May, 2019

• 19 May

  UK plows $36mn into car batteries in low-carbon push

  

  Bloomberg Business Secretary Greg Clark pledged 28 million pounds ($36 million) to research electric car batteries as he pushes for the UK to establish an industry-leading factory. The cash for the Coventry, central England-based Battery Industrialisation Centre adds to an initial investment of 80 million pounds, Clark’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in a statement. The government ...

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• 19 May

  PG&E lines tied to deadliest California fire in state report

  

  Bloomberg California investigators have determined that PG&E Corp.’s power lines ignited the deadliest blaze in state history, opening the door for more liabilities that the company has already warned may exceed $30 billion. A transmission line owned by PG&E sparked the Camp Fire that killed 85 people and destroyed an entire town in November, the California Department of Forestry and ...

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• 19 May

  UK wages rise 3.3% in first quarter of 2019

  Bloomberg British workers are enjoying a resurgence of bargaining power as labour shortages leave employers struggling to fill jobs. Basic pay rose an annual 3.3% in the first quarter, close to the fastest pace since 2008, Office for National Statistics figures show. Pay including bonuses rose 3.2%. The increase came as the number of people in work rose by 99,000, ...

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• 19 May

  New York deals blow to $1b shale gas pipeline

  

  Bloomberg New York denied a key permit for a $1 billion Williams Cos. shale gas pipeline, dealing a critical blow to a project that would shuttle fuel to customers in New York City and Long Island. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said that the pipeline would result in water quality violations, including those caused by kicking up ...

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• 19 May

  Arkema set to acquire US chemical-maker for $570m

  Bloomberg Arkema SA agreed to buy a US-based supplier of mining-additives from Golden Gate Capital for $570 million as part of Chief Executive Officer Thierry Le Henaff’s drive to expand in higher-margin specialty chemicals. Purchasing ArrMaz Custom Chemicals Inc. will add a portfolio of defoamers and other so-called surfactants also used in road construction and agrochemicals generating annual sales of ...

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• 19 May

  Saudi says no to war with Iran, vows strong response

  

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia does not want a war with Iran but will respond “with strength and determination” if Iran decides to start one, a top Saudi official said. “We don’t want a war in any way, but at the same time we won’t allow Iran to continue its hostile policies towards the kingdom,” Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel ...

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• 19 May

  Explosion targets tourist bus in Egypt, 16 injured

  Bloomberg At least 16 people were injured when an explosive device targeted a tourist bus near the Giza pyramids in Egypt, said Hanaa Serour, an official at the Health Ministry. Some of the wounded were foreign nationals, according to Mohammed El-Saghir, head of police investigations in Giza’s al-Haram neighbourhood. The blast occurred in front of a museum that’s under construction, ...

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• 19 May

  Modi’s coalition set to return to power: Exit polls

  

  Bloomberg PM Narendra Modi is likely to return to power at the head of a coalition government, with exit polls predicting his Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will win a majority of seats in India’s parliament. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will win as many as 306 seats in India’s 543-seat lower house, according to an exit poll from ...

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• 19 May

  Austria’s Kurz seeks to rule solo after dumping nationalists

  

  Bloomberg Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz ended his controversial coalition with the nationalist Freedom Party after a video compromised his junior partner, seeking an early election in a gamble he can govern alone. Twenty-six hours after Austrian politics was turned upside down by the publication of secretly filmed footage showing his deputy promising government contracts in return for campaign funding, Kurz ...

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• 19 May

  Merkel steps up contest for EU’s future

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Europeans against falling sway to populists, evoking the continent’s wars in a proxy showdown with Italy’s deputy premier before voters have their say next week. On a day when far-right politics brought down a government in Austria, Merkel stepped up her message that only the EU’s established parties could protect liberal values and seven ...

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