July, 2021

• 11 July

  Pro-Zuma protests spread to S Africa’s economic hub

  

  Bloomberg Violent protests in South Africa linked to the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma have spread to the nation’s economic hub in Johannesburg with another major road shuttered. That follows the closure of a key trade route in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal Province after trucks were torched before the weekend. Parts of the N3 Toll Route, which links the port ...

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• 11 July

  US has no plans to send troops to Haiti: Official

  

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s administration doesn’t currently plan to send military assistance to Haiti despite a request by the government for US troops following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, a senior administration official said. Moise’s assassination has further destabilised the already fragile political structure in Haiti, where gang violence, natural disasters and the coronavirus have all taken their toll ...

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• 11 July

  Pop star vies to upend Bulgarian politics in do-over election

  

  Bloomberg A late-night talk-show host and performer of the Balkan analog of gangster rap is itching to end the run of one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders in a Bulgarian election do-over. Stanislav Trifonov, a pop-folk singer known as “Slavi,” has been railing against inequality and corruption even before Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007. He’s tapping into discontent among ...

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• 11 July

  Merkel bloc widens lead in German election poll

  Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc widened its lead in a weekly poll ahead of Germany’s election as support for the Green party fell for a third consecutive week. With Merkel’s Christian Democratic-led bloc steady at 28% in the Insa poll, the opposition Greens declined 1 percentage point to 17%, leaving them level with the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition ...

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• 11 July

  French minister rules out new lockdown as Delta spreads

  

  Bloomberg France must “live with the virus” rather than count on a new lockdown to contain the spread of a new variant of Covid-19, a key ally of President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of a presidential address. The country could reintroduce limits on the number of people allowed in restaurants and other venues, and extend the use of the so-called ...

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• 11 July

  People in UK ‘expected’ to wear masks indoor after coronavirus curbs lifted

  

  Bloomberg The UK government is set to issue guidance that people are “expected to” continue wearing masks in indoor, enclosed spaces after coronavirus restrictions are lifted in England on July 19. Although face coverings will no longer be mandatory in any setting, there will be an expectation for people “to wear masks indoors, in crowded places, on public transport,” Vaccines ...

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• 11 July

  Covid-19: Fauci criticises partisan gap for holding back vaccinations

  Bloomberg Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease specialist, said “ideological rigidity” is preventing people from getting Covid-19 shots and voiced frustration at the struggle to boost vaccination rates in parts of the country. “It’s not an easy solution,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week”. “We’ve got to get away from this divisiveness that has really been a problem right ...

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• 11 July

  Banks in US poised for weaker results after pandemic windfall

  

  Bloomberg In the upside-down world of global banking, getting back to normal is bad news for the bottom line. Wall Street churned out massive windfalls during the pandemic, but the economic reopening made possible by widespread vaccinations means this year’s earnings will look weaker by comparison. The big down arrow will be trading revenue, which is expected to show a ...

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• 11 July

  Bank Indonesia looks to tighten monetary policy from next year

  

  Bloomberg Bank Indonesia could begin tightening monetary policy next year, including potential moves on interest rates, if the economic recovery remains on track and policy makers see signs of inflation, Governor Perry Warjiyo said. The bank’s exit strategy is to gradually reduce liquidity in the financial system “and then later, the end of next year, maybe some interest-rate action,” Warjiyo ...

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• 11 July

  HSBC tells senior executives to get ready for management revamp

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings’s streamlining drive has reached its top executives, with the bank promising to shake up a “hierarchical culture.” Several hundred managers will have their “leadership bands” altered over the coming months, according to an internal memo from human resources chief, Elaine Arden. Europe’s largest bank found it had a more complicated management system than peers and a lack ...

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