March, 2020

• 8 March

  US coal use plunging at fastest rate in 65 years

  

  Bloomberg US coal use plunged more than 13% in 2019, the most in 65 years, as power plants shut down across the country. That’s poised to happen again this year. Total consumption slumped to 596 million tons in 2019 from 688 million tons in the prior year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. This year, the figure is expected ...

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• 8 March

  Italy gets EU nod for spending plans to cushion virus impact

  

  Bloomberg Italy’s stimulus plans to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak won’t be factored in when assessing the country’s compliance with the European Union’s fiscal rules, the bloc’s executive arm said. In a letter to the government in Rome, the European Commission’s top economic officials approved the recently announced spending plans, saying such one-off measures won’t be considered ...

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• 8 March

  Covid-19: Germany to boost loan help to ease cash squeeze

  

  Bloomberg Germany will expand government loans and guarantees if demand and supply disruptions intensify because of the spread of the coronavirus. While offerings such as bridge loans and credit guarantees are currently sufficient, the authorities are prepared to make more funds available and expand programs if factory closures become more widespread, the economy ministry said, a day before the ruling ...

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• 8 March

  UK firms told to explain climate risks

  

  Bloomberg The UK market watchdog wants big British public companies to disclose more about their exposure to climate risks — or tell investors why they can’t. The proposal from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is part of a growing effort by policy makers and money managers to confront how companies will manage the shift to a lower carbon economy. The ...

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• 8 March

  Uber to pay US drivers exposed to coronavirus

  

  Bloomberg Uber Technologies announced it would begin offering compensation to drivers affected by the coronavirus in the US. The benefit follows similar company moves in Mexico and the UK and comes as the virus accelerates its spread in the US. People diagnosed with Covid-19 or placed in quarantine by a public health authority qualify for up to 14 days in ...

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• 8 March

  Record winter warmth raises pressure on forecasters

  

  Bloomberg Record winter warmth around the globe has raised pressure on weather forecasters from utilities and financial markets that depend on models to work out the economic impact of climate change. Abnormally high temperatures led to billions of dollars of lost revenue for energy producers, which have curtailed fuel supplies because everyone from homeowners to heavy industry didn’t need as ...

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• 8 March

  Trump, Bolsonaro talk about US-led efforts to oust Maduro

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the two leaders discussed the US-led effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The two men are mutual admirers who won election by appealing to nationalist sentiment in their countries. Along with Venezuela, they spoke about a future trade deal, the Middle ...

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• 8 March

  Trump: Campaign rallies will go on despite outbreak

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump says he intends to continue holding large campaign rallies regardless of the threat posed by the growing coronavirus outbreak. “We will have tremendous rallies and we’re doing very well and we’ve done a fantastic job with respect to that subject on the virus,” Trump said before dinner on March 7 with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at ...

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• 8 March

  Taiwan’s KMT stakes future on young leader

  

  Bloomberg Taiwan’s Kuomintang selected a reform-minded chairman to rebuild the beleaguered opposition party, a decision that could upend Beijing’s decades-old framework for building ties with Taipei. Lawmaker Chiang Chi-chen overcame the former mayor of Taipei City, Hau Lung-bin, with more than 68% of ballots cast by party members in the March 7 vote. At 48 years of age, Chiang is ...

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• 8 March

  Italy locks down rich north to contain panic

  

  Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tried to contain the alarm spreading through Europe’s fourth-biggest economy, unveiling drastic measures in the middle of the night to restrict the spread of the deadly coronavirus. In a hastily convened news conference on Sunday, the head of a government already hanging by a thread said that Italy will dramatically restrict movement and activity ...

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