February, 2020

• 2 February

  First coronavirus death outside China reported in Philippines

  

  Bloomberg A 44-year-old Chinese male from Wuhan died in the Philippines on February 1 from the novel coronavirus, the first death recorded outside of China, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday. The man arrived in the Philippines on January 21 accompanying the country’s first confirmed case, a 38-year-old woman, after they had travelled from Wuhan via Hong Kong, ...

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• 2 February

  Modi’s budget falls short amid growth worries in India

  

  Bloomberg Indian PM Narendra Modi’s second budget in seven months disappointed investors who were hoping for big-bang stimulus to revive growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. The fiscal plan — delivered by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman — proposed tax cuts for individuals and wider deficit targets, but failed to provide specific steps to fix a struggling financial sector, improve infrastructure and ...

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• 2 February

  Japan prosecutors issue arrest warrant to Ghosn

  

  Bloomberg Prosecutors in Tokyo issued a fresh warrant for the arrest of ex-Nissan Motor Co Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who jumped bail and fled the country last month to escape trial for alleged financial crimes. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office issued the warrant on Ghosn for illegally departing Japan, where the former auto executive was charged with failing to fully ...

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• 2 February

  Huawei scouts Europe for tech startups

  

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co is in talks about investing in European tech startups and contributing to research in a bid to secure its supply chain as tensions with the US escalate, people familiar with the matter said. In the final weeks of 2019, Huawei executives visited startups and venture capital firms in countries including Germany and France, they said. The ...

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• 2 February

  Samsung profit slides 38% with memory-chip slump

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co reported a 38% decline in profit due to falling memory chip prices, a warning sign for the global technology industry as it navigates trade tensions and the coronavirus outbreak. Net income tumbled to 5.23 trillion won ($4.4 billion) for the three months ended in December, compared with the 5.31 trillion won average of projections. The miss ...

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• 2 February

  S African group to present $17b Eskom plan

  

  Bloomberg The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the nation’s biggest labour federation, will present its proposal to rescue state power company Eskom Holdings SOC to senior members of government and the business community on Monday. The union group, an ally of the ruling African National Congress, wants the government-owned pension fund, the Public Investment Corp, and state lenders, ...

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• 2 February

  Texas, Iowa installed most wind turbines than ever last year

  Bloomberg The top two US states for wind power installed their most turbines ever last year, helping push up nationwide capacity growth to a seven-year high as tax benefits sent developers rushing projects into service. Texas added almost 4 gigawatts and Iowa installed 1.7 gigawatts, expanding their lead in wind power capacity, according to a report from the American Wind ...

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• 2 February

  US criticises UN agencies for Taiwan exclusion amid virus

  

  Bloomberg US politicians, including Senators Mitt Romney and Cory Gardner, criticised international organisations for excluding Taiwan amid a global effort to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. China has placed pressure on the World Health Organization (WHO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Criminal Police Organization to exclude Taiwan from discussions, Romney said, echoing calls for immediate inclusion ...

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• 2 February

  Emails reveal Trump’s Ukraine role, says US

  

  Bloomberg The Justice Department, in a court filing, said it has two dozen emails related to President Donald Trump’s involvement in withholding millions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine, CNN reported. The filing, made in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Public Integrity, was the first official acknowledgment from the Trump administration of the existence of such ...

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• 2 February

  Malawi’s top court to rule on presidential poll

  

  Bloomberg Claims by Malawi’s opposition that last year’s election that returned President Peter Mutharika to power was rigged should be decided upon on Monday when the nation’s top court is due to rule on whether to annul the vote. The electoral commission declared Mutharika, the leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the winner of the May 21 ballot with ...

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