August, 2019

• 3 August

  UK firms taking chances with no-deal Brexit

  

  Bloomberg When a potential cliff-edge Brexit loomed last spring, Albion Stone stockpiled equipment and materials as a precaution against disruptions. Not this time around. Michael Poultney, the business director at the Redhill, England-based firm, is still smarting after spending more than $240,000 on preparations, only to see Britain’s exit from the European Union pushed back to October 31, or perhaps ...

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• 3 August

  States sue Trump over ‘efficiency rules’

  

  Bloomberg California, New York and 10 other states sued the Trump administration for weakening Obama-era auto regulations intended to increase industry compliance with federal fuel-efficiency standards. The suit filed in the federal appeals court in Manhattan challenges a final rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that reduces financial penalties for companies that fail to meet corporate average ...

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• 3 August

  Ferrari ‘growth momentum’ slows down

  

  Bloomberg Supercar manufacturers typically operate in the rarefied sphere of recession-proof consumption, where wealthy customers possess enough money to drop $300,000 or more on their purchases. Ferrari NV experienced the limits of that behaviour, reporting growth in the second quarter far behind the first three months of the year, sending its stock tumbling. Both profit and shipments slowed from more ...

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• 3 August

  Over 2000 miles of Pacific coastline experience drought

  

  Bloomberg It’s dry in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska. Very dry. A contiguous stretch of over 2,000 miles of Pacific coastline is experiencing drought conditions ranging from “abnormally dry” to “extreme drought,” according to US and Canadian Drought Monitors. While drought has receded across much of the Canadian provinces from June, and overall conditions in the lower 48 ...

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• 3 August

  Google to auction slots on Android default search

  

  Bloomberg Alphabet Inc’s Google will require rivals to bid in order to become listed as alternative search providers on Android smartphones, a move to try to keep additional antitrust scrutiny at bay. Starting next year, Google will prompt users to make a choice between Google and three other rival options as their default search provider. Google invited search providers to ...

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• 3 August

  North Korea’s missile tests may violate UN rules: Trump

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump said that North Korea’s recent tests of short-range rockets and missiles may run afoul of United Nations resolutions but haven’t violated agreements with his administration. North Korea conducted its third test in a week of a new short-range ballistic missile that weapons experts say was designed to strike US allies in East Asia. Its leader Kim ...

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• 3 August

  US sanctions Russia again over ‘nerve agent’

  

  Bloomberg The US imposed a second round of sanctions on Russia for using a nerve agent in an assassination attempt last year. The additional sanctions will prohibit US banks from participating in the issuance of Russian sovereign debt, the State Department said in an emailed statement. The sanctions will take effect following the publication of a federal register notice on ...

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• 3 August

  Thai premier condemns Bangkok bomb blasts

  Bloomberg Authorities in Thailand tightened security in Bangkok as they probed a series of small blasts that hit the city, injuring at least four people. Some of the explosions were caused by homemade bombs and the incidents could be linked, the police said. Blasts occurred at a government complex, a suburban road, below a downtown metro station and near an ...

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• 3 August

  Trump calls HK protests ‘riots’, adopting China rhetoric

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump labeled recent protests in Hong Kong as “riots,” adopting the language used by Chinese authorities and suggesting the US would stay out of an issue that was “between Hong Kong and China.” “Something is probably happening with Hong Kong, because when you look at, you know, what’s going on, they’ve had riots for a long period ...

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• 3 August

  Johnson’s UK majority cut to one seat

  

  Bloomberg The anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats won a by-election in Brecon and Radnorshire, reducing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s House of Commons majority to a single seat and making his balancing act more difficult as he seeks to deliver Brexit by October 31. Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats won 13,826 votes, beating Conservative Chris Davies on 12,401. Dodds overturned Davies’s majority ...

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