Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc. has fired multiple legal shots at Apple Inc. aiming to use patents to get an import ban on the iPhone. In separate rulings, one hit and one missed. The US International Trade Commission invalidated a Qualcomm patent for a battery-saving feature. Earlier in the day, a separate trade judge said Apple infringed a different Qualcomm patent and ...
Read More »BT mulls deeper revamp to cut workforce by 25%
Bloomberg BT Group Plc, Britain’s dominant phone company, is considering a deeper restructuring under new Chief Executive Officer Philip Jansen that could see its 100,000-strong workforce shrink by a quarter over five years, according to people with knowledge of the matter. BT has internally discussed a target of reducing its headcount to 75,000, partly through accelerated automation of back-office processes, ...
Read More »Dissident group claims raid on North Korea embassy in Spain
Bloomberg A secretive group seeking to overthrow Kim Jong-un’s regime claimed responsibility for a raid last month on North Korea’s embassy in Madrid, alleging the country’s overseas missions are conduits for illicit funds. The group, called Free Joseon and previously known as Cheollima Civil Defense, said in a statement posted to its website that its actions were in response “to ...
Read More »Moon faces new pressure to revive Trump-Kim talks
Bloomberg As talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un flourished last year, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in enjoyed international praise for bringing them together. Now that they’ve split, he’s facing pressure to get them back to the table. Trump’s decision to walk away from his Hanoi summit with Kim continues to reverberate a month later in ...
Read More »Thai anti-Junta parties claim majority
Bloomberg Seven political parties opposed to Thailand’s ruling junta said they had the numbers to form a majority coalition following the general election, intensifying a tussle for power with a pro-military bloc. Sudarat Keyuraphan, a leader of the Pheu Thai party linked to exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said the coalition would unofficially have 255 seats in the 500-seat lower ...
Read More »Communist Party expels China ex-Interpol chief
Bloomberg China’s Communist Party expelled former Interpol President Meng Hongwei, months after he went missing during a trip to the country. Meng was also removed from his government post as vice public security minister over violations that included the taking of bribes and abuse of power, according to a statement from the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The ...
Read More »Renegade general shows perils in South Sudan’s peace plans
Bloomberg As South Sudan’s main combatants prepare to join forces to end a brutal five-year civil war, recent fighting involving a renegade military officer suggests the conflict may be far from over. Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in Yei state in the southwest of the country this year, witnesses to alleged murders and looting as government troops battle ...
Read More »Low interest rates might be what is hurting growth
Economists tend to think of central-bank interest rates purely in terms of their effect on macroeconomic benchmarks such as inflation, output and unemployment. The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate, for instance, directs it to seek stable prices and maximum employment. Mainstream macroeconomic models, such as the dominant New Keynesian models used by most central banks, support this view. Occasionally, economists or ...
Read More »The pound might survive Brexit
Once British lawmakers finally decide what kind of Brexit they want, the pound surely ought to break out of the tight range in which it has traded against the euro since Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU). Just don’t expect too sharp a collapse if it really comes to a messy, no-deal Brexit. It helps that the pound ...
Read More »The future of energy is looking pretty sunny
The newly published 2019 US Energy & Employment Report reveals that the fuels and electric-power-generation sectors employ nearly 2 million people. It’s a wealth of data not just on what people do in energy, but also on where employers foresee growth and hiring tightness. A few trends jump out — including that, even in the oil patch, services jobs are ...
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