deal or not

  

  Bloomberg UK consumers will face higher prices on goods coming from the European Union (EU) after Brexit, whether Boris Johnson signs a free trade agreement with the bloc or not, according to a major business group. Products imported from the EU after January 1 2021 will require customs declarations, which cost between 16 pounds ($21) and 56 pounds per product ...

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• 18 February

  GM to exit Australia, retire Holden brand in $1.1 billion overhaul

  

  Bloomberg General Motors Co will leave Australia, New Zealand and Thailand by year-end as it exits poor-performing markets and focuses on new technologies such as self-driving cars and electric vehicles. The largest US automaker will take $1.1 billion in charges mostly in the first quarter, of which $300 million is cash, to cover the costs of leaving those markets, it ...

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• 18 February

  EU fights for ‘purpose’ in grand plan for AI, technology rules

  

  Bloomberg China might have data and the US might have money, but Europe has purpose. That’s the message European Union tech czar Margrethe Vestager aims to convey on Wednesday when she unveils plans to help the bloc compete with the US and China’s technological might on its own terms, conforming with fundamental EU rights including strict privacy and non-discrimination rules. ...

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• 18 February

  Vodacom sees African growth in nano-loans

  Bloomberg Vodacom Group Ltd sees its African financial-services business as a cornerstone of growth as the wireless carrier expands into products such as funeral insurance and loans of as little as $2. The unit of the UK’s Vodafone Group Plc uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to customise its financial offering depending on the different needs of markets ranging from ...

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• 18 February

  Tesla Berlin factory risks legal delay over wildlife

  

  Bloomberg Elon Musk’s first electric car plant in Europe is facing legal delays that could set the project back by several months after a court halted work on clearing a forest for the new Tesla Inc factory near Berlin while it considers a challenge by environmentalists. The Berlin-Brandenburg higher administrative court issued a temporary injunction against further logging, overturning a ...

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• 18 February

  US, Taliban expected to sign peace deal by February-end

  

  Bloomberg The US and Taliban will sign a peace deal at the end of February, more than a year after negotiations started, paving the way for broader talks between the Afghan government and the extremist group on the country’s post-war future. The peace agreement will be signed during a ceremony, according to the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, as well as ...

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• 18 February

  It’ll be ‘Namaste Trump’ in India after ‘Howdy Modi’ in US

  

  Bloomberg We’ve had “Howdy Modi.” Now it’s “Namaste Trump.” That’s how the Indian city of Ahmedabad is advertising the event where President Donald Trump and India’s PM Narendra Modi are expected to share the stage at a cricket stadium on February 24. “Get ready to say #NamasteTrump,” the municipal corporation of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Modi’s home state of ...

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• 18 February

  EU agrees to deploy warships off Libya

  

  Bloomberg The European Union agreed to deploy warships to enforce an arms embargo on Libya in a move that underscores the increasing importance the bloc places on geopolitics and that seeks to defuse the conflict ravaging a major African oil producer. EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to launch aerial, satellite and maritime assets in the Mediterranean Sea tasked with ...

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• 18 February

  EU seeks to lift French veto on two Balkan countries

  

  Bloomberg European Union President Charles Michel sought to build momentum towards lifting a French veto on membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Michel hosted a dinner in Brussels for top representatives of western Balkan countries including North Macedonia and Albania. Last October, France blocked the EU’s goal of starting accession talks with both nations during the first half of ...

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