July, 2019

• 13 July

  General Electric, Power China win dam deal

  Bloomberg A consortium led by General Electric Co and Power Construction Corp of China Ltd was officially awarded a contract for the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Scheme, which involves building a 2400 megawatt power station on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Zambezi River Authority said. Both Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing a power crisis as a drought has ...

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• 13 July

  VW says goodbye to Beetle to make room for new SUV

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s “Love Bug” has been squashed by the SUV boom. The German automaker marked the end of production of the iconic Beetle at its plant in Puebla, Mexico, and wasted no time talking about what will take its place: a compact sport utility vehicle. It’ll be a beefed-up version of a model sold in China called Tharu and ...

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• 13 July

  UK in talks with US to boost protection for Gulf shipping

  

  Bloomberg The UK is in talks with the US and other allies about beefing up their military presence in the Persian Gulf to deal with the rising threat to shipping posed by Iran. Britain raised the threat level to 3 — the highest possible — for ships operating in the Gulf, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. ...

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• 13 July

  26 killed in attack on Somalia hotel

  

  Bloomberg At least 26 people were killed in an attack on a Somalian hotel by suspected al-Shabaab fighters, according to a senior state official. The dead included two Americans, a Canadian and a Briton, as well as three each from Kenya and Tanzania, Ahmed Mohamed Islam, the president of the country’s Jubbaland state, said. At least 56 other people were ...

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• 13 July

  India to buy drones to monitor borders

  Bloomberg India is planning a large-scale purchase of drones for its 1.2 million-strong army to boost surveillance capability along its volatile borders with neighbouring Pakistan and China. The drones would enable units on the border to carry out a 24-hour watch against threats, Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat said in New Delhi. PM Narendra Modi’s government plans to spend $250 ...

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• 13 July

  Trump asks top court to allow use of Pentagon funds for wall

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court to clear his administration to start using Pentagon funds for construction of more than 100 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. Filing an emergency request, the president asked the justices to lift a freeze on the money while a legal fight with the Sierra Club and another advocacy group plays ...

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• 13 July

  Murder shocks German leaders into action

  

  Bloomberg It wasn’t your usual meeting of mayors in Germany’s presidential palace. One had been stabbed in the throat, another received death threats and most feared for their loved ones. They’ve all become victims of a wave of political violence that culminated last month in what appears to be the first assassination of a politician by a right-wing extremist since ...

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• 13 July

  Thai anti-junta party elects its new leader

  Bloomberg The Pheu Thai Party elected Sompong Amornvivat to lead Thailand’s biggest opposition party into parliament, pledging to keep the coalition government under close scrutiny. Sompong was picked at a special assembly to succeed acting head Viroj Pao-in, who resigned earlier this month. “Our important duty is to scrutinise the workings of the government,” Sompong said in a comment posted ...

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• 13 July

  A blow against AMLO bodes ill for Mexico

  

  After seven months of labouriously convincing the international markets that he can be trusted with the presidency of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador risks seeing all his work undone by tweet. The sudden resignation of Carlos Urzua as his finance minister, and the resignation letter he posted on Twitter are deeply damaging. In combination, they are almost exactly what investors ...

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• 13 July

  HBO and Netflix: From ‘friends’ to foes

  

  Netflix Inc. and the soon-to-come HBO Max app need a little of what each other has. In the meantime, consumers may be the ones who lose out. If you’re like me, you’ve started to realise that despite a vast number of video-streaming apps, none on its own offers the ideal mix of content best suited to your tastes. And if ...

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