Bloomberg Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria cautioned that the Treasury will consider taking a stake in struggling airline Alitalia SpA only if talks between potential investors produce a strong business plan. Speaking to lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, Tria confirmed that talks are underway involving Delta Air Lines Inc. and UK discounter EasyJet Plc, with state rail operator …

Bloomberg An Atlas Air cargo plane with three people aboard plunged out of the sky and crashed into a Texas bay as it was preparing to land in Houston. The Boeing Co. 767-300, which had departed from Miami, lost radio contact about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, the Federal Aviation Administration said. It fell …

Bloomberg Internet retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., Asos Plc and Boohoo Group Plc should pay higher UK taxes to help save ailing shopping districts that are losing revenue to e-commerce, according to a government report. An online sales tax, higher value-added tax and “green taxes” on shipping and packaging should all be considered to help soften the blow to physical …

Bloomberg Sweden’s largest food retailer ICA is preparing for its largest transformation yet to cater to a growing number of customers who want to shop for groceries online and have them delivered home. The 81-year-old company is following in the footprints of other Swedish retail giants like Hennes & Mauritz AB and Ikea in shifting investments towards e-commerce, advanced analytics …

Bloomberg The world’s largest energy trader says oil prices are set to rally further as Opec output cuts and American sanctions on Iran and Venezuela cause a “shortage” of the low-quality heavy crudes refiners rely on. “From here there’s probably the potential to be a little bit higher,” said Russell Hardy, chief executive officer of Vitol Group. “Oil supply is …

Bloomberg Centrica Plc plunged to the lowest in almost two decades after tougher trading conditions in the UK energy market prompted the utility to forecast a gloomy outlook for next year. Hurt both by a government-imposed cap on consumer energy bills and by outages at nuclear plants and gas wells, a target range for average adjusted operating cash flow “is …

Bloomberg Two months ago, it was Asia’s hottest stock market. Now, investors are shunning it. India has wiped out $113 billion in value this year after winning the regional equity crown in 2018. Uncertainty surrounding upcoming elections, an ongoing debt issue, a government that’s making greater demands on the central bank and high valuations have kept investors on the sidelines. …

Bloomberg Traders are likely to return to work on Monday with a little less angst as the world’s biggest economies edge towards a trade deal. All eyes will be on the yuan as the US and China discuss the critical issue of enforcement in a proposed agreement that would ensure Beijing lives up to its promise to not depreciate the …

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) officials poised to debate the need for new long-term loans for banks might have some even bigger thinking to do. With less than two weeks to go before the Governing Council meets, policy makers are gearing up to discuss whether their response to the region’s economic slowdown should include an update to its targeted lending …

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said the US central bank must improve its recruitment of women and people from minority backgrounds because greater diversity leads to better policy decisions. Noting that it was more than a century after the Fed’s creation that the one of its 12 regional banks was headed by an African American — Raphael Bostic, who …