Bloomberg Three of Europe’s largest power suppliers will need to draw up new strategies after the collapse of a deal to merge the retail units of SSE Plc and Innogy SE operating in the UK. Combining the two would have been an ambitious task. The outlook darkened with laws limiting the bills consumers pay for electricity and natural gas, leaving ...
Read More »BMW faces criminal probe in S Korea over engine fires
Bloomberg BMW AG is facing a criminal probe in South Korea after investigators concluded the manufacturer concealed fire hazards and delayed recalls for a problem that has dented sales and its reputation in the Asian country. South Korea’s transport ministry plans to ask prosecutors to investigate the German carmaker, the ministry said in a statement on Monday. Korea also fined ...
Read More »Huawei kit removed from police network
Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co. gear will be ripped out of the core part of a UK communications network for police and other emergency responders. BT Group Plc., the company delivering the 2.3-billion-pound ($3 billion) project, has been pulling equipment from the Chinese tech giant out of its own core structure since the 2016 acquisition of mobile carrier EE, which used ...
Read More »Nissan director may get Christmas release
Bloomberg The wife of Greg Kelly, the jailed Nissan Motor Co. board director, said there’s a chance he’ll be released Christmas Day. She also revealed that several US government officials have supported efforts to arrange for his return to Tennessee. Kelly, who was arrested along with Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn on November 19, may be able communicate with his family ...
Read More »Rescuers search through rubble as Indonesia tsunami toll nears 400
Bloomberg Rescuers hunted for survivors and victims under the rubble of hundreds of hotels and houses flattened by a deadly tsunami along Indonesia’s Sunda Strait with authorities warning the death toll may climb from the 373 already confirmed. Most of the victims were local holidaymakers staying in the hotels and bungalows along the popular beaches in Lampung and Banten provinces, ...
Read More »China has treasure chest of overseas real estate to sell
Bloomberg China’s biggest-ever overseas property buying spree reversed course in dramatic fashion in 2018. But even after the record unwinding, many lucrative real estate assets remain in Chinese hands. They include the 245 Park Ave skyscraper in Manhattan, New York’s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Chicago’s Vista Tower, under construction but envisaged as one of the city’s tallest buildings. With ...
Read More »Insolvency trustees gain amid higher Canada rates
Bloomberg People who make a living guiding others through bankruptcy in Canada say they’ve never been busier. Record debt burdens, rising borrowing costs and, in some cases, bigger payday loans are driving many Canadians to seek relief, according to several licensed insolvency trustees who spoke to Bloomberg. They say November was their busiest on record, and December — typically a ...
Read More »US political issues keep investors on tenterhooks
Bloomberg If emerging markets had their way, this Christmas week would be like any other: quiet, with just a handful of economic releases and low trading volumes. But political dramas playing out in the US are keeping investors on tenterhooks. The US government shutdown over President Donald Trump’s demand for border-wall funding is likely to last past Christmas. And even ...
Read More »Uber loses UK lawsuit over drivers’ employment rights in gig economy
Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc lost a UK lawsuit over the employment rights of its drivers, in a landmark judgment that threatens to force companies in the country’s burgeoning gig economy to offer benefits such as paid vacations. London’s Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge by the ride-hailing firm over a lower court ruling that found its drivers are “workers,†meaning ...
Read More »Canadian battery maker says ‘tech costs’ will drop
Bloomberg CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc, a Canada-listed maker of batteries that can last for as long as two decades, said the cost of its technology may halve within four years, potentially boosting its uptake over lithium-ion units. Costs of its vanadium redox flow battery units, which can discharge power for four hours, will decline to $150 per kilowatt hour ...
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