January, 2019

• 15 January

  Bytedance unveils video-based messaging app

  Bloomberg Bytedance Ltd, the world’s most valuable startup, unveiled a new video-based messaging service designed to take on Tencent Holdings Ltd’s dominant WeChat. Bytedance launched the new service, named “Duoshan,” during a live-streamed event in Beijing. Similar to Snapchat, the app lets users send short-lived videos, GIFs and images to each other. Best known for its news aggregation service Toutiao ...

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• 15 January

  Toyota Motor’s new Supra, first in 21 years, launched

  

  Bloomberg After multiple leaks on blogs and social media, Toyota unveiled in Detroit on Monday the fanboys’ most darling of darlings: the 2020 Supra. It’s the first time Toyota Motor Corp has made and sold a new Supra in the US in 21 years. It’s also the first time the automaker has built a throwback sports car that includes BMW ...

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• 15 January

  Big tax break for businesses at risk as US shutdown drags on

  

  Bloomberg The longest government shutdown in US history could cause tens of thousands of businesses to make a tough choice about whether to claim one of the biggest perks in the Republican tax overhaul. Owners of so-called pass-through entities such as partnerships and limited liability companies have to file their businesses’ returns by March 15 — and still don’t have ...

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• 15 January

  Shutdown stalling Fiat Chrysler’s new pickups: CEO

  

  Bloomberg The government shutdown is delaying Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s efforts to bring crucial new heavy-duty Ram pickups to the market. The Ram 3500 still needs emissions certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency to be approved for sale, and that process is being held up by the shutdown, Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley said at the North ...

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• 15 January

  Germany dodges recession with Q4 growth

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s economy narrowly avoided a recession at the end of 2018 after a slump in industry raised concerns over Europe’s growth engine. There was a “slight” increase in gross domestic product in the three months through December, according to the Federal Statistics Office, which will publish official figures next month. But the quarter rounded out a year in which ...

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• 15 January

  Apple says Qualcomm refused to provide chips

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said Qualcomm Inc refused to provide cellular modems for the 2018 iPhones after Apple sued the chipmaker in 2017. Williams’s testimony in the Federal Trade Commission antitrust trial against Qualcomm, indicates the chipmaker forced Apple to use Intel Corp modems exclusively in the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR released ...

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• 15 January

  GE could face hefty fines over ‘jobs’ in France

  

  Bloomberg Four years ago, General Electric Co made a commitment to win France’s approval to buy Alstom SA’s energy business: it would create jobs or pay a hefty fine. The Boston-based company pledged it would add 1,000 positions in France by end-2018, failing which it would pay the French government a fine of 50,000 euros ($57,000) for every job not ...

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• 15 January

  Profits drive North America, Europe cocoa processing

  

  Bloomberg Strong processing profits probably kept cocoa processing at high rates in Europe and Nor-th America, according to a Bloomberg survey. Grinding in Europe, the top-consuming region, likely rose 2 percent in the fourth quarter to the highest for that period going back to 2001, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 14 traders, brokers, processors and analysts showed. ...

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• 15 January

  Trump presidency without steadying hand of Jim Mattis

  

  At home and abroad, people are now asking a question they’ve dreaded for nearly two years: How will the erratic presidency of Donald Trump function without the steadying hand of Jim Mattis as defense secretary? Life without Mattis is the scary reality of this new year. The president may have tired of the careful, battle-hardened advice he received from the ...

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• 15 January

  Jaguar Land Rover is still misfiring

  

  Jaguar Land Rover’s job cuts will do little for its turnaround plans. The UK luxury unit of India’s Tata Motors Ltd. will eliminate 4,500 positions globally as part of a $3.2 billion cost-cutting program outlined in November. The savings will be relatively minor. Workforce reductions are now standard in an industry struggling to deal with rising costs from technology, pricier ...

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