February, 2017

• 20 February

  Alibaba deepens retail foray with new supermarket tie-up

  

    Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is teaming up with Shanghai Bailian Group Co., one of China’s largest supermarket and department store chains, as Jack Ma accelerates an effort to employ technology to shake up old-fashioned retail. Alibaba’s planning to help upgrade some of Bailian’s 4,700 stores across the country, integrating everything from customer relations to payment and logistics in ...

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• 20 February

  Expedia, Amazon bet on UK by hiring, adding office space

  

    Bloomberg As politicians and businesses wrestle with potential changes to UK border controls, one of the world’s largest online travel booking companies has decided to double its headcount in London, and it’s not alone in looking to expand. Expedia will expand its UK office by 138,000 square feet, or to roughly twice the size of its existing space, and ...

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• 20 February

  Steinhoff’s Shoprite talks collapse

  

    Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV and Shoprite Holdings Ltd. ended talks to create Africa’s biggest retailer after negotiations with shareholders including billionaire Christo Wiese broke down over terms. Wiese, who is the biggest investor in both companies, South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. and Steinhoff were unable to reach agreement on the share-exchange ratio that would have been applied to ...

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• 20 February

  SpaceX launches supply rocket from historic Apollo pad

  

    Bloomberg Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. successfully launched its second rocket in as many months, bringing it a 10th of the way to its goal of deploying 20 to 24 rockets this year. The Falcon 9 rocket that launched SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft separated minutes after liftoff and landed upright on Earth in its designated area. SpaceX expects to ...

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• 20 February

  Bank of Singapore to attract Middle East, Africa wealth

  

    DUBAI / Reuters The private banking arm of Singapore’s second-biggest lender OCBC is targeting annual growth of assets of more than 20 percent from its new office in Dubai, which it aims to use to attract wealthy clients from the Middle East and Africa, its chief executive said. Bank of Singapore launched the office in the Dubai International Financial ...

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• 20 February

  HSBC poised for more share buybacks after stock rallies

  

    Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc investors will be looking for indications that the bank will follow through on its plan to return more capital when it announces fourth-quarter results this week, after a $2.5 billion stock buyback and a slumping pound lifted shares in 2016. The stock has surged 56 percent since the Brexit vote on June 23, the most ...

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• 20 February

  IMF to help Somalia print first banknotes

    Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund is backing Somalia’s plans to replace tattered currency notes that were printed before the Horn of Africa nation plunged into civil war almost three decades ago. The new Somali shilling notes may come into circulation this year, alongside the US dollar that’s been the main means of payment, and will replace fake or old ...

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• 20 February

  RBI intervention makes companies blind to rupee risks

  

    Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) commitment to a stable rupee is having an unintended consequence: local companies are getting complacent about hedging their overseas borrowings. A gauge of expected rupee swings fell the most after Russia among 23 emerging markets over the last two years, thanks to the RBI’s regular interventions in currency markets and its success ...

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• 20 February

  Diversity in technology

  

    NEW YORK / AP The tech industry brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its leading companies are no trailblazers. Despite loudly touted efforts to hire more blacks, Latinos and women, especially in technical and leadership positions, diversity numbers at the largest tech companies are barely budging. In ...

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• 20 February

  Korbut — Who turned gymnastics on its head!

  

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz / AP Olga Korbut walks around the man-made lake in anonymity, despite the bright red warmup jacket with “Olga” in sparkly letters on her left shoulder. Korbut likes it here, this little suburban slice of nature, a place where she can get her body moving, listen to the birds, stroll alongside the dog walkers. Korbut stops at ...

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