Bloomberg For the first time in a decade, the world risks being cut off from Russian wheat at a time when some key buyers are rushing to import it. The top shipper last month limited sales through June to protect its own supply as the coronavirus crisis sparks food-security concerns around the world. Although the curbs were seen loose enough ...
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Bayer warns of liquidity risk as virus slows roundup talks
Bloomberg Bayer AG raised the specter of “considerable liquidity challenges†as it engages in high-stakes negotiations over Roundup litigation in the US and grapples with the pandemic. The number of plaintiffs claiming that the weedkiller caused their cancers rose to 52,500 from 48,600 in February, Bayer said in its first-quarter. It’s still too early to know how Covid-19 will impact ...
Read More »US firms divided on return to normal ops
Bloomberg Nearly one-third of US business economists expect operations at their companies will return to normal within five to eight weeks, though almost as many say it’s likely to be three to six months before coronavirus-mitigation efforts wind down in earnest. A survey by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) showed respondents in the construction and manufacturing industries were ...
Read More »UK market manipulation reports surge amid virus
Bloomberg Market manipulation is still on the rise in the UK even after a decade of crackdowns on schemes to rig foreign-exchange rates and other key benchmarks. And the coronavirus pandemic could make things worse. Reports of suspected market manipulation made to the Financial Conduct Authority have increased by 23% since 2017, with a sharp jump in 2018 followed by ...
Read More »Germany’s Rhine River is running dry amid drought
Bloomberg Germany’s spring showers haven’t materialised this year, and that’s drying out the country’s most important river, prompting concerns that key industrial goods might have trouble making it to their destination. Typically one of the wettest months, Europe’s biggest economy has received just 5% of its normal April rainfall so far, according to Germany’s federal weather service. It’s on course ...
Read More »Donald Trump faces test of power in court clash
Bloomberg The Trump administration will square off against House Democrats on Tuesday over a crucial question: Is a congressional subpoena of White House officials a formidable weapon or an empty threat? The battle, which is likely to reach the Supreme Court, could shape legal fights ranging from the quest for President Donald Trump’s tax returns to a conflict over his ...
Read More »Pelosi endorses Joe Biden for president
Bloomberg US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid on Monday, citing the fellow Democrat’s role in helping to manage the federal response to the 2008 financial crisis and in passing Obamacare. In a video published on Biden’s YouTube page, Pelosi said that the presumptive Democratic nominee “has been a voice of reason and resilience, ...
Read More »North Korea’s silence keeps world in dark
Bloomberg Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. If he’s hale and hearty, to dispel the frenzied speculation to the opposite, it should be a simple matter of having him pop up somewhere to have his photo taken. Officials in South Korea say they think Kim is fine. The regime’s ally China is trying ...
Read More »Assange’s extradition trial delayed by virus
Bloomberg Julian Assange’s extradition trial, set to begin next month, has been delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three-week trial was due to begin on May 18 in London, but was postponed until July or even November, because of the extension of the UK lockdown. Assange faces extradition to America on charges that he conspired to disclose documents passed to ...
Read More »Johnson returns to work urging UK to maintain lockdown
Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work and moved to stamp his authority on a government under pressure over its handling of the UK coronavirus outbreak, warning that to lift a nationwide lockdown now would risk both a health crisis and an “economic disaster.†Speaking exactly one month after he went into isolation with a case of Covid-19 that ...
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