Bloomberg When Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy forced an election in the rebel region of Catalonia, the aim was to halt the political chaos after a declaration of independence by separatists that reverberated across Europe. Instead, more upheaval looks set to emerge. It’s going to be tough to discern any real winner from the vote on Thursday following a campaign ...

Bloomberg Russia’s natural gas exporter is channeling more money into its fight for market share as the US threatens its biggest European pipeline project with possible sanctions and looks to deliver more fuel to the region by tanker. Gazprom PJSC plans to spend 802 billion rubles ($13.7 billion) on routes to Europe and China in 2018, almost 41 percent more ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia announced its budget deficit narrowed in 2017 to below 10 percent of economic output for the first time since the collapse in oil pri- ces, as the kingdom prepared to unveil what is expected to be an expansionary budget for next year. The shortfall dropped to 8.9 percent of gross domestic product from almost 13 percent in ...