The next US administration will inherit the worst relationship with Russia since Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. Judging from the list of grievances that President Vladimir Putin has laid out, even a relatively Putin-friendly Donald Trump will have a hard time satisfying him. Putin delivered his message to the future U.S. president Monday, just as ...

London / AFP European stock markets retreated on Wednesday on speculation that the ECB is mulling plans to taper its vast economic stimulus that aims to prop up the eurozone economy. The European Central Bank has rebutted a Bloomberg report on Tuesday of an “informal consensus” among ECB policymakers that the guardian of the euro should gradually scale back its ...

  Dubai / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s top three telecommunication operators suffered mixed fortunes on Wednesday after all three had risen in heavy trade the previous day while other markets in the region sagged. Mobile Telecommunication Company (Zain KSA) jumped 6.8 percent, taking its gains since Sunday to 17 percent. Its chief competitor Saudi Telecom (STC) retreated 2.8 percent on Wednesday ...

  Bloomberg U.S. stocks rose as a rally in crude oil boosted energy producers, overshadowing concerns that central banks could begin to tighten monetary policy. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to 2,157.02 at 9:33 a.m. in New York, after two days of losses following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials. Equity markets have seen a revival of volatility ...

  Bloomberg Tesco Plc shares surged the most in almost two years as CEO Dave Lewis vowed to double the UK supermarket’s profit margins in the next three years, helped by an additional 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) in cost cuts and more premium items. The stock rose as much as 11 percent to 210.15 pence, the highest since August ...

  AFP German airline Air Berlin said on Wednesday it would discuss transferring part of its fleet to a new group founded by package tour giant TUI and Gulf carrier Etihad as part of a major overhaul. Air Berlin will discuss bringing 35 of its aircraft, including 14 already leased from TUI subsidiary TUIfly, into a “new airline group to ...

  Bloomberg Brazilian companies such as Embraer SA and Marcopolo SA are scrambling to close multibillion-dollar deals to sell planes and buses to Iran, seeking to navigate remaining U.S. financial sanctions, senior officials have said. The plane-maker is in advanced negotiations to sell at least 20 E195 jets with a total list price of more than $1 billion, while the ...

Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc will add 10 new routes from Hamburg next summer as the low-cost giant seizes on a meltdown at Air Berlin Plc to offer 20 percent more flights in Germany in 2017. Ryanair will open a base in Hamburg next month, stationing two jets there and adding seven routes from the north German city to take the ...

  Bloomberg The proposed United Nations accord to limit pollution from international flights could cost airlines billions. For passengers, the price may be less than an in-flight glass of pinot noir. Airlines estimate the measure being debated this week in Montreal will cost the industry between $2.9 billion and $12.4 billion annually by 2030. Based on a handful of sample ...

  Bloomberg Barclays Plc agreed to sell its Egyptian business to Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank as the British firm shrinks its global operations and speeds up the sale of unwanted assets. The deal will probably be completed by the end of this year, the London-based lender said in a statement. The disposal will boost the bank’s common equity Tier 1 ratio ...