May, 2021

• 4 May

  India needs Modi to work with his rival politicians

  

  As anyone who has tried to invest in India can tell you, India’s states are as distinct from each other as European countries. Every now and then, India’s politicians are reminded of this as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi certainly was earlier this week, when his all-conquering Bharatiya Janata Party fell short of expectations in state elections. Of the four ...

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• 4 May

  UK moves on to next big Covid issue

  

  Britain’s Vaccine Task Force was the country’s biggest triumph since the 2012 Olympics — and it was a lot more consequential. It gave the UK, which has one of the world’s highest pandemic death tolls, early access to a suite of effective vaccines and a jumpstart on immunising the population. It saved countless lives. Can the government replicate that success ...

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• 4 May

  When citizens banned from returning home

  Fining and imprisoning Australians returning from India is more than just an extreme effort to discourage travel from the subcontinent during its calamitous surge in Covid cases. It’s emblematic of a siege mentality that politicians, sadly, see as a winning electoral strategy. Australia has temporarily banned its citizens from entering if they have been in India within two weeks of ...

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• 4 May

  Joe Biden’s broadband plan not bold enough

  President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan is smart to look beyond ports and potholes. But I worry about the part of the plan aimed at expanding broadband. It’s both too ambitious and not ambitious enough. Make no mistake, broadband is infrastructure. It’s unacceptable that American schoolchildren have to piggyback on the Wi-Fi provided by fast-food restaurants to submit homework, ...

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• 4 May

  Lufthansa CEO pitches $6.6b capital increase to investors

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG asked shareholders for permission to raise 5.5 billion euros ($6.6. billion) in fresh capital, calling it a necessary step to repair the stricken carrier’s balance sheet after the coronavirus pandemic punctured a decades-long boom in air travel. At the airline’s annual meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr implored investors to back the motion, which ...

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• 4 May

  Estee Lauder’s sales fall short of estimates

  

  Bloomberg Estee Lauder Cos reported quarterly sales that came in short of analysts’ estimates despite early signs of travel bouncing back. Sales rose in every region but didn’t meet expectations, with demand for makeup still stifled as customers don’t see many occasions to wear cosmetics like lipstick. Global net sales for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31 rose 16% ...

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• 4 May

  Pandora to drop mined diamonds as part of its broader strategy

  

  Bloomberg Pandora A/S, which makes more pieces of jewellery than any other company in the world, will stop using mined diamonds as part of a broader strategy to drop raw materials associated with unethical production methods. Despite decades of reform, the global jewellery market remains tainted by reports of human rights abuses at mines and factories. To address such concerns, ...

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• 4 May

  Family behind Chanel is reshaping big investment bet

  

  Bloomberg Mousse Partners, the family office for one of the world’s largest fortunes, is reshaping one of its biggest bets. The investment firm for the family behind luxury brand Chanel has sold most of its stake in Ulta Beauty Inc, an investment held for at least 14 years that’s returned more than 1,700%. Since late March, the firm that manages ...

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• 4 May

  Travel demand to stay weak until 2023, says Malaysia Air

  Bloomberg Malaysia Airlines Bhd said air travel demand will remain subdued and it expects a full recovery after the end of 2023, amid a resurgence of Covid cases in many countries. The national flag carrier has cut more than 1,500 jobs and plans to reduce capacity further as part of the restructuring it began in October, CEO Izham Ismail said ...

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• 4 May

  Airlines push for US-UK travel deal in June

  Bloomberg A coalition of airline and travel groups urged the US and the UK governments to lift travel restrictions between the two nations, citing the growth in vaccinations and other tools that limit the spread of Covid-19. Officials should announce reopening before the Group of Seven economic talks scheduled for June, the groups said in joint letters to President Joe ...

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