January, 2020

• 4 January

  US factory gauge hits 10-year low amid global slowdown

  

  Bloomberg US manufacturing closed out a tumultuous year with the weakest monthly performance since the end of the recession, with orders shrinking and factories continuing to dial back production. The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.2 in December, 2019 from 48.1, the fifth straight month of contraction and missing estimates for a rise in a Bloomberg ...

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• 4 January

  Apollo-backed security firm in talks for debt restructuring

  

  Bloomberg Constellis Holdings LLC, a security contractor backed by Apollo Global Management Inc, is in talks with creditors on a deal to restructure its $1 billion of debt, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The firm, which has provided some security services around the US embassy complex in Iraq — the site of anti-American protests this week — ...

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• 4 January

  Apple CEO’s pay falls about $10m in 2019

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook made $125 million in the company’s 2019 fiscal year, less than the year before due in part to a lower bonus. Cook got a $3 million salary, a $7.7 million bonus and $884,466 in perks and other compensation in the latest period, the Cupertino, California-based technology giant said in a filing. The ...

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• 4 January

  NYC jobs fell more than 50k in year through Nov

  

  Bloomberg The job market soured in the Big Apple in November, according to Labour Department data. Despite a 52,134 decline, a surge in hiring in the New York City suburbs helped the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metropolitan area to the second-largest jobs gain in the country with a 99,400 jump. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas region witnessed the nation’s largest metro-area ...

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• 4 January

  Amazon threatens to fire climate activists, group says

  

  Bloomberg A group of Amazon.com Inc employees who pushed the company to combat climate change say Amazon has threatened to fire some of them if they continue to speak out about their employer’s internal affairs. Two were threatened with termination, a spokesperson for Amazon Employees for Climate Justice said, and a total of four were told in meetings that they ...

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• 4 January

  Washington moves to brief allies cautious after Baghdad strike

  

  Bloomberg The US moved quickly to brief governments abroad and seek support for its decision to kill the Iranian commander in charge of its elite Quds force, with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo calling counterparts in France, the UK, Russia and other major powers. Foreign leaders largely reacted with caution to President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a strike that ...

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• 4 January

  Sanchez makes bid to start Spain’s new government

  

  Bloomberg Pedro Sanchez began his bid on Saturday to form a new government with assistance from a Catalan separatist party as he urged Spain’s parliament to help him end the country’s political deadlock. Sanchez, Spain’s acting prime minister, needs to win the endorsement of the 350-seat chamber in a voting process that will continue until Tuesday. He is likely to ...

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• 4 January

  Kim gives up on Trump, prepares to endure US sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Kim Jong-un is giving up on hopes that US President Donald Trump will lift sanctions anytime soon. Alongside the North Korean leader’s latest saber-rattling the first week of 2020 was a stunning admission: Efforts to engage the US had failed. Kim’s plan now is to find a way to survive under crushing economic sanctions while building an even stronger ...

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• 4 January

  Jess Phillips launches Labour leadership bid

  

  Bloomberg Maverick politician Jess Phillips said Labour needs a “different kind of leader” as she launched her bid to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, following the UK opposition party’s worst electoral defeat since 1935. Labour needs to regain support from “huge parts” of the working class base it has lost and is in “big trouble” if it fails, Phillips, 38, said, according ...

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• 4 January

  China names new liaison director for Hong Kong

  Bloomberg China appointed a new top liaison official for Hong Kong, replacing the former director amid months of protests in the financial hub. Luo Huining will take over from Wang Zhimin as the Hong Kong liaison office director, the government said in a two-sentence statement that didn’t elaborate on the changes. Wang was former director of China’s liaison office in ...

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