News

  Phnom Penh / AFP Cambodia’s prime minister has ordered a million hectares of forest be included in protected zones as the country faces one of the world’s fastest deforestation rates. The move, which covers five new areas of forest, will bump Cambodia’s conservation zones up by a fifth, bringing more than a quarter of the country’s land under protection. ...

  New York / AFP Negotiators on the ambitious TTIP transatlantic trade pact said they had made significant progress in New York this week and hope for a deal in 2016, despite popular opposition on both sides. Both sides said they would not be deterred by increased attacks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and did not plan to ...

  Paris / AFP Britain kept its coveted top-grade triple-A credit rating from Standard and Poor’s on Friday, with the agency saying it expected the country to ultimately vote to remain in the European Union. Standard and Poor’s said “our affirmation of the rating reflects our assumption that, by a small majority, the referendum will deliver a vote to remain ...

  Bloomberg The first month of the European Central Bank’s expanded stimulus program has done little to aid the region’s government bonds. Even as the ECB increased its asset-purchase program to €80 billion ($92 billion) in April, from €60 billion, sovereign securities headed for their biggest monthly decline since August, according to Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. Benchmark German 10-year bunds ...

  Bloomberg Oil’s climb above $45 a barrel is reassuring influential figures from BP Plc to the International Energy Agency that the industry is finally recovering from the worst slump in a generation. Others say the market is about to fall into the same trap as last year. There’s a sense of deja vu at Commerzbank AG, BNP Paribas SA ...

  New York / AFP Plunging crude prices battered oil giants’ profits in the first quarter, another blow following credit downgrades, layoffs and drilling cutbacks in the wake of a long rout. Chevron became the latest big oil company to land in the red due to low commodity prices, reporting a loss of $725 million in the quarter ending March 31. ...

  Bloomberg Puerto Rico said its Government Development Bank, which is operating in a state of emergency to preserve its dwindling cash, reached an agreement with some credit unions to delay $33 million of bond payments as the commonwealth rushes toward a potential historic default. The pact only affects a portion of the $422 million that the bank owes on ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s real climbed to the highest level since July as commodities prices rallied, overshadowing plans by the central bank to sell reverse-swap contracts that tend to weaken the currency. The real gained 1.5 percent to 3.4358 per dollar on Friday, extending this month’s gain to 4.6 percent, as the U.S. currency weakened globally. A Bloomberg index of raw ...

  Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by more than analysts forecast as inflation surged to its highest level since 2001 following the most severe drought in decades. The seven-member board voted to lift borrowing costs by half a point to 7 percent citing concern that inflation will return to target more slowly than forecast, central bank ...

  Bloomberg Canada was on pace to run a significant surplus for the last fiscal year, monthly data released Friday show, calling into question the federal government’s projection of a full-year deficit. The government raised C$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) more than it spent in February, giving it a surplus of C$7.5 billion for the first eleven months of the fiscal ...