Bloomberg Poland’s prime minister vowed to redouble efforts to clamp down on “unaccountable†judges after the president vetoed parts of a judicial overhaul that touched off debate in the European Union over how to confront members who flout democratic values. In a blow to the Law & Justice party that backed his presidency, Andrzej Duda rejected bills to replace Supreme ...
Read More »Third Aussie senator caught up in dual-citizenship fiasco
Bloomberg Australia’s Resources Minister Matt Canavan has resigned after discovering that he may be in breach of the constitution because he is a dual Italian citizen. “According to the Italian government, I am a citizen of Italy,†Canavan, who was also minister for northern Australia, told reporters on Tuesday. Canavan’s mother, who was born in Australia but is of Italian ...
Read More »Alphabet’s rising costs raise alarm on shrinking margins
Bloomberg Initially investors celebrated a robust quarter from Alphabet Inc., driven by strong sales growth. Then they spotted a red flag: rising costs that could crimp margins going forward. The Google division generated most of the quarter’s revenue but paid out 22 percent of its $22.67 billion in sales in so-called traffic acquisition costs or TAC — payments to partners ...
Read More »US working on ‘big, exciting’ UK trade deal: Trump
Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the US and the UK are working on a potentially “big and exciting†trade deal and the relationship between the two countries is going to be “even better†after Brexit. Trump’s comments, made in tweets late on Monday and on Tuesday, came as UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox was in Washington to pave the way ...
Read More »Factory production in UK hits two-decade high as exports grow
Bloomberg UK factory production reached a two-decade high last quarter as optimism about export orders swelled to the highest since the 1970s. A Confederation of British Industry survey showed the volume of output rapidly grew in the three months to July, with the CBI index reaching its strongest reading since 1995. Factories are “upbeat in their expectations for overall demand ...
Read More »US automaker GM’s focus on selling to actual consumers pays off for profits
Bloomberg General Motors Co.’s strategy of shunning discounted sales to rental-car companies to focus on more profitable deliveries of pickups and SUVs to U.S. consumers is boosting its bottom line. Adjusted earnings of $1.89 per share in the three months ended in June beat analyst estimates of $1.70 a share. The largest U.S. automaker sold a richer mix of sport ...
Read More »Michael Kors steps out with Jimmy Choo in $1.2 billion deal
Bloomberg Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy Jimmy Choo Plc for about 896 million pounds ($1.2 billion), as the maker of handbags popular with the commuter set seeks to restore lost luster. The purchase of Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors’ first deal to expand beyond its own brand name since its initial public offering in 2011, gives the New York ...
Read More »Modi’s ‘50mn homes’ plan miles from ground reality
Bloomberg India’s ambitious ‘Housing for All’ plan is bumping up against some harsh realities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target in 2015 of building 50 million homes in less than a decade, or about seven million a year. The nation has since added only 180,877 under the scheme, underscoring the challenge in achieving that target. “It was a moon ...
Read More »China GDP forecast improves as growth surpasses estimates
Bloomberg Economists raised their forecasts for China’s economic output after growth in the first half beat estimates. That robust activity is giving policy makers’ room to curb excessive and speculative borrowing. China’s gross domestic product will expand by 6.7 percent from a year ago in the third quarter and 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median of ...
Read More »Self-driving buses, robot aides could double Singapore growth
Bloomberg The rise of the machines is coming. In technology-proficient Singapore, their integration into the economy could help the domestic growth rate to almost double and significantly lift labor productivity, according to a report by consultancy Accenture. It found that artificial intelligence, once fully adopted, might lift Singapore’s annual growth rate to 5.4 percent in 18 years. That would be ...
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