May, 2020

• 11 May

  UK airline hires adviser for administration

  Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd hired Alvarez & Marsal to advise on a potential administration as it struggles to secure a UK government bailout, Sky News reported. The restructuring specialist was hired earlier to work on options for a pre-pack administration, which may cut the equity of Richard Branson’s holding company and Delta Air Lines Inc, according to the report, ...

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• 11 May

  UK’s Johnson faces pushback over back-to-work proposal

  

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson was expected to flesh out his plan for lifting the UK lockdown in Parliament as he seeks to get more people back to work, even as resistance from politicians and labour unions laid bare the hurdles facing the government as it tries to kickstart the economy. In a televised address to the nation, Johnson announced the “first ...

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• 11 May

  Bolsonaro criticises lockdown measures

  Bloomberg Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticised lockdown measures by governors even as the nation turned into a global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. The Health Ministry on May 10 reported 162,699 total cases of Covid-19 and 11,123 deaths, among the world’s highest. “The head of household has to stay at home going hungry with their family,” Bolsonaro said in a ...

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• 11 May

  WHO scolds Belarus for military parade

  

  Bloomberg The rapid spread of coronavirus in Belarus made it unjustifiable to organise the kind of mass gatherings that were held over the weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. A military parade commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II created an additional risk of infection which may “eventually lead to losses of human lives that ...

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• 11 May

  Hong Kong uses coronavirus rules to stop protests

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s central district returned to relative normalcy this weekend, with crowds of revelers taking advantage of eased social distancing rules even as fresh pro-democracy protests flared across the city. When it came to the activists, they aggressively enforced a coronavirus-related restriction on gatherings of more than eight people, with local media reporting the arrest and pepper-spraying of protesters. ...

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• 11 May

  Singapore seeks swab testers amid virus

  

  Bloomberg Singapore is calling for people to perform nasal swabs and take blood as it ramps up coronavirus testing amid a jump in infections in the city-state. No prior healthcare experience is needed, it says. The number of new coronavirus cases in Singapore has grown by hundreds each day, mostly in migrant worker dormitories that have become hotbeds for the ...

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• 11 May

  Serbian leaders launch dueling hunger strikes

  

  Bloomberg Serbian politicians launched dueling hunger strikes after a protest over next month’s parliamentary elections turned violent. The Balkan state’s biggest opposition parties have vowed to boycott the June 21 vote, accusing President Aleksandar Vucic of muzzling media and wielding state institutions to prevent free elections. Tens of thousands of Serbs have held months of demonstrations, including nightly noise protests ...

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• 11 May

  Transport for London seeks $2.5bn bailout

  

  Bloomberg The operator of the London Underground is in talks on a 2 billion-pound ($2.5 billion) state bailout as coronavirus restrictions curtail travel in the UK capital, the Sunday Times reported. Transport for London (TfL), which also oversees bus services, will likely have to delay or scrap major expansion plans in return for the funding, the newspaper said, without giving ...

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• 11 May

  Trump’s economic team braces for worsening job market in May

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers had argued that a “safe” reopening of the US is the needed urgently as they stare down the worst job numbers since the Great Depression. Meanwhile, although Trump has said he’s in no rush to enact another round of economic stimulus, the economic team said informal discussions are under way with members of ...

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• 11 May

  Germany all set to broaden economic aid to more areas

  Bloomberg Germany will broaden its economic aid to more areas including arts to help them weather the fallout from the coronavirus, the Tagesspiegel newspaper cited Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as saying in an interview. “The arts and culture need their own stimulus program, we want to massively help people here,” Scholz said. “We also have to do something for hotels ...

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