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Bloomberg A 300-year-old argument between the UK and Spain over a small piece of land is threatening to derail Theresa May’s plans to help businesses navigate Brexit. UK officials fear Spain will threaten to veto a Brexit transition phase if the British PM refuses to negotiate a separate deal with the government in Madrid that covers the disputed territory of ...

Bloomberg PM Theresa May is sticking to her guns and pushing for a made-to-order trade deal with the EU—despite the bloc’s insistence such a scenario is out of the question. May presided over a discussion with her Cabinet to flesh out her vision of an end state, aiming for a “significantly more ambitious deal” than that between the EU and ...

Bloomberg UK housing experts predict the nation is in for a year of stagnating prices in 2018. Overall growth will come to a halt as the number of transactions falls slightly, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in a report, with a continued dearth of supply preventing outright declines. Some regions are set to see gains, offsetting slumps in ...

Bloomberg Toys ‘R’ Us Inc.’s British unit, which is at risk of collapse, faces questions from lawmakers about a reported surge in payments to its former managing director. The loss-making British arm of the US toy retailer boosted Roger McLaughlan’s pay to 1.3 million pounds ($1.7 million) in the year ended on January 30, 2016, from 1 million pounds and ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia expects oil revenue to jump 12 percent next year in a sign the world’s biggest crude exporter expects prices to keep rising in 2018. The top OPEC producer expects to collect 492 billion riyals ($131 billion) from oil sales in 2018, compared with 440 billion riyals this year, the Finance Ministry said in a budget statement. Oil ...

Bloomberg Oil headed towards its highest close in over a week as industry data was said to show a larger-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles. February futures in New York added 0.4 percent after gaining 0.6 percent. Inventories fell 5.2 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report, suggesting further tightening in a market already facing ...

Bloomberg Eni SpA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc and senior executives will face trial over a $1.1 billion bribery scandal in Nigeria, an Italian judge ruled on Wednesday. The trial will start on March 5 in Milan, judge Giusy Barbara told reporters. The long-awaited decision, initially expected several months ago, will not only affect the two companies but 11 individuals ...

Bloomberg After spending $50 billion on the world’s biggest bet on natural gas, Royal Dutch Shell Plc is at the forefront of Big Oil’s efforts to clean up its act. But what if the constant, insidious leaks of gas into the atmosphere actually make the fuel more polluting than coal? Methane, the main component in natural gas, can seep into ...

Bloomberg Surging steel prices and a new Indian insolvency law have set the stage for an industry-defining battle between tycoons and producers for more than $26 billion of the sector’s most-coveted assets. Creditors are seeking the approval of India’s new bankruptcy court to sell assets of as many as 40 firms, including steel producers. That’s spurred Lakshmi Mittal, head of ...

Bloomberg Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin vowed to quadruple the size of his shopping-mall empire, betting that retailers will thwart the advance of e-commerce competitors by adding entertaining experiences in stores and mini-theme parks. The Dalian Wanda Group Co. chairman plans to have 1,000 shopping malls covering more than 90 percent of China’s cities within a decade, according to remarks he ...