May, 2020

• 21 May

  Banks get a glimpse of post-virus future

  Like all businesses upended by the pandemic lockdowns, banks were forced to reorganise with little time. They managed to shutter large parts of their branch networks and to send most of their employees to work remotely. So far, the experiment has been largely free of glitches — and instructive. By redeploying armies of staff, lenders were mostly able to adapt ...

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• 21 May

  Trump’s weakness is bad for US democracy

  Weak presidents are not safe for democracy. Bright Line Watch, a project of political scientists worried about the erosion of democratic institutions, has found increasing concern by experts about the state of US democracy since 2017. That’s despite the well-documented case that Donald Trump has been an unusually weak president. He often defers to Republican Party regulars on policy questions; ...

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• 21 May

  Airlines caught unawares as India allows local flights

  

  Bloomberg India’s decision to resume domestic flights from May 25 was a bolt out of the blue for most of the country’s aviation companies. Top executives at three Indian airlines said they learned about the move when the aviation minister tweeted it. The executives asked not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media. Airline shares surged. Most ...

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• 21 May

  United Air’s new CEO eases tone on job cuts

  

  Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc’s new chief executive officer vowed to work with the carrier’s labour unions on “creative” ways to slash labour spending and potentially avoid furloughs if travel demand doesn’t recover by October. Reduced work hours would be one possible approach, Scott Kirby said in an interview with CNBC and again at the United’s annual meeting. His comments ...

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• 21 May

  EU calls for masks, distancing in air travel guide for virus era

  

  Bloomberg European Union regulators called on passengers to wear face masks, observe physical distancing and frequently wash their hands in new guidelines for air travel in the age of Covid-19. Significant changes will also be needed for airlines and airports, EU aviation and health agencies said in a statement. Carriers and airport operators must ensure that passengers keep a distance ...

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• 21 May

  EasyJet to resume flights from June 15

  Bloomberg EasyJet will resume flights from 22 European airports on June 15, becoming one of the first airlines in the region to begin building up services as the coronavirus lockdown eases. Britain’s biggest discount carrier will start with mainly internal flights in the UK and France before announcing more routes in coming weeks as travel restrictions are lifted and demand ...

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• 21 May

  Walmart to expand Sam’s Clubs in China after virus-led boom

  

  Bloomberg Walmart Inc plans to expand its members-only warehouse chain, Sam’s Club, in China to 100 stores in the next eight years as it embarks on an ambitious growth plan after the coronavirus pandemic. The local unit of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company told employees about the goal in a townhall meeting, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked ...

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• 21 May

  China plans to order Hong Kong to enact security law

  

  Bloomberg Chinese authorities are planning to write the country’s national security law into Hong Kong’s charter, the news site HK01 reported, in what would be a dramatic escalation of Beijing’s efforts to rein in dissent in the city. China’s lawmakers were preparing to pass a measure in their upcoming session that would require the former British colony to enact a ...

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• 21 May

  South Asia storm Amphan kills 84

  

  Bloomberg The biggest cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal in two decades wrecked havoc along India’s east coast and in Bangladesh, killing dozens of people, flooding low-lying areas and affecting power supply. Amphan was likely to continue to move north-northeastward and weaken further into a depression on Thursday, according to the India Meteorological Department. The storm, which started as ...

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• 21 May

  Trump points finger at China’s Xi, escalating fight over virus

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against China, suggesting that the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, is behind a “disinformation and propaganda attack on the United States and Europe.” “It all comes from the top,” Trump said in a series of tweets. He added that China was “desperate” to have former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, win ...

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