July, 2020

• 19 July

  Virgin Atlantic returns to skies bracing for 3-year slump

  

  Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, fresh from getting a $1.5 billion rescue package, is anticipating a sluggish recovery in air travel that won’t see demand returning to 2019 levels for at least three years. The British carrier founded by Richard Branson is resuming passenger flights next week with trips to Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles. Widespread border restrictions ...

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• 19 July

  CBL plans to file for bankruptcy protection

  Bloomberg CBL & Associates Properties Inc, the owner of more than 100 shopping malls across the US, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The company has been negotiating with its lenders in an effort to enter Chapter 11 with a consensual restructuring agreement in place, said the people, who asked not to ...

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• 19 July

  SAA money yet to be found, says South African minister

  Bloomberg South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, said the government has yet to determine how the rescue of South African Airways (SAA) will be funded. His ministry and the National Treasury said they would mobilise the additional 10 billion rand ($599 million) the bankrupt airline’s administrators said is needed to effect the rescue. In a July 17 Twitter ...

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• 19 July

  Russia rejects vaccine hacking charge, accuses UK of attacks

  

  Bloomberg Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, rejected allegations that hackers linked to the country’s intelligence services targeted British coronavirus vaccine research, and accused Britain of cyber-attacks against Russia. Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said that vaccine and therapeutic sectors in multiple countries have been targeted by a group known as APT29, which it said is “almost certainly” part ...

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• 19 July

  Kim leads meeting on raising war deterrent

  

  Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un led a meeting of military officials which discussed “the key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country,” state news agency KCNA reported. The meeting also reviewed “the strategic mission of the major units for coping with the military situation” in the region, KCNA said. The meeting included top officials of the ...

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• 19 July

  Trump, Congress face last chance to spur US economy

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are facing their last chance to keep the economic rout sparked by the resurgent coronavirus from deepening before the November election. Amid a steady stream of bad economic news, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this week is set to unveil a roughly $1 trillion GOP plan, fashioned with the administration, ...

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• 19 July

  Japanese unhappy with PM’s virus response

  

  Bloomberg More Japanese people are discontent with the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic now compared with a month ago as infections in the country increase, a poll showed. About 60% of respondents said they weren’t happy with actions taken by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration to tackle the outbreak, according to the poll conducted by the Mainichi newspaper and ...

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• 19 July

  Orban says EU leaders rejected his ‘demands’

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Viktor Orban said other European Union leaders had rejected his proposal to speed up an ongoing rule of law procedure against Hungary, complicating talks to secure a deal on the bloc’s emergency pandemic funding. Hungary is against a Dutch motion that would require countries taking grants to agree to be bound by the rule of law, Orban ...

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• 19 July

  UK may halt extradition treaty with Hong Kong

  Bloomberg Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab signalled the UK will join its international allies in suspending an extradition treaty with Hong Kong after China imposed a national security law on the former British colony. Raab told Sky News he would update Parliament on Monday on the UK’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong, less than a week after the nation banned the ...

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• 19 July

  Europe’s recovery plan under fire from budget hardliners

  

  Bloomberg European Union (EU) leaders meeting in Brussels were fighting to close a deal for a 750 billion-euro stimulus package as fiscally hawkish countries from the North tried to strip the plan of much of its firepower. While the Dutch government welcomed a new proposal unveiled that cut the amount of grants in the program to 450 billion euros from ...

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