Bloomberg A one-time rival to President Emmanuel Macron was forced out of the French government on Wednesday as the president asserted his authority after a resounding victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. Justice Minister Francois Bayrou, 66, who threw his weight behind Macron’s campaign in February after mulling his own bid for the presidency, quit Wednesday morning. European Affairs Minister Marielle ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was named to replace his cousin as heir to the throne in a shake-up that consolidates the 31-year-old leader’s power in the world’s biggest oil exporter. The king’s decision to elevate his son, who already controlled the defense, oil and economy portfolios, was supported by 31 out of 34 members of ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Theresa May will make her first attempt to engage with Britain’s new political landscape as she publishes a legislative program heavy on Brexit and likely to be light on anything controversial. Queen Elizabeth II was expected to read out the plans to lawmakers at 11:30 a.m. in London on Wednesday in an occasion stripped of most of ...

Bloomberg Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany’s veteran finance minister, urged the US to limit Russian and Chinese influence or risk bringing about “the end of our liberal world order.” The comments by Schaeuble, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet since she took office in 2005, are one of the strongest expressions of concern among European policy makers that President Donald Trump’s ...

DUBAI­­­­ / Reuters Global index compiler MSCI said it would consider upgrading Saudi Arabia to emerging market status, a move that would attract tens of billions of dollars of fresh foreign money as the country seeks to diversify its economy beyond oil. MSCI will announce its decision in June 2018, and any move to upgrade would take effect in two ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will need higher crude prices to push ahead with his plans to reform the kingdom’s economy, making an about-face in oil policy unlikely in the short term. Yet, oil markets will be braced for an even more assertive Saudi Arabia in foreign policy. MbS, as the 31-year-old prince is known, has ...

Bloomberg China’s Sinochem Group is considering listing its oil-related business in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The state-owned chemicals conglomerate is making ini- tial evaluations of its oil assets, which have a combined va- lue of around 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion), said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is ...

Bloomberg Oil slid further into a bear market as rising global supply is countering efforts by OPEC and its allies to drain a glut. Futures fell as much as 1.1 percent in New York after front-month prices closed on Tuesday more than 20 percent below their February peak. Libya, exempt from the OPEC-led output cuts, is pumping the most in ...

Bloomberg Already buffeted by political chaos at home and abroad, the UK gas market must now operate without its biggest stabilizing force: the giant Rough gas storage facility under the North Sea. The planned permanent shutdown of the Centrica Plc site, able to meet 10 percent of peak demand in winter, means Britain is becoming even more reliant on imports ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. said in a legal filing that there is “mounting evidence” Qualcomm Inc. is operating an “illegal business model” designed to extract high patent royalties on every wireless device sold. The iPhone maker said it was adding more allegations to a complaint filed in January that accuses Qualcomm of trying to monopolize the chip market for wireless devices. ...