Argentina introduces austerity measures
Mauricio Macri, Argentina’s president, announced an emergency austerity programme to stem the country’s fiscal crisis, reported the BBC, Financial Times and Reuters. “The world has told us that we are living beyond our means,” Macri said. Buenos Aires will reimpose a tax on exports and cut half of government ministries, among other measures. Argentina entered into $50bn loan agreement with the IMF over the summer, and will ask the organisation to accelerate the disbursement of funds. Worries about Argentina and emerging markets helped push down Asian markets in early Tuesday trading, said Reuters.
Danske Bank handled billions in foreign funds
A money laundering investigation has found that Danske Bank’s “small Estonian branch” handled more than $30bn of Russian and ex-Soviet money between 2007 and 2015, according to the Financial Times. The amount of “suspicious transactions” could be as high as $8.3bn.
RSA office opens in Luxembourg
The reinsurance firm RSA said it opened its post-Brexit EU hub in the grand duchy after receiving approval from the CAA, Luxembourg’s insurance regulator, reported Insurance Times and Reinsurance News. The business is headed by Richard Turner, who relocated from the UK to Luxembourg to take up the post.
Ryanair says controllers put Stansted at disadvantage
The low budget carrier Ryanair has said British air traffic controllers are “discriminating against” London Stansted airport, where it operates a large number of flights, reported the Telegraph. Ryanair said Nats, which manages the UK’s airspace, favoured flights in and out of Heathrow airport, while Stansted suffered more than half of all London-area delays. Nats is owned by Heathrow and three competing airlines. A Nats spokeswoman told the newspaper that it did not discriminate and “Ryanair performance this summer cannot be blamed on UK air traffic control.”
Austrian Hinkley appeal
Vienna will appeal the rejection of its competition claims against the UK’s Hinkley nuclear power plant, reported Reuters. Austria objected to guaranteed electricity rates and public credit guarantees, but lost its case at the EU General Court in July. It is expected to appeal to the European Court of Justice.
Obesity rates spotted from space using AI
According to Science magazine: “Artificial intelligence can use satellite images to estimate a region’s level of obesity--even without spotting the overweight people, a new study reveals.”
Apple autonomous vehicle has first crash
The first traffic accident involving an Apple self-driving car happened last month, reported ZDnet. The tech site said the autonomous vehicle was driving at 1mph (1.6kmh) on a heavily used Silicon Valley road when it was rear-ended by a car going 15mph (24kmh). The Apple crash was the 95th accident involving self-driving cars in California so far this year; there were 30 in 2017.
This crash was a stinker
A lorry carrying a shipment of Axe body spray crashed and caught on fire in Texas, reported Gizmodo. Despite the pressurised cans exploding, no injuries were reported.