Yearly roundup
- Election majority loss: In a snap general election this June, Theresa May failed to get a parliamentary majority and the Conservatives had to make a deal with the DUP to form a new government in the UK.
- Crucial ‘Meaning Vote’: Just months after losing her House of Commons majority, Theresa May’s government got another jolt when they failed to avert 12 rebel MPs voting in favour of ‘Meaningful Vote’ plan — an amendment that guarantees the Parliament a say on the final divorce deal.
- Champion fails: Britain’s most successful and world’s best cyclist Chris Froome, who is also four-time Tour de France winner, recently failed a drugs test when he was found to have double the legal allowed level of an asthma drug in his urine during the Vuelta a España. Froome reportedly suffers from asthma.
- Uber loses London license, massive data hack: Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew the private hire operator license of Uber in London for lacking “corporate responsibility”. Later it was also revealed that the tech giant had concealed a massive cyberattack in 2016 and breach of personal data of 57m users globally, and failed to notify the individuals and regulators.
- Galaxy Note 7 fiasco: Samsung’s smartphone has been dubbed as one of the worst tech debuts in recent times. After thousands of consumers reported that the phone’s batteries were catching fire, the company recalled such smartphones and took a hit of millions in revenue. The mobile phone manufacturer, Samsung Electronic, also suffered a huge loss with this fiasco.
- LSE-Deutsche Boerse deal tanks: EU regulators blocked London Stock Exchange’s £21bn merger with German stock exchange Deutsche, saying the deal would have created a “de facto monopoly” for certain financial services. This was the third time that a merger between LSE and its German rival has failed to come to fruition.
- Kraft Heinz-Unilever failed merger: In early February this year, consumer-goods giant Kraft Heinz dropped its $143bn bid to buy Anglo-Dutch maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap and Axe deo, Unilever.
- Trump University: It was announced in 2005 as a for-profit education company to teach people to make money in the real estate industry. However, the university failed to fulfil its objective and instead used ‘deceptive sales and marketing practices’ to defraud students. In March this year, a federal judge approved a $25m settlement deal between President Trump and students who paid for the University’s seminars, bringing the litigation to a close.
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