January, 2020

• 20 January

  HK’s jobless rate rises for third month in Dec

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose for a third month in December, as the city’s consumption and tourism-related industries remained weak amid the city’s protest-driven recession. The unemployment rate rose to 3.3% for the October to December period, the highest since March 2017. The run of three straight months is the worst spate of increases for the measure since it ...

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• 20 January

  Deflation finds no mention in Abe’s annual speech

  

  Bloomberg This was the first time Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe didn’t even mention the word “deflation” in his annual start-of-the-legislative-session speech to lawmakers, an omission that may help cement a view the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is now under less pressure to meet its elusive price target. In his 41-minute speech on Monday, Abe talked up the upcoming Tokyo ...

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• 20 January

  Samsung engineering maven appointed head of world’s top smartphone business

  

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co has appointed Taemoon Roh the head of its smartphone division, tasking a veteran executive with oversight of the world’s largest mobile devices business. Roh, who was formerly the unit’s No. 2 executive, was expected to take over the top job from Koh Dong-Jin from from Monday. Koh remains head of the Korean conglomerate’s IT and mobile ...

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• 20 January

  UK, EU draw battle lines as hard part of Brexit begins

  

  Bloomberg If the past three years of Brexit have been difficult and intense, the next 11 months threaten to be even more so. The UK and European Union (EU) are already at odds before they even start thrashing out the terms of their future relationship. British prime minister Boris Johnson views Brexit as an opportunity to break free from what ...

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• 20 January

  China deal is Trump’s hedge against damage

  

  Bloomberg Hours before the seven House Democrats managers marched articles of impeachment across the Capitol last week, president Donald Trump secured what he’s relying on to counter any political damage — a cease-fire in the trade war with China. With little chance the Republican-controlled Senate will convict him on two articles of impeachment, the greatest danger to Trump is that ...

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• 20 January

  UK house prices post record jump in Jan

  

  Bloomberg Asking prices for UK homes increased by the most for any January on record in a sign that the Conservatives’ December election win boosted confidence, according to property website-operator Rightmove. Values increased 2.3% on the month to an average 306,810 pounds ($400,000) Rightmove said in a report on Monday. In London, they gained 2.1% from a month earlier, a ...

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• 20 January

  AstraZeneca treatments win orphan FDA status

  

  Bloomberg Two AstraZeneca Plc cancer drugs received orphan status for treatment of liver cancer, a designation that may eventually speed progress to approval. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the special status reserved for rare conditions to Imfinzi, a lung cancer treatment, and tremelimumab, which has been tested in a combination in a variety of cancers, AstraZeneca said ...

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• 20 January

  Danish funds with $370b warn managers on taxes

  Bloomberg Pension funds in Denmark have issued a warning to external managers, making clear that they risk being fired if caught engaging in aggressive tax optimisation. The move represents an industry wide measure intended to thwart tax avoidance and live up to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals. A total of 11 firms, representing over half of Denmark’s pension assets, ...

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• 20 January

  Ford, LG rank among firms most prepared for climate change

  

  Bloomberg Ford Motor Co, LG Corp and Pernod Ricard SA joined the ranks of the top global companies that are best prepared for the effects of climate change. They won the “A” grade last year for how aggressive they are setting and meeting carbon goals, as well as how forthcoming they are about their efforts, according to an analysis by ...

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• 20 January

  Spain’s ongoing grapple with politics of memory

  

  An hour’s drive northwest of here, in the Valley of the Fallen, is a residue of Europe’s past that suggests what the continent’s future would have been if fascism had not been defeated in the previous century. Atop a granite mountain stands an almost 500-foot-tall stone cross, the world’s tallest. An enormous basilica has been hewn deep into the mountain. ...

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