Bloomberg Iceland erected new defenses to block fast money from chasing western Europe’s highest interest rates as the nation prepares to dismantle the last remnants of capital controls that have existed since 2008. Over the weekend, the small north Atlantic island set reserve requirements for new offshore investors forcing them to keep a substantial part of their holdings in …

  Bloomberg Lukoil PJSC, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, said profit dropped 59 percent in the first quarter as oil prices declined to a 12-year low. Net income fell to 42.8 billion rubles ($651 million) from 104 billion rubles a year earlier, the Moscow-based company said. Russian producers have been partially buffered against the rout in crude by a weaker ruble, …

  Bloomberg Chinese retailer Suning Commerce Group Ltd will acquire about 70 percent of Italian soccer club Inter Milan for €270 million ($306 million), making the deal a rare purchase in which a Chinese company will control a major European sports team. Suning will purchase existing and new shares in Inter Milan. Suning’s Inter Milan deal comes as another Chinese …

On May 29, 2016, South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s spokesman announced that Uganda pledged to suspend all military and police ties with North Korea. This announcement followed a bilateral meeting, between Park and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. The Ugandan government has been careful to insist that Kampala will maintain diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, but the suspension of military cooperation is …

  There is an important, but quiet debate in the economics profession about what leads to big recessions: wealth or debt. Almost everyone agrees, at this point, that the Great Recession of 2007-09 was caused by the financial system. But that leaves the question of what, exactly, happens in a financial system that leads an economy to crash. Formal economic …

  Bloomberg Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern country, agreed to buy BlackRock Inc.’s Asia Square Tower 1 for S$3.4 billion ($2.5 billion) in the biggest office transaction in Singapore. Qatar will purchase the office tower in the central business district in the largest single-tower sale in the region, according to a joint statement from …

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Real Estate Co has agreed with U.S. firm Starwood Hotels and Resorts to build two hotels next to a district of Riyadh which the government plans to develop into an international business zone. Starwood will manage a five-star hotel under its Westin brand and a four-star hotel under its Element brand, Saudi Real Estate, which …

  REUTERS Commercial real estate manager NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc , REIT NorthStar Realty Finance Corp and private equity firm Colony Capital Inc have agreed to an all-stock merger that would create a company with $58 billion of assets under management, they said onMonday. NorthStar Realty Finance shares fell 5.8 percent to $12.70, while NorthStar Asset Management dropped 6.5 …

  Bloomberg On his way to work, Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina likes to count the dwindling number of empty buildings. Thanks to a tourism and real estate boom, many are being converted into trendy apartments that cater to the growing number of visitors to the city. As some European cities impose restrictions on short-term rentals via websites such as Airbnb …

  Switzerland / Bloomberg Nestle SA is banking on e-commerce sales to revive its struggling Chinese business, as the Swiss food company grapples with slowing growth and new shopping trends in the world’s largest consumer market. The maker of KitKat chocolates and Yinlu peanut milk began selling on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Tmall.com portal 67 brands it has never offered …