December, 2019

• 22 December

  China’s chip quest is all heart, not enough brain

  

  China has made developing its own chip industry a matter of patriotic pride. It helps that “China chip” and “China heart” sound the same in the local language. The strain of this 1.7 trillion yuan ($243 billion) endeavour may be too much for the debt-clogged arteries of its municipal governments, though. Over the past decade, Beijing hasn’t hesitated to deploy ...

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• 22 December

  Slump in Germany’s air travel points to spread of flight shame

  

  Bloomberg Mounting concern about carbon emissions may be altering travel habits in Europe’s largest economy as figures from German airports show a steady decline in passengers taking domestic flights. The number of people flying between German cities fell 12% in November from a year earlier, according to the ADV industry group, marking a fourth straight monthly drop and mirroring a ...

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• 22 December

  Airbus seeking more engines from GE unit

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is in discussions with General Electric Co. and Safran SA’s airplane CFM International unit to increase supplies of its engines as Boeing Co. halts production of the beleaguered 737 Max narrow-body, reports said. The engine maker is seeking to ramp up production of the 1A variant of the CFM LEAP engine, which is used on the A320neo ...

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• 22 December

  Citi, American Air cancel trips, seize points for rewards abuse

  

  Bloomberg American Airlines is canceling reward trips and seizing miles, joining partner Citigroup in cracking down on customers who take advantage of the carrier’s loyalty program by opening multiple accounts. Some customers have started complaining in recent weeks on Twitter and a popular Reddit site for people who make a hobby of signing up for credit cards, either properly or ...

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• 22 December

  Amsterdam’s ghost airport grounded by growth-climate clash

  

  Bloomberg From its colonial trading days to reclaiming land from the sea, the Netherlands has a tradition of pushing the limits, but a public backlash over a planned airport suggests that many Dutch have had enough. With the opening of a second Amsterdam hub delayed by 20 months and counting, political fronts are hardening ahead of a crucial environmental-impact report ...

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• 22 December

  Boeing sued for 737 Max-related losses

  Bloomberg An Irish company that buys and leases airplanes sued Boeing Co. in the US to void contracts for almost two dozen 737 Max aircraft and to demand at least $185 million in damages, citing design flaws that led to two deadly crashes. Timaero Ireland Ltd., based in Dublin, sued Boeing in federal court in Chicago, alleging fraud and breach ...

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• 21 December

  US, China arranging signing of trade pact, says Trump

  

  Bloomberg The US and China are arranging the formal signing of the first phase of a broader trade deal between the world’s two biggest economies, President Donald Trump said after discussions between him and his counterpart, Xi Jinping. “Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchases ...

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• 21 December

  Ajman OKs AED1.72b budget for fiscal 2020

  

  AJMAN / WAM His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, has issued Emiri Decree No. 10 of 2019, passing the Ajman Government General Budget for the fiscal year 2020. The value of the budget (without deficit) totals AED1.752 billion. According to HH Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman ...

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• 21 December

  Oil pares weekly gain as ‘traders’ eye $60 threshold

  

  Bloomberg Oil erased almost an entire week of advances as chart-watching traders tested a key price barrier. Futures in New York fell 1.2%, a day after closing at a three-month high. Selling accelerated after a foray above $61 a barrel petered out, a bearish technical signal. The next key threshold is at the $60 level, traders said. On the fundamental ...

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• 21 December

  267m Facebook users’ IDs, names, phone numbers exposed online

  

  Bloomberg Information on 267 million Facebook users, including user names, phone numbers and Facebook IDs, was exposed online, according to a cybersecurity researcher. The data, mostly from US Facebook users, was posted on a searchable database by a group that appeared to be based in Vietnam, said Bob Diachenko, the cyber threat intelligence director at Security Discovery, a Ukrainian cybersecurity ...

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