March, 2019

• 10 March

  Spotify, Google appeal ruling that boosted songwriter payments

  

  Bloomberg Spotify Technology SA and other technology giants appealed a ruling that increased the royalties they must pay to songwriters, a move that threatens to further damage the companies’ already-tenuous relationship with the music industry. Songwriters celebrated last year when the Copyright Royalty Board ruled that they will get at least a 15.1 percent share of streaming revenues over the ...

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• 10 March

  Global risks threaten to choke off Europe’s growth engine

  

  Bloomberg The command center at the Otto Junker GmbH metals plant stands in sharp contrast to the noisy and smelly factory floor, where until just a few weeks ago workers operated various machines individually. The new digs are quiet, there’s no oil stench, and there’s even room for a coffee maker. The downside? The control room boss may end up ...

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• 10 March

  Venezuelans protest Maduro again as impatience swells

  

  Bloomberg The fight for the future of Venezuela re-opened on the streets of its capital, with electricity flickering in-and-out around the country for most of the last three days. Juan Guaido, the challenger to President Nicolas Maduro, brought thousands of supporters to the streets of Caracas, though fewer showed up than in late January after the National Assembly he heads ...

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• 10 March

  Pakistan violated truce deal in Kashmir: India

  Bloomberg India said Pakistani forces violated a cease-fire agreement along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and accused its neighbour of failing to take credible action against terror groups. There was shelling with mortars and the firing of small arms by Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, and India “retaliated befittingly,” according to an Indian defense official. The Indian ...

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• 10 March

  Algeria army, people share unified vision: Military chief

  Bloomberg Algeria’s people and the army share the same vision for the country’s future, the military chief of staff said on Sunday, in an apparent overture to thousands protesting the re-election bid of the country’s aging president.The military and the people “are partners in one destiny,” General Ahmed Gaid Salah said in his first comments since the biggest protests yet ...

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• 10 March

  India announces poll dates as Modi fights to retain power

  

  Bloomberg India will hold elections from April to May to decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a second term as leader of the world’s largest democracy. Around 900 million voters — 84 million more than in 2014 — will elect 543 lawmakers to the lower house of parliament, the chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said. Voting will run in ...

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• 10 March

  N Koreans vote in rubber-stamp election

  

  Bloomberg North Koreans cast their votes on Sunday in a parliamentary election that comes as leader Kim Jong-un faces mounting pressure to demonstrate his ability to cope with the international sanctions squeezing his country. The regime holds elections every five years to pick representatives to the Supreme People’s Assembly — North Korea’s rubber stamp parliament — with the last one ...

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• 10 March

  Yellow Vests hold protests in France for 17th weekend

  Bloomberg The 17th Saturday of protests by France’s Yellow Vests passed without major incidents as the movement’s momentum appeared to wane. There were 28,600 protesters throughout France, according to the Interior Ministry, down from 39,300 a week ago and the lowest turnout since the movement began. There were 3,000 protesters in Paris, compared with 4,000. That’s way down from the ...

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• 10 March

  The stock buyback battle

  

  The latest pitched battle between Corporate America and its critics involves stock buybacks: Large companies’ purchases of their own shares on the stock market. The aim is to raise share prices and satisfy investors. But the practice has triggered outrage from critics, who argue that the buybacks discourage productive investment, higher wages and worker retraining. Big business is accused of ...

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• 10 March

  How Tata can keep its hold on JLR

  

  India’s Tata Group should treat the speed bump at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as a timely memo: The $102 billion salt-to-software conglomerate can no longer put off listing its closely held parent. UK-based Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc is burning cash on electric-vehicle technology just as the double whammy of a Chinese auto slowdown and Brexit threatens margins and sales. ...

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