May, 2019

• 29 May

  Voter apathy clouds Buhari’s new term

  Bloomberg As the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari began his second term on Wednesday, he did so with the blessing of just 8 percent of the nation’s 201 million people. While Buhari won 56 percent of the ballots, only 15.2 million of the 29 million registered voters backed him. The 35 percent turnout, down from 44 percent in the last elections ...

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• 29 May

  Johnson’s leadership ambitions hit snag

  

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions were dealt an embarrassing setback when a London judge ruled that he must attend court to face allegations of misconduct in public office. Conservative Party favourite Johnson will face a preliminary hearing and then a criminal trial, District Judge Margot Coleman said on Wednesday, allowing an unprecedented private prosecution attempt to proceed against the politician. ...

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• 29 May

  Salvini girds for first clash with Five Star

  

  Bloomberg Just days after a rousing European election victory, Italian Deputy PM Matteo Salvini is gearing up for a new clash with his weakened coalition ally over a corruption case involving an official from his own League party. The tussle over Deputy Infrastructure Minister Edoardo Rixi, who’s among politicians linked to a probe dubbed “Crazy Expenses,” has triggered new tension ...

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• 29 May

  The US-China trade war will remake the world

  

  President Donald Trump has long said the goal of his trade policy is simply to get better deals for Americans. But as the trade war intensifies, it seems increasingly likely that his policies will lead to something more: a lasting break with China and a new alignment of global power. First, consider the evidence for the break. The current impasse ...

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• 29 May

  Salvini faces his crunch moment

  

  The European Parliament elections were hardly a triumph for the populist parties. But in Italy, the far-right nationalists were on a roll. The League won 34.3% of the vote, doubling its share in last year’s general election. The 5 Star Movement collapsed to just 17.1%, but Brothers of Italy, a smaller far-right party, took 6.5%. Two in five voters chose ...

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• 29 May

  Lenovo cannot justify goodwill in these times

  Lenovo Group Ltd. just reported March quarter profit that climbed threefold to beat the highest analyst estimate. The Chinese computer maker’s focus on higher-margin products will offer investors some comfort that management’s turnaround strategy has been successful. That’s not wrong. But a lot has changed in the past year. The world is facing a tougher economic outlook, which will impact ...

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• 29 May

  Ban ‘non-electric’ cars to reduce emissions

  Most modern cities have measures to reduce congestion. But if their goal is to dramatically improve air quality and extend lives shortened by pollution, then tolls and parking meters simply aren’t enough. It’s worth asking what a more ambitious target would look like. Amsterdam has made itself a test case, proposing an outright ban on gas and diesel vehicles by ...

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• 29 May

  World’s most contested coal mine doesn’t add up

  

  Is the world’s most bitterly contested coal mine finally getting the go-ahead? After the opposition Labour party suffered heavy losses in coal-mining regions in Australian federal elections, the Carmichael project looks to be getting closer than ever to approval. In the view of the government’s resources minister Matt Canavan, the pit being developed by Adani Mining Pty., a unit of ...

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• 29 May

  Jaguar Land Rover dangled shiny keys

  

  These days, any news seems to be good news for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). After Tata Motors Ltd.’s UK unit posted 120 million pounds ($152.8 million) of pretax profits and positive free cash flow for the quarter, the company’s US-listed shares rose as much as 10% in pre-market trading and bond prices ticked up. Both numbers remain deep in the ...

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• 29 May

  Indonesia is turning Chinese with this debt binge

  

  Indonesia was never keen to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. That hasn’t stopped it from embracing the Chinese way when it comes to financing roads and railways. The government of President Joko Widodo plans to spend more than $400 billion building airports, power plants and other infrastructure in the next five years, Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told ...

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