December, 2019

• 9 December

  Xiaomi takes on Apple in Japan with 108-megapixel budget smartphone

  Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker, is entering Japan and taking on Apple Inc with a budget-friendly smartphone and a connected fitness tracker. The company is making the Mi Note 10 Android smartphone available in Japan for immediate pre-order to be shipped on December 16. Priced from 52,800 yen ($486), the handset has a high-resolution 108-megapixel camera, a ...

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• 9 December

  Fighting pollution in India could increase greenhouse gases

  

  Bloomberg India’s fight against deadly air pollution may come with an unintended consequence: increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Government-mandated pollution control devices for coal-fired power plants, which reduce deadly sulfur-dioxide pollution, could also boost carbon dioxide emissions at individual plants, according to a report by the US Environmental Protection Agency. That may impede India’s ability to meet international commitments to ...

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• 9 December

  Europe is edging towards 5G restrictions after US lobbying

  

  Bloomberg US officials flooded Europe last week, and by the time they had departed, their efforts to persuade their allies to cut back in using Huawei Technologies Co equipment appeared to finally be gaining traction. Europe has been caught between two major world powers, China and the US, over the question of whether to include Huawei in the roll-out of ...

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• 9 December

  Amazon faces UK antitrust decision to buy Deliveroo stake

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc’s bid to buy into one of the UK’s most successful startups may get caught up in antitrust authorities’ fear that they made mistakes in the past. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has until Wednesday to decide whether to continue a two-month-old probe that froze Amazon’s bid of around $500 million for a minority stake in food-delivery ...

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• 9 December

  Berlin builders hit streets over rent freeze

  

  Bloomberg Berlin’s effort to protect tenants from steep rent increases has antagonised other participants in the property industry. Three convoys of construction lorries, along with landlord representatives, converged on Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to protest against a plan to freeze rents in the city for five years. Around 1,500 people registered to take part in the event involving an estimated 240 ...

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• 9 December

  Sanofi to buy US biotech firm Synthorx for $2.5bn

  

  Bloomberg French pharma giant Sanofi agreed to buy US biotech company Synthorx Inc for $2.5 billion, almost triple its market value, accelerating a push into cancer under new Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson. Sanofi will pay $68 a share in cash for Synthorx, the companies said. Shares of the unprofitable San Diego-based company closed at $25.03, having surged 40%. The ...

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• 9 December

  EU fuels Indonesia trade tensions with 5-year biodiesel tariffs

  

  Bloomberg The European Union imposed five-year tariffs on biodiesel from Indonesia to counter alleged subsidies to producers in the country, a move that could prompt the Indonesian government to retaliate. The EU duties on Indonesian exporters of this type of biofuel, which is made from vegetable oils and animal fats for use in diesel engines, range from 8% to 18%, ...

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• 9 December

  Modi’s new India citizenship law sparks panic, protests

  

  Bloomberg India’s parliament is set to approve legislation preventing Muslim migrants from neighboring countries from receiving citizenship — the next step in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hardline Hindu nationalist program and one that’s seen to go against the nation’s secular constitution. The controversial citizenship bill has sparked protests and fear around India, with lawyers working overtime to help millions at ...

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• 9 December

  New Zealand volcano eruption kills at least 5, dozens feared missing

  Bloomberg Five people have been confirmed dead following a volcanic eruption on New Zealand’s White Island, while dozens more were injured after a plume of white smoke and ash burst thousands of meters into the air. About 50 people, many of them tourists, were on or around White Island when it erupted, police said. The island is about 48 kilometers ...

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• 9 December

  Haftar to enter Tripoli by year-end, says ally

  Bloomberg Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar’s army plans to enter the capital Tripoli by the end of the year and will deal with United Nations-recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj under the law, a senior ally said, despite international calls to stop the offensive. “We are in the final stage of the battle,” Abdulhadi Lahweej, self-styled foreign minister in the eastern government ...

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