December, 2018

• 22 December

  BMW, Mercedes pivot from enemies to partners

  

  Bloomberg BMW AG dodged a takeover attempt by Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG six decades ago, and ever since the two luxury-car icons have been bitter rivals — until recently. Reflecting the historic challenges gripping the auto industry, BMW and Daimler are reaching across the aisle to team up in what’s become an emerging trend in the sector. The latest rapprochement ...

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• 22 December

  Gibraltar ordered by EU to reclaim $114mn tax-breaks

  Bloomberg Gibraltar was ordered by European Union regulators to reclaim some 100 million euros ($114 million) in tax breaks that aimed to lure multinational firms to the British territory. The European Commission said Gibraltar’s corporate tax exemption rules for interest and royalties unfairly favored some multinational firms. It also judged illegal five tax rulings involving some income from Dutch partnerships. ...

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• 22 December

  Shutdown begins as Trump negotiates on border wall

  

  Bloomberg Parts of the US government began shutting down on Saturday for the third time this year after a bipartisan spending deal collapsed over President Donald Trump’s demands for more money to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump scuttled an agreement that would have kept the government open until February after coming under heavy criticism from conservative talk ...

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• 22 December

  Separatists protest in Barcelona again

  

  Bloomberg Barcelona is providing the world with images of political tension and tribal conflict. Again. Fourteen months after capital of Spain’s Catalonia region grabbed the world’s attention during the failed attempt to declare independence, pro-separatism protesters clashed with police. It came just as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was holding a cabinet meeting there as part of his policy to repair ...

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• 22 December

  Corbyn seeks ‘Brexit vote’ renegotiation

  

  Bloomberg UK Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn ruled out backing a new referendum on leaving the EU, telling the Guardian he would prefer to renegotiate a customs arrangement with the bloc in a decision that disappointed some party members. Corbyn, who has been pressed to back a grassroots effort for another referendum, said the House of Commons should proceed with ...

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• 22 December

  Vote must be held on Dec 30: Congo oppn

  Bloomberg A major opposition coalition in the Democratic Republic of Congo condemned a week-long postponement of presidential and parliamentary elections, saying it won’t tolerate any further delays. The Cap pour le Changement alliance supporting the presidential bid of Felix Tshisekedi “will not accept another delay of even one day,” Jean-Marc Kabund, a senior official in the coalition, told reporters and ...

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• 22 December

  Russian euphoria at US retreats tinged with doubts

  

  Bloomberg It seemed like a dream come true for Vladimir Putin when Donald Trump ordered US withdrawals from key global hotspots, prompting one of the administration’s toughest Russia hawks to tender his resignation. Now the Kremlin isn’t so sure. Having gained more policy victories from Trump in 24 hours than in the whole of his presidency to date, Putin’s voiced ...

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• 22 December

  How Russia used internet to perfect its ‘dark arts’

  

  Imagine American politics for a moment as a laboratory experiment. A foreign adversary (let’s call it “Russia”) begins to play with the subjects, using carrots and sticks to condition their behaviour. The adversary develops tools to dial up anger and resentment inside the lab bubble, and even recruits unwitting accomplices to perform specific tasks. This 21st-century political dystopia isn’t drawn ...

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• 22 December

  Theresa May’s Brexit ‘choices’

  

  Almost immediately after she safeguarded her position as leader of the Conservative Party on December 12, Prime Minister Theresa May headed to Brussels to try to gain concessions from the European Union (EU) before a second vote in Parliament on a Brexit deal. Her tireless efforts are commendable. But if success eludes her in the next few weeks, her negotiating ...

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• 22 December

  UK’s latest retail sales won’t ‘save’ Christmas

  Britain’s latest retail sales report won’t save Christmas. The volume of goods sold in stores and online jumped 1.4 percent in November compared with October, according to the Office for National Statistics, smashing through the 0.3 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Excluding fuel, the increase was 1.2 percent. Black Friday discounting seems to have played a big ...

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