December, 2019

• 28 December

  US contractor killed as rocket hits Iraqi base

  Bloomberg A rocket attack on an Iraqi military base killed an American contractor and wounded several US and Iraqi military personnel, the Defense Department said. Iraqi security forces were “leading the response and investigation” following the assault on the base in Kirkuk, where coalition forces are based, the Pentagon said in a statement. The names of the contractor and the ...

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• 28 December

  Police use face-recognition software as India protests continue unabated

  

  Bloomberg Indian police have started using facial-recognition software to screen large crowds as protests over a new religion-based citizenship law intensify, the Indian Express newspaper reported, citing people it didn’t identify. The software, originally acquired in 2018 to find lost children, was used at a political rally for the first time on December 22, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi staunchly ...

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• 28 December

  Austria’s Kurz expects to form government soon

  Bloomberg Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz expects to strike a deal to govern in a coalition with the environmentalist Greens by mid-January, breaking new ground in Austrian politics half a year after his alliance with nationalists ended in scandal. Kurz, 33, and Werner Kogler, his 58-year-old counterpart at the Greens, said they will try to iron out any outstanding issues ...

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• 28 December

  French unions keep pressure on Macron with new protests

  

  Bloomberg Labor unions have called for marches and protests across France as they seek to maintain momentum in their month-long opposition to President Emmanuel Macron’s reform of the pension system. Protesters planned to gather at the Gare du Nord station in Paris to start one of the marches, while the CGT union’s railroad branch said they will block a train ...

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• 28 December

  Tesla all set to deliver first China-built car on Monday

  

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc will start delivering China-built cars on Monday, a major milestone for Elon Musk’s company as it expands in the world’s largest electric-vehicle market. The first 15 units of Model 3 sedans assembled at Tesla’s new multi-billion-dollar Shanghai plant — its first outside the US — will be delivered to company employees on December 30, capping several months ...

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• 28 December

  Billionaire Ambani’s retail unit valued at $34b in share swap

  

  Bloomberg A stock swap offer to help shareholders of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s unlisted retail business monetise their investment has valued the unit at $34 billion. Share owners in Reliance Retail Ltd can exchange four shares for one of its listed parent Reliance Industries Ltd, according to a so-called scheme of arrangement posted on the group’s website. With Reliance’s market capitalization ...

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• 28 December

  China revises law on IPO, hikes penalties for fraud

  

  Bloomberg China’s top legislature approved changes to the nation’s Securities Law, including formalising registration-based initial public offerings after years of reviews, as it eased listing rules and stiffened penalties for violations in the country’s $21 trillion capital markets. The revisions are effective from March 1, according to a report from a government website citing decisions made by the National People’s ...

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• 28 December

  Regulators halt Japan Post insurance sales

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s financial regulator ordered a three-month suspension of insurance sales by two units of Japan Post Holdings Co as punishment for improper sales practices. The Financial Services Agency said it found examples of Japan Post customers being sold unduly expensive policies, without proper explanation of what they were buying. The penalty applies to the group’s mail and insurance subsidiaries, ...

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• 28 December

  Australia hit by heatwave, raising wildfire threat

  Bloomberg Australia is in the grip of another heatwave with temperatures forecast to soar over the weekend, exacerbating deadly wildfires that have ravaged the nation for months. Severe heat will spread across the southeast of the country over the next few days, building to “extreme” conditions in some areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Parts of western Sydney are ...

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• 28 December

  CEO of top US power market under fire before he starts

  Bloomberg The incoming head of the largest US power market is under pressure even before he begins his new job. A consumer watchdog has accused Manu Asthana — who starts as chief executive officer of PJM Interconnection LLC on January 1 — of mismanagement at his previous company. That risks casting a shadow over his new role, in which he ...

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