August, 2020

• 23 August

  European firms consider Congo hydrogen plant

  

  Bloomberg German turbine makers and natural gas companies are exploring producing green hydrogen in the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to what could become the world’s largest hydropower complex. Should the project go ahead Congo would join Morocco as a potential site for hydrogen production in Africa. The North African country this year signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany ...

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• 23 August

  Biden’s convention speech did play to his advantage

  

  Are you ready? That’s what Joe Biden asked at the end of his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president, a speech the convention spent the whole week waiting for. He promised competence and empathy, which everyone had earlier praised him for and which he gave as the reason Americans should trust him to deliver. These convention speeches are normally… ...

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• 23 August

  France makes impossible promise

  

  The resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe has reignited fears that governments will have to lock down their economies again in the autumn. Some political leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, have rushed to dismiss this possibility, saying the collateral damage from a new bout of confinement would just be too high. Europe’s second wave of Covid-19 is certainly ...

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• 23 August

  Trump emissions rule rollback not a disaster

  President Donald Trump’s decision to roll back some US regulations aimed at curbing methane emissions by oil and gas producers came in for criticism from both environmentalists and some industry leaders, who branded the move as a disappointing step backward. The reality is more nuanced. The updated regulation will get rid of methane-specific emission limits on oil and gas processing ...

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• 23 August

  Return of long-term unemployment in US

  More than 10 percent of Americans say they have recently given serious consideration to suicide. Among younger adults, that figure rises to over one in four. Thirteen percent of people have reported starting or increasing drug or alcohol use to cope with pandemic-related stress. Nearly one in three say they have symptoms of anxiety or depression. These alarming statistics, based ...

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• 23 August

  Target soars most as big retail winner in pandemic

  

  Bloomberg For nearly all retailers, the pandemic has meant shoppers check out less often and stock up on each trip. But Target Corp bucked that trend with record sales and profit last quarter, emerging as a winner in the Covid-19 era. The shares jumped as much as 13% to their highest price ever last week after Target reported a 4.6% ...

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• 23 August

  Delta plans to resume some global flying cut

  

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc laid out plans to resume 50 international routes later this year and next that have been grounded by the collapse in travel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. International flying evaporated after some countries banned travel from virus hot spots and others imposed quarantines. Passenger volume on such flights in the week ending August 16 was ...

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• 23 August

  American Air plans to drop flights to 15 smaller US cities

  

  Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc plans to cease flights to 15 smaller US cities because of low demand, beginning the first phase of dropping markets from its network as the coronavirus pandemic keeps millions of flyers off planes. The reductions are effective from October 7, shortly after the expiration of service requirements tied to federal payroll aid, American said in ...

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• 23 August

  Ryanair plans fewer firings after pay cut agreement

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc plans to cut fewer jobs than initially planned after staff agreed to pay reductions, Sky News reported, citing a senior executive at the company. Europe’s biggest discount carrier originally planned to eliminate 3,000 positions, but will now significantly reduce that total after 97% of pilots and 90% of cabin crew agreed to pay cuts and changes ...

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• 23 August

  Singapore Air goes through half of cash raised in two months

  

  Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd has burned through half of the S$8.8 billion ($6.4 billion) it raised through share sales in just two months even as it cut costs and grounded most of its fleet, highlighting how carriers can keep incurring expenses even when planes are left idle. Of the S$4.4 billion spent since mid-June, S$1.1 billion was used for operating ...

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