Dubai / Gulf Time Emirates SkyCargo sets up an airbridge between Dubai and Pakistan to offer cargo capacity free of charge on flights to transport relief aid to people grappling with the damage caused by the devastating floods. Cargo capacity on all Emirates’ passenger flights to Pakistan will be available to organisations based at the world’s largest humanitarian hub, ...
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UK predicts up to $199 billion excess profits for energy firms
Bloomberg UK gas producers and electricity generators may make excess profits totalling as much as £170 billion ($199 billion) over the next two years, according to Treasury estimates that lay bare the revenue-raising potential of a windfall tax. Treasury officials will deliver the assessment to the next prime minister when they take office on September 6, according to a ...
Read More »Germany is turning more pessimistic on Russian gas this winter
Bloomberg Germany says it can’t rely on gas supplies from Russia this winter as Europe faces a crunch point in its energy crisis, with Nord Stream flows disrupted by maintenance this week and more works expected next month. Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck is becoming increasingly pessimistic about the role of Russia’s Gazprom PJSC in supplying the vital fuel during ...
Read More »France to extend help with energy costs for small firms
Bloomberg France will extend aid for small and mid-sized companies struggling with surging energy costs until the end of the year, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told business leaders. The government will also loosen the conditions for firms to request financial help from the 3 billion-euro ($3 billion) fund, Le Maire said. “At the heart of our policy is ...
Read More »Spain to reduce VAT on gas bills
Bloomberg The Spanish government will cut value-added tax on natural gas to 5% from 21%, in the latest step to blunt the impact on households and businesses of inflation running at its highest level in nearly four decades. The cut will start in October and last until the end of the year, Sanchez said in an interview with Spanish ...
Read More »India’s top refiner to spend $25 billion to cut emissions
Bloomberg Indian Oil Corp., the country’s biggest refiner, said it plans to spend 2 trillion rupees ($25 billion) to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by 2046. The company will target Scope 1 and 2 emissions under its net zero aim, Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of the state-owned refiner-cum-fuel retailer, said. It plans to achieve 60% of the goal ...
Read More »The race for missiles in Asia’s danger zone
It’s no surprise that for US allies in Asia, “Top Gun: Maverick†is the year’s most-watched American movie, topping the box office in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The simple tale of US might and gumption against an evil faceless opponent certainly resonates in a region that’s facing intensifying threats. But no one is placing bets that Tom Cruise ...
Read More »The Fed’s messaging needs an upgrade
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at last week’s central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was brief — but financial markets took notice. The S&P 500 fell sharply as investors adjusted their thinking on how tough the Fed was willing to be to get inflation back under control. Powell underlined that restoring price stability is the Fed’s “overarching focus†...
Read More »Junk bond traders ought to check in with experts
Corporate junk bonds in the US are paying investors a paltry premium for the risk of holding them into a looming recession. Either spreads need to widen or the recession clouds need to vanish, but something’s got to give. Consider the first possibility, the base case. Junk spreads typically track recession risk closely, and the economic gloom has been ...
Read More »Mikhail Gorbachev defied convention in Cold War
Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at 91, defied convention in ways small and large throughout some of the most tumultuous years of the Cold War. He failed in his most basic ambitions. But the world was better for them all the same. Born to peasants in a rural village that had been ravaged by collectivization, Gorbachev grasped the ...
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