Bloomberg The merger of Alberta’s two main conservative parties creates a new political force in the heart of Canada’s oil patch that threatens to unseat Premier Rachel Notley and kill the province’s carbon tax. Members of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties voted to create the United Conservative Party. Combined, those parties hold 30 of 87 districts, though they received ...
Read More »Texas Wilks Brothers buy up Canadian fracking shares
Bloomberg Calfrac Well Services Ltd. surged after Texas investment firm Wilks Brothers LLC boosted its stake in the fracking company in a bet on a rebound in Canada’s beaten down oil patch. Calfrac rose 4.5 percent at 1:20 p.m. in Toronto to its highest intraday since June 14, even as US oil prices fell. The company’s shares have risen more ...
Read More »Britain seeks to invest $320mn in battery tech in strategy switch
Bloomberg The UK government plans to invest 246 million pounds ($320 million) in battery technology as part of an updated industrial strategy. The four-year investment will include a coordinated program of competitions to boost the research and development of expertise in battery technology, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in an emailed statement on Monday. The government-established ...
Read More »A billion Indian identities and more at stake in privacy case
Bloomberg India’s top court is considering whether privacy is a fundamental right of every citizen in a case that could have implications for the country’s biometric identity programme and a slew of global technology companies. Activists, lawyers and politicians have challenged the government over the legal basis of the programme known as Aadhaar, with the Supreme Court in New Delhi ...
Read More »Singapore startup takes bitcoin into real world with Visa
Bloomberg A recurring challenge for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is how to make them work in the real world. A Singapore-based startup says the answer is its Visa card. TenX is pitching its debit card as an instant converter of multiple digital currencies into fiat money: the dollars, yen and euros that power most everyday commerce. The company said it ...
Read More »Jury out on Japan’s work-from-home drive
Bloomberg Tokyo’s commuters offered mixed reviews on Monday as the government launched a campaign to get more of them to work from home. July 24 marks the first dry run of a “Telework Day†encouraging people to work remotely as the city gears up to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. Authorities are seeking ways to make room for 920,000 spectators ...
Read More »WeWork in talks to rent in Hong Kong’s nightlife district
Bloomberg WeWork Cos., the co-working space company that’s among the world’s most valuable startups, is in advanced talks to rent a building in Hong Kong’s popular nightlife district near the city’s business centre, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based firm is seeking to rent Hotel LKF by Rhombus on Wyndham Street, said the people, who asked ...
Read More »US, UK fading as global growth engines: IMF
Bloomberg The world is leaning less on its biggest economy to sustain the global recovery, according to the International Monetary Fund. The fund left its forecast for global growth unchanged in the latest quarterly update to its World Economic Outlook, released on Monday in Kuala Lumpur. The world economy will expand 3.5 percent this year, up from 3.2 percent in ...
Read More »BMW denies emissions cheating allegations
Bloomberg BMW AG sought to defuse concerns about possible collusion with other German automakers by rejecting allegations of cheating on diesel emissions and downplaying talks with rivals as being focused on promoting exhaust-treatment technology in Europe. With uncertainty clouding the German auto industry, BMW said it has gone farther than competitors to ensure its diesel cars meet regulatory guidelines while ...
Read More »Trump’s steel curbs pose trade war risks
Bloomberg There’s a risk of a global trade war should President Donald Trump decide to restrict imports of steel, according to Japan’s leading mills group, which warns any new US curbs on the metal may provoke a tit-for-tat response that could drag in other products. Concern would deepen about the potential spread of protectionism if Trump acts, Kosei Shindo, chairman ...
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