International News

  Bloomberg Tim Farron, the leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, called for a second referendum on Britain quitting the European Union to ensure the deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May has public support. Farron, whose party governed in coalition with May’s Conservatives until last year’s general election, accused the premier of having “no clue” about Britain’s future ...

  The Hague / AFP Britain’s vote to leave the EU has caused uncertainty in Europe and will impact The Netherlands including causing job losses, Dutch King Willem-Alexander said on Tuesday. Giving his traditional speech marking the opening of parliament — written by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet — the king said the internationally-focused Dutch economy faced its ...

  Frankfurt / AFP German chemicals giant Bayer said it had increased its earnings and profits forecasts after signing a deal to take over US seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto. “We are optimistic for the medium-term development of Bayer and have set ourselves correspondingly ambitious targets,” chief executive Werner Baumann said in a statement. In the crop science division that ...

  Warsaw/ AFP Poland’s populist government on Tuesday suspended a new tax on supermarkets that targetted foreign-owned chains just a day after the European Union opened a probe into whether it violated competition rules. Announcing the suspension in Warsaw, Poland’s Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha told reporters the EU investigation was “arbitrary and political”, launched “under pressure from large corporations.” Warsaw ...

  Paris / AFP France said on Tuesday it was sticking to its economic growth forecasts for this year and next, seen by some economists as too optimistic. In its 2017 budget draft law, the finance ministry said projected expansion would allow France to cut its deficit to below three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 as required ...

  London / AFP GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday appointed Emma Walmsley, its head of consumer healthcare, to lead the British drugs giant and develop new treatments in a fast-consolidating sector. Walmsley, 47, succeeds outgoing chief executive Andrew Witty, who is retiring early next year after almost a decade at the helm. Walmsley, who joined GSK from French cosmetics giant L’Oreal six ...

  Bloomberg Petroleo Brasileiro SA reduced investments by 25 percent and is accelerating asset disposals in its latest business plan as it downsizes to withstand low international oil prices amid Brazil’s deepest two-year recession on record. The 2017-2021 plan, the first drafted under Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente, focuses on accelerating debt reduction and retreating from peripheral businesses such as ...

  Brussels / AFP The EU launched an in-depth probe on Monday into alleged sweetheart tax deals between French gas group Engie and Luxembourg, taking on a major European multinational after similar high-profile investigations into US giants. “The Commission has concerns that several tax rulings issued by Luxembourg may have given GDF Suez (now Engie) an unfair advantage over other ...

  London / AFP The European Union will make Brexit “very painful” for Britain, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in an interview published on Monday, adding that London was “bluffing” over its pre-Brexit negotiating power. “The EU will take this opportunity to show the public: ‘Listen guys, now you will see why it is important to stay in the ...

Bloomberg European Union trade ministers are expected to clear up details to the EU-Canada trade agreement at a meeting on Sept. 23 in Bratislava, Slovakia, the bloc’s executive said. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem and Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland “understand that some concerns remain that need to be clarified” in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, between ...