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Asia starts paying attention to ESG as climate change issue

  Bloomberg Hiro Mizuno, former chief investment officer of Japan’s GPIF, the world’s largest pension fund, has recounted how Kofi Annan once said to him that Asian nations were a “desert” of responsible financing. Mizuno told the story in 2019, two years after he began to champion investing based on environmental, social and governance metrics. Things have changed since then. ...

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Nato says Turkey doesn’t plan to block Nordic nations’ bids

Bloomberg Finland announced it will apply to join Nato, and Sweden is likely to follow. Turkey doesn’t plan to block the Nordic countries’ membership bids, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said after meetings in Berlin. The military alliance in June is expected to highlight Russian behavior as a direct threat in an updated strategic document. The UK defense ministry estimated that ...

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California records $97.5bn surplus, driven by the rich

Bloomberg California Governor Gavin Newsom said that his state has a record $97.5 billion operating surplus, as high tax rates on its wealthiest residents mean he has more cash to fund liberal priorities such as education and health care. The surplus is bigger than the entire 2020 spending of any other state except New York and Texas. Of that windfall, ...

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EU trims its euro area GDP forecast for 2022

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) cut its prediction for 2022 euro-area growth and almost doubled its estimate for inflation, according to new draft projections. In the first forecast since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the European Commission says gross domestic product will expand 2.7% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg. That’s down ...

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Dutch tech firms warn they’ll lose out if expat tax break goes

  Bloomberg Technology companies including ASML Holding NV and Adyen NV called on the Dutch government to maintain a tax break that seeks to attract expatriates to the Netherlands. Ingrid Thijssen, head of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, said the government for budget reasons is considering shrinking or scrapping a rule that exempts 30% of an expat’s salary ...

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Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed elected UAE president

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Federal Supreme Council on Saturday unanimously elected His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as President of the United Arab Emirates. The council held a meeting on Saturday at Al Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ...

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Sheikh Mohamed accepts condolences on death of Sheikh Khalifa

Abu Dhabi / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, received condolences on the passing of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; HH Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme ...

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UK North Sea sees political reprieve plan in energy crisis

  Bloomberg Six months ago, UK North Sea oil and gas faced the bleakest outlook in its 50-year history. The government was focused on hosting the COP 26 climate talks and environmentalists were close to killing off one of the country’s largest oilfield developments, called Cambo. An industry that had excelled at prolonging its lifespan was at risk of sudden ...

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Texas grid operator calls for power conservation

Bloomberg The Texas grid operator called on residents to conserve energy after six generation facilities tripped offline amid hot weather, prompting power prices to spike. The power-plant failures resulted in a loss of about 2,900 megawatts of electricity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot) said. That’s enough power for about 580,000 homes and businesses. Natural-gas fired plants make up ...

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Finland tells Russia of Nato plan, downplays Turkey concerns

Bloomberg Finnish President Sauli Niinisto phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to say the Nordic country plans to seek Nato membership in the near term. The conversation with Putin “was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations,” he said in a statement. The move would be a “mistake because there are no threats to Finland’s security,” Putin told his ...

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