Jihadists of Boko Haram again attacked Baga, a town in north-eastern Nigeria. Reports suggested that they had burned down much of the town, and that as many as 2,000 people had been killed. Some are said to have drowned in Lake Chad as they tried to flee. On Saturday Boko Haram seized a local military base; Nigerian troops fled.
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, a Marxist group that is banned in Turkey, claimed responsibility for the suicide-bombing of a police station in Istanbul on Tuesday. The same group attacked the American embassy in Turkey in 2013.
Impeachment proceedings against Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand’s former prime minister, over a costly rice-subsidy scheme, began today in Bangkok. Many see her political enemies—Bangkok’s royalist elite—behind the proceedings. If impeached Ms Yingluck faces a five-year ban from politics.
Activist investors flexed their muscles. Trian Fund Management, run by Nelson Peltz, nominated four candidates for the board of DuPont, a big chemicals company that Trian wants broken up. Starboard Value, which has a stake in Yahoo, warned the internet company’s chief executive, Marissa Mayer, that the pursuit of large acquisitions would be a sign “that significant leadership change is required”.
Coca-Cola said that it would lay off between 1,600 and 1,800 of its 130,000 staff. In October Coke, which has seen revenues stagnate and profits decline, said that it would cut its annual costs by $3 billion a year by 2019.
Santander, Spain’s biggest bank (and the euro area’s biggest by stockmarket value) said it would raise €7.5 billion ($8.8 billion) in new capital by selling shares. Although Santander passed the European Central Bank’s recent “stress tests”, its balance-sheet is considered one of the weakest among the euro zone’s large banks.
Shares in Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, rose by 15% after the company announced an overhaul. Tesco will close 43 stores and a headquarters building, cut overheads and sell its online-entertainment and broadband businesses. Last year falling sales, profit warnings and an accounting scandal sent its share price down by 40%.
