July, 2018

• 14 July

  Trump considers tapping US oil reserve as prices at pump rise

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration is actively considering tapping into the nation’s emergency supply of crude oil as political pressure grows to rein in rising gasoline prices before congressional elections in November, two people familiar with the situation said. No decision has been made to release crude from the 660-million-barrel stockpile, known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but options under review ...

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• 14 July

  UK energy costs head higher with plan to leave single market

  

  Bloomberg Britain’s paper on leaving the European Union raised more questions for the energy industry than it answered, setting up the risk that the legal arrangements allowing power and gas to flow across borders could come unraveled and drive up the cost of doing business. The government for the first time raised the possibility of leaving the EU’s single market, ...

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• 14 July

  Apple updates Pro laptops ahead of fall product blitz

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. released an upgraded MacBook Pro line that’s faster and has more features, targeting its loyal base of professional users like app developers and movie editors. The new laptops, which come in the same 13-inch and 15-inch sizes as last year’s models, include pro-focused upgrades like additional memory and storage, the ability to compile code faster, brighter screens, ...

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• 14 July

  SoftBank rolls out app for parking spaces in Japan

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is rolling out a new app that will let drivers find and reserve parking spaces across Japan. The new service, called BLUU Smart Parking, will let drivers find open parking spots, reserve them in advance and pay fees using smartphones. Each location will have cameras and magnetic sensors to monitor cars as they enter and leave, ...

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• 14 July

  Wait for rules on ‘self-driving cars’

  

  Bloomberg It’s premature to regulate the self-driving vehicles being tested by companies such as General Motors Co. and Waymo LLC, the US government’s top auto safety official said. “At this point the technology is so nascent I don’t think it is appropriate today to regulate this technology,” Heidi King, deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said. ...

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• 14 July

  Robot trains are slashing mining costs in Australia’s outback

  

  Bloomberg Snaking through Western Australia’s Outback, a driverless train has made the first autonomous delivery of iron ore from a Rio Tinto Group pit to a coastal port, as the No. 2 miner looks to reap the benefits from a $940 million plan deploying the world’s biggest robots. The maiden 280-kilometre journey was completed carrying a cargo of 28,000 metric ...

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• 14 July

  EU weighs changes to WTO regulations to appease US

  

  Bloomberg The European Commission proposed ways to resolve the Trump administration’s concerns over the functioning of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in a bid to avert a looming crisis that could undermine the WTO’s ability to arbitrate trade disputes. “The dispute settlement function of the WTO is at grave danger, and swift action by members is needed to preserve it,” ...

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• 14 July

  J&J hit with $4.7bn verdict in talcum powder case

  

  Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson (J&J) should ready itself for a flood of new lawsuits after a jury ordered the company to pay $4.69 billion to 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in its talc products, legal experts said. There are already more than 9,000 suits claiming talc-based baby powder causes ovarian and asbestos-specific cancers. That number is ...

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• 14 July

  US lifts ban on China’s ZTE after $1.4bn penalty

  

  Bloomberg The US Commerce Department has lifted the ban on American firms selling products to China’s ZTE Corp., removing the final hurdle for the company to start rebuilding its business. The ban was removed after ZTE paid the final tranche of a $1.4 billion penalty by placing $400 million in escrow at a US bank, the department said. That sum ...

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• 14 July

  Disney’s $71bn Fox bid wins backing

  

  Bloomberg Walt Disney Co.’s $71 billion deal with 21st Century Fox Inc. won the endorsement of influential proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co., giving the entertainment giant another edge over rival suitor Comcast Corp. Both firms recommended that Fox shareholders vote in favor of the transaction during a July 27 investor meeting, with Glass Lewis ...

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