December, 2019

• 8 December

  Firms pay $2,500-an-hour to avoid China blacklist

  

  Bloomberg China Railway Construction Corp deployed thousands of workers over four years to build part of a coal-carrying line from Inner Mongolia to Jiangxi province — about the same distance as midtown Manhattan to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The project cost about 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) in total and was heralded by state media in 2018 as ...

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• 8 December

  Samsung takes on iPhone ‘with camera’

  Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co’s response to Apple Inc’s much-improved iPhone 11 cameras is going to be a giant photographic arsenal strapped to the back of its 2020 flagship phones. The Korean company is preparing the biggest overhaul to the cameras on its flagship phones for next year, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Its upcoming Galaxy S11 will ...

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• 8 December

  Nissan gives 2-day furlough for US workers

  

  Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co ordered a furlough of employees for two days at the beginning of January, the latest cost-cutting move as US sales continue to slide. Nissan North America is closing US offices on January 2 and 3 to “optimise business performance and competitiveness,” the company said in an emailed statement. In a memo to employees, North America Chairman ...

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• 8 December

  AOC, Sanders say I told you so as Amazon, FB move to NYC

  

  Bloomberg Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders are taking a victory lap after Amazon.com Inc and other technology giants leased millions of square feet of office space in New York City — without the billions of dollars in government support that Amazon tried to negotiate earlier this year. Amazon signed a leasefor 335,000 square feet in the ...

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• 8 December

  Apple buys carbon-free aluminum for iPhone

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc is taking delivery this month of the first batch of carbon-free aluminum produced by a Montreal-based venture, helping move the iPhone maker closer to its greenhouse-gas reduction goal. Elysis, a joint venture between Rio Tinto Group and Alcoa Corp backed by Apple, uses new technology that emits pure oxygen when producing aluminum. Apple has said in an ...

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• 8 December

  Ericsson to pay $1bn to settle US corruption probe

  

  Bloomberg A unit of Ericsson AB pleaded guilty to foreign bribery and the parent company agreed to pay more than $1 billion to resolve a long-running US corruption investigation involving payoffs in Asia and the Middle East. The Stockholm-based company admitted to a years-long campaign of corruption aimed at solidifying its grip on the telecommunications business, US Attorney Geoffrey S ...

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• 8 December

  Britain’s latest battle of Hastings is about the economy

  

  Bloomberg The people of Hastings on England’s south coast know a thing or two about staging a battle. The decisive defeat to Norman invaders in 1066 is one of the most notorious events in British history. More recently, the seaside town has seen conflict as the country tears itself apart over membership of the European Union. The last election two ...

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• 8 December

  Macron faces protests over pension reform

  

  Bloomberg French labour unions called for a new day of protests seeking to force President Emmanuel Macron to either sweeten his pension-reform plan or abandon it. After more than 800,000 protesters took to the streets across France — the biggest such turnout since Macron took office in May 2017 — unions have been emboldened. They have extended their strikes into ...

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• 8 December

  North Korea’s UN envoy says denuclearisation off table

  

  Bloomberg Denuclearisation is off the negotiating table with the US, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said in a strongly-worded statement that also criticized EU member nations for playing “the role of pet dog” to Washington. Ambassador Kim Song said that the “sustained and substantial dialogue” sought by the US with Pyongyang was a trick done to suit its ...

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• 8 December

  At least 43 people die in New Delhi factory fire

  Bloomberg At least 43 people died in a blaze in New Delhi early Sunday morning, authorities said. The fire broke out in a factory operating in a residential area, Anil Mittal, a spokesman for the Delhi police said. The state government will give 1 million rupees ($14,000) to support families of those who died and 100,000 rupees to those injured, ...

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