Brexit: early election bill fails
British MPs rejected PM Boris Johnson’s bid to hold a general election on 12 December to break the Brexit impasse. The vote was 299 to 70, well short of the 434 (two-thirds) needed. The Labour party abstained. Johnson is expected to propose a different bill later this week, which he hopes the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalists will support. Earlier, Johnson accepted the EU’s Brexit extension to 31 January (or earlier if the Brexit deal passes). Sources: Associated Press, BBC, Deutsche Welle, the Guardian and Sky News.
People smuggling driver in court
The alleged driver of a truck which carried 39 migrants found dead in southeastern England was formally charged with human trafficking and manslaughter, and remanded into custody. Sources: The Guardian and NPR. The lorry left for the UK from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge; the port is operated by a Luxembourg-based outfit, which reportedly handed over video surveillance footage to police. Sources: The Maritime Executive and Metro.co.uk.
Mosque shooting in France
An 84 year old man was arrested for allegedly shooting two men in their 70s after they stopped him from setting fire to a mosque in southwestern France. Sources: AFP, BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Woodford payouts
Fund manager Neil Woodford and his business partner Craig Newman allegedly collected nearly £20m in dividends for the financial year ending March 2019 despite massive problems at their firm, according to the Financial Times. Both executives left Woodford Investment Management after its flagship fund was frozen following a liquidity crisis. Additional sources: CityAM, FTAdvisor and Investment Week.
Hong Kong recession
After months of anti-government protests, Hong Kong has entered a technical recession and its economy is not expected to grow this year, according to local leaders. Sources: Associated Press, BBC, CNN and Reuters.
Amazon considering “Jedi” contract challenge
Amazon could contest the awarding of a $10bn cloud computing contract by the Pentagon to Microsoft “as early as next week”, reported Reuters.
HSBC to “remodel”
Europe’s largest bank, HSBC, said it would restructure after posting a double digit decline in third quarter profits. Sources: BBC, CNBC and Financial Times.
Luxury takeover talks
The French luxury goods group LVMH made a $14.5bn bid to take over the American jewellery firm Tiffany & Co. Sources: BBC, CBS and the Guardian.
Branson space venture launches listing
Virgin Galactic, the space tourism outfit backed by Sir Richard Branson, raised $450m and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (through a “reverse listing”, not an IPO). Sources: CNBC, the Guardian and Yahoo Finance.
Agenda
Wednesday 30 October, 6pm: Free guided tour (in English) of the Mudam museum in Kirchberg. Thursday 7 November, 5:30pm: Head of Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF Claude Marx, UK ambassador John Marshall and others provide a Brexit briefing to members of the British and Irish chambers of commerce. Friday 15 November, 7pm: Amcham’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Here are 3 business & finance stories you may have missed
Brain drain: “The Greek government has announced plans to give €2,000 for every child born in Greece, to curb a plunging birth rate and improve the supply side of the economy over the medium term,” per the Refinitiv blog. Brexit investment flows: “In the year to June, London has attracted more cross border commercial real estate investment than any other city,” per Reuters. Portfolios: Several large US mutual funds bought shares in the troubled office sharing outfit Wework and it’s unclear how much of a haircut they’ll be taking, per Pitchbook.
Here are 3 science & technology stories you may have missed
Automotive: Waymo thinks self-driving car technology has been over-hyped, per CNBC. Chemical weapons: Novichoks, the type of poison used in the March 2018 Salisbury attacks, may be banned if a proposed change to international accords passes in November, per Science magazine. Energy: France has just started sketching out plans to build 6 new big nuclear reactors, per MIT Technology Review.
Interior architecture since the 1400s
Bored Panda has a primer on the past 600 years of home design.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald