March, 2018

• 19 March

  Pressure mounts on Zuckerberg to come clean on data breach

  

  Bloomberg Government officials in the US and Europe are demanding answers from Facebook Inc. after reports that Cambridge Analytica, the advertising-data firm that helped Donald Trump win the US presidency, retained information on tens of millions of Facebook users without their consent. Entreaties for the social-media giant to take responsibility evolved into calls for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear in ...

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• 19 March

  ‘No spring boost yet for London property market’

  

  Bloomberg London property asking prices slumped for a seventh straight month as sellers held off putting their homes on the market, according to Rightmove. The March report from the home-listing website shows that asking prices declined 0.6 percent from a year earlier in March, with the number of newly marketed properties falling 3 percent. Prices rose 0.6 percent from February, ...

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• 19 March

  GKN’s rival suitors offer incentives to win investors

  

  Bloomberg GKN Plc’s rival suitors offered additional sweeteners to win over the UK aerospace supplier’s shareholders, who are set to decide next week which side to support. Dana Inc. pledged to trade its stock in London following the US company’s planned takeover of GKN’s automotive unit, it said. Melrose said separately that it would bolster GKN’s pension plan, while easing ...

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• 19 March

  Luggage maker Samsonite eyes handbag brand

  

  Bloomberg Samsonite International SA, the world’s biggest luggage maker, has its eyes on adding a handbag brand and is open to a deal that could rival its $1.8 billion purchase of Tumi, according to Chairman Timothy Charles Parker. Handbags would help Samsonite fill a gap as the company focuses on boosting sales of office gear and non-travel products to women, ...

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• 19 March

  HNA’s $2.2bn NYC tower a hard sell less than a year later

  

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co. will be hard-pressed to get anything close to the $2.2 billion it paid for a Manhattan office tower during its real estate binge. In 2017, the Chinese conglomerate bought 245 Park Ave., a late 1960s-era building that’s home to JPMorgan Chase & Co., paying one of the highest prices ever for a New York office property. ...

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• 19 March

  EU nations weighing fresh Russia sanctions: Poland

  

  Bloomberg European Union countries may decide this week whether to impose new political or economic sanctions on Russia after the UK accused Moscow of using a nerve agent on its territory, according to a senior Polish government official. “Poland supports the view that we should show solidarity within the EU and NATO and show Russia that it can’t cross new ...

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• 19 March

  UK, EU agree to 21-month Brexit transition

  

  Bloomberg The UK clinched a deal that will buy it time in Brexit talks in a move the European Union’s chief negotiator hailed as a decisive step. But it’s all still contingent on finding a solution to the most intractable issue of all — the Irish border. The two sides reached an agreement for a 21-month transition period that’s due ...

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• 19 March

  Congo politician refuses first court hearing

  Bloomberg Jailed opposition presidential candidate Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko refused to appear in court for the first time since he was detained almost two years ago. Mokoko, who turned 71 on Monday, didn’t show up at the High Court in the capital, Brazzaville, because as a former chief of staff of the army he’s immune from prosecution, his lawyer Eric Yvon ...

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• 19 March

  Zuma’s trial carries peril for S Africa’s ANC

  Bloomberg Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s prosecution for graft appears at first glance to be a victory for the anti-corruption campaign of the nation’s new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. Yet it also carries risks for his ruling African National Congress. Not only will a drawn-out trial be a constant reminder to voters that he was enmeshed in scandal for most ...

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• 19 March

  Abe’s popularity plummets to record low in Japan polls

  Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saw his support tumble in weekend opinion polls as anger continues to rise over a cronyism scandal. Two of the polls — conducted separately by the Asahi newspaper and NNN news network — showed public backing for Abe had fallen to its lowest level since he took office in 2012. They were conducted after ...

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