Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd. is working with the Chinese government to create an electronic pass system that smooths travel between Hong Kong, Macau and the southern province of Guangdong. The unusual proposal would see multiple travel documents linked to Tencent’s WeChat app to streamline border crossings, the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based company said in a statement. With the ‘E-card’ ID system, users ...
Read More »Brexit trade threat triggers retail, pharma workaround strategy
Bloomberg Companies facing the potential threat of tariffs and other trade barriers after Brexit are stepping up contingency planning, with some retailers creating new sites in continental Europe to avoid snags. US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. is planning for the possibility of a temporary supply blackout when the UK leaves the European Union and may stockpile as much as ...
Read More »HP plans to cut 5000 jobs by end of 2019
Bloomberg HP Inc., the world’s largest personal-computer maker, increased its planned job cuts to 4,500 to 5,000 employees by the end of fiscal 2019, or as many as 1,000 more than the company had estimated as part of a reorganisation unveiled almost two years ago. The company will incur pretax restructuring charges of about $700 million for the job cuts, ...
Read More »California, carmakers come to agreement on emissions standards
Bloomberg California and the auto industry mostly agree that the state should maintain a role in setting vehicle emissions standards despite Trump admin- istration efforts to curb its authority, according to the head of the California Air Resources Board. “We are now, I think it is fair to say, in a confusing situation,†Mary Nichols said at the Edison Electric ...
Read More »Imerys unit settles Talc claims for $5mn
Bloomberg A unit of Imerys SA agreed to settle claims by 22 women that talc it supplied to Johnson & Johnson for baby powder was tainted with asbestos and caused their cancers. The Paris-based minerals company’s unit didn’t acknowledge that the talc was tainted or dangerous. The terms of the settlement are closely guarded and won’t be made public. But ...
Read More »Breakneck pace of US job gains seen getting tougher to sustain
Bloomberg US job growth in May vaulted payroll gains above 1 million in 2018, reaching the milestone a month earlier than in the past two years. Whether the labor market can maintain such a breakneck pace amid a diminishing pool of skilled workers is another question. Employers added 223,000 jobs last month, more than forecast and bringing payroll gains for ...
Read More »For Abe, Japan’s abductees top missiles in Trump-Kim talks
Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has plenty to worry about ahead of Donald Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un next week, including the prospect of a deal that undermines Japan’s six-decade security alliance with the US and leaves the island nation vulnerable to attack. But it’s another issue that will top Abe’s agenda when he meets Trump at the White House ...
Read More »Nigerian lawmakers draw battle line for Buhari as vote looms
Bloomberg Nigerian lawmakers drew a battle line with President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of February elections by issuing a list of demands that must be met or they will take unspecified legislative measures against him. Buhari is expected to end widespread insecurity and violence in the country, stop the “systematic harassment and humiliation†of political opponents and show sincerity in his ...
Read More »Brexit Conservative rebels back pact on single market
Bloomberg Twelve Conservative lawmakers have signed an amendment calling on Theresa May to abandon her Brexit strategy and keep the UK in the single market after the divorce. The move — less than 24 hours after the opposition Labour Party shifted its position toward keeping closer ties with the bloc — has the potential to change May’s Brexit stance as ...
Read More »Kim should commit to disarmament timetable: US
Bloomberg The White House wants North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to commit to a timetable to surrender his country’s nuclear arsenal when he meets President Donald Trump next week in Singapore, a high-stakes summit that could last as long as two days — or just minutes. Trump has been advised not to offer Kim any concessions, as the White House ...
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