It’s always interesting to see who’s celebrating. In German politics, that’s currently the Left Party, a descendant of East Germany’s former dictatorship that likes to brew anti-Americanism and Russophilia into a toxic populist mix. The party’s bosses are delighted about a rumour, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that the US may pull out some 9,500 of the 34,500 ...

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd became the latest global carrier to seek a lifeline in the aftermath of Covid-19 travel restrictions, outlining a plan to raise HK$39 billion ($5 billion) from the Hong Kong government and shareholders after months of warnings about the frailty of its business. The rights issue proposal, reported by Bloomberg News, is on the basis of ...

Bloomberg The French government unveiled a rescue plan for the struggling aerospace industry that includes billions of euros to support Airbus SE and its suppliers hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The measures, worth 15 billion euros ($17 billion), include export guarantees and credit relief for some new aircraft orders, as well as an extension of part-time work subsidies to ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s historic state bailout increased by 450 million euros ($508 million) after Austria agreed to provide support to the German carrier’s division in the country. Austrian Airlines will get 150 million euros in direct aid plus 300 million euros in loans underwritten by the government, helping to sustain the unit as carriers begin to restore flights amid ...

Bloomberg A few weeks after Spain declared a nationwide lockdown in mid-March to fight the growing coronavirus outbreak, clothing retailer Inditex SA began running low on goods. The world’s largest fashion retailer typically operates a lean warehouse operation, preferring instead to hold the majority of its stock in stores that double as e-commerce fulfillment centres. That way, turnaround is faster, ...

Bloomberg Vietnam is considering the resumption of some international flights to and from destinations that have had no novel coronavirus cases in the past 30 days, according to a statement on the government’s website. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed the National Steering Committee for Coronavirus Prevention and Control to report on international destinations considered to be safe, according ...

Bloomberg The US and Russia will send senior officials to Vienna on June 22 for a new round of arms-control talks, a State Department official said, as the Trump administration tries to enlist Moscow’s help bringing China into broader negotiations to limit all three countries’ nuclear weapons stockpiles. The official didn’t rule out that the US may be willing to ...

Bloomberg North Korea said it was shutting a liaison office it shares with South Korea from Tuesday and severing communication over a leaders’ hot line, putting pressure on Seoul to break with Washington’s effort to isolate the country. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the state was taking the move because South Korean authorities had “connived” to ...

Bloomberg The acting US ambassador to Japan denounced an animated video from public broadcaster NHK aimed at explaining the Black Lives Matter protests, adding to widespread criticism that it perpetuated racist stereotypes. “The caricatures used are offensive and insensitive,” Joe Young, the Charge d’Affaires ad interim, said on Twitter on Tuesday of the animation. It didn’t mention the death of ...

Bloomberg Greece and Italy signed an agreement on Tuesday that marks the maritime boundary in the Ionian Sea between the exclusive economic zones of the two European Union members. The deal is “an important development” and shows Greece’s constant goal is to delimit maritime zones with all its neighbours, with valid agreements that adhere to international law — unlike Turkey’s ...