November, 2019

• 27 November

  Hong Kong sets record in $5bn land sale

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s government fetched a record HK$42 billion ($5 billion) for a plot of land, a sale coming in at the lower end of estimates as the financial hub has been rocked by six months of pro-democracy protests. A tender for the site, which sits atop the high-speed railway station in Kowloon that connects to mainland Chinese cities, was ...

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• 27 November

  Cashless incentives for Japan may be extended

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s measures for encouraging the spread of cashless payments will likely need more funding beyond the end of March and could be extended as part of a planned government stimulus package. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended that Japan consider lengthening the time frame of its measures to support consumption after an October sales tax increase to support the ...

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• 27 November

  China’s economy continues to slow for seventh month

  

  Bloomberg The earliest-available indicators of China’s economic performance point to a continued slowdown in November. Economic growth was already the slowest in almost three decades in the third quarter, and Bloomberg Economics’ gauge aggregating the earliest data from financial markets and businesses shows that continuing, with a worsening picture for trade, sales manager sentiment, and factory prices. While tensions with ...

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• 27 November

  Thailand backs down on plan to ban 3 pesticides

  

  Bloomberg Thailand backed down on a plan to prohibit three pesticides from December 1 after coming under pressure from farmers, the US government and lobbyists for chemicals companies. The ban on paraquat and chlorpyrifos will be delayed until June 1 next year, industry minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said in a briefing. Glyphosate — commonly sold as weedkiller Roundup — won’t be ...

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• 27 November

  Equinor retreats from exploration in Norway

  Bloomberg Equinor ASA will reduce its focus on the frontier areas of the Barents Sea in another blow to Norway’s ambition to build a new big oil province in its Arctic region. “Our focus going forward will be on the more prolific areas of the Barents Sea,” Tim Dodson, the company’s executive vice president for exploration, said. That means drilling ...

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• 27 November

  South Africa’s Sasol pledges climate action

  Bloomberg Sasol, South Africa’s second-biggest producer of greenhouse gases after Eskom Holdings SOC, pledged more clarity on plans to reduce its impact on the environment. The company, which together with Eskom also produces pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions, said its long-term strategy will be released in November next year. Sasol has already promised to reduce greenhouse gas ...

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• 27 November

  Kim bolsters nuclear threat to US as Trump talks stall

  

  Bloomberg It’s been about two years since Kim Jong-un launched a missile capable of hitting the entire US, declared his nuclear weapons programme “complete” and halted all ICBM tests. In that time, the North Korean leader has also become an even bigger threat to America. Kim’s testing freeze ushered in unprecedented diplomacy with US President Donald Trump, leading to historic ...

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• 27 November

  Bangladesh sentences 7 to death for 2016 attack

  

  Bloomberg A trial court sentenced seven people to death for their roles in Bangladesh’s worst terrorist attack, which killed 20 diners, most of them foreigners, in a cafe in 2016. Judge Mojibur Rahman pronounced the verdict in a packed Dhaka courtroom on Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Chief Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu said at a briefing. The decision brings to a close ...

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• 27 November

  Kenyan panel recommends re-introducing post of PM

  Bloomberg Kenya should re-introduce the position of prime minister and name the runner up in presidential contests the leader of the opposition, a panel recommended in a bid to end violent disputes that have marred past ballots. The proposed establishment of the posts are part of a raft of suggestions by the so-called Building Bridges Initiative, which was established by ...

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• 27 November

  Merkel rebukes Macron with defense of NATO alliance

  

  Bloomberg German chancellor Angela Merkel made a spirited defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), saying Europe is currently too weak to defend itself without the support of the US-led military alliance. Merkel’s comments in a speech to the Bundestag were clearly directed at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has cast doubt on NATO’s future by suggesting the 29-nation ...

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