December, 2016

• 25 December

  More Asian defaults loom in 2017 amid Korea shipyard debt

  

    Bloomberg As if investors in Asia’s troubled corporate bond markets don’t have enough to worry about, concern is mounting about whether South Korean shipyards will be able to repay record amounts of debt coming due next year. Yields on bonds of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. have shot up this year. The top ...

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• 25 December

  Argentina farmers cheer tax cut as nation jeers slump

  

    Bloomberg The popularity of Argentine President Mauricio Macri has faded since he took office a year ago, as Latin America’s third-largest economy slid into recession and inflation soared. But his appeal among the nation’s farmers remains as strong as ever. That’s because of the stark difference between Macri and his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, for an agriculture industry ...

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• 25 December

  ‘Brexit shapes up to be ‘hard’ six months after vote’

  

    Bloomberg Six months after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the signs are pointing to a “hard” Brexit, according to a report by 12 academics and policy researchers. The shock decision has united the 27 other EU members to a degree rarely seen, while exposing how divided Britain is, U.K. in a Changing Europe, an EU-funded research program ...

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• 25 December

  Uber ships self-driving cars to Arizona after California ban

  

    Bloomberg A few days of regulatory tussles were enough for Uber Technologies Inc. to pull its fleet of self-driving cars from the streets of San Francisco and send them instead to friendlier territory in Arizona. The California Department of Motor Vehicles banned Uber’s self-driving cars from San Francisco on Wednesday, just days after they first deployed. In response, Uber ...

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• 25 December

  BT reinvests $360mn government subsidy in UK broadband

    Bloomberg The UK government is clawing back 292 million pounds ($360 million) in subsidies from BT Group Plc to reinvest in spreading super-fast broadband connections to businesses and homes in remote areas. Under a contract with the government, BT receives taxpayer funds to support the rollout of super-fast broadband, with speeds of 24 megabits per second or more, but ...

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• 25 December

  State budget boosts Saudi, Egypt dips on profit-taking

  

    Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose sharply on Sunday in response to the release of the 2017 state budget, which includes an increase in government spending, while other major Gulf bourses were sluggish and Egypt retreated on profit-taking. The Saudi stock index added 1.5 percent to 7,191 points, nearing technical resistance on this year’s peak of 7,235 points, hit ...

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• 25 December

  The ‘vanishing-photo app’ that managed not to fade

  

    NEW YORK / AP Snapchat has managed to build something lasting out of photos that vanished almost instantly. The fast-growing social network for millennials has come a long way since its founder Evan Spiegel dropped out of Stanford University in 2012, three classes shy of graduation. His goal at the time was to create a snappy way for people ...

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• 25 December

  Website charts Santa’s journey around the globe

    Relaxnews An online Santa tracker run by a Canadian and American defense agency mapped the jolly old gift-giver’s path around the globe Saturday, in what has become a Yuletide tradition. An online Santa tracker run by a Canadian and American defense agency mapped the jolly old gift-giver’s path around the globe Saturday, in what has become a Yuletide tradition. ...

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• 25 December

  Finnish phone application finds reindeer, helps to avoid roadkill

  

    ROVANIEMI / AP There’s good news for Rudolph and his friends — an app is helping officials reduce the number of reindeer killed in traffic accidents in Finland. Some 300,000 reindeer freely wander the wilds of Lapland in Arctic Finland. An estimated 4,000 are killed every year through road accidents, officials say, and compensation to reindeer herders can be ...

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• 25 December

  Fitness trackers of 2016

  

    Relaxnews The fitness tracker trend has shown no signs of slowing down throughout 2016, with this year seeing a variety of new brands and products launching with innnovative new ways to improve our well-being. Here is the round up of some of the most interesting launches to come out of 2016 that will help you have a healthier and ...

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