April, 2019

• 24 April

  Trump considers waiving US ship mandate for natural gas

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump is seriously considering waiving the requirement that only US flagged vessels can move goods from American ports to Puerto Rico or energy-starved areas of the Northeast, according to people familiar with the deliberations. The issue was debated during an Oval Office meeting, following requests from Puerto Rico and pressure from oil industry leaders to ease the ...

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• 24 April

  UK govt borrowing reaches 17-year low

  

  Bloomberg The UK government is borrowing less than at any time since turn of the millennium, fuelling pressure on Chancellor Philip Hammond to end austerity. The budget deficit in the fiscal year through March fell to 24.7 billion pounds ($32 billion), or 1.2 percent of gross domestic product, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. That’s the least since ...

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• 24 April

  Novartis CEO’s rejuvenation work pays off as earnings expected to increase

  

  Bloomberg Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG is plotting a faster course after spinning off its Alcon eye-care business. Earnings excluding some items are expected to increase by a high single-digit percentage, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said on Wednesday, raising its guidance. Adjusted earnings per share beat analysts’ estimates in the first quarter. The stock rose as much as 2.8 percent in ...

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• 24 April

  Weak Germany, France hit euro-area rebound hopes

  Bloomberg Key gauges of confidence in the euro area’s two largest economies unexpectedly deteriorated, signalling that a long-expected rebound may still be some way off. Manufacturing has been at the heart of economic weakness in Germany, fed by fears of protectionist trade policies and weakening global demand. In France, disruption caused by Yellow Vest protests has damped growth momentum. Consumers ...

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• 24 April

  Bayer’s embattled CEO faces growing shareholder opposition

  

  Bloomberg Bayer AG is facing mounting opposition ahead of what’s shaping up to be its most contentious annual meeting in years, with influential shareholders faulting management for failing to foresee the risks of the company’s biggest deal ever. A growing number of shareholders have said they won’t support executives and supervisory board members in a no-confidence vote at Friday’s annual ...

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• 24 April

  Kim seeks support from Putin in summit amid Trump tension

  

  Bloomberg Kim Jong-un is grappling for a way out of his stalemate in nuclear talks with Donald Trump as he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time on Thursday, seeking diplomatic support. The North Korean leader is expected to highlight his Kremlin counterpart’s backing for easing international sanctions on his tiny and battered economy when they meet on ...

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• 24 April

  Hong Kong sentences Occupy leaders to up to 16 months in jail

  

  Bloomberg A Hong Kong court sentenced Occupy protest organiser Benny Tai to 16 months in prison on charges he conspired to commit public nuisance, capping the China-backed government’s push to punish leaders of 2014’s mass pro-democracy demonstrations. Tai, 54, an associate law professor at the University of Hong Kong, was ordered to begin serving his time immediately by District Court ...

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• 24 April

  S Africa opposition adopts Trump-like immigrant attacks

  

  Bloomberg Shorn of their most important campaign weapon, scandal-ridden former President Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s biggest opposition parties are turning to populism as they scramble for votes in the most competitive election since the end of apartheid. The two main challengers to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) are increasingly echoing the anti-immigrant and race-baiting bias that’s come to dominate ...

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• 24 April

  ‘No fraud’ in presidential vote: Indonesia

  

  Bloomberg The Indonesian government rejected opposition allegations of “massive fraud” in the presidential vote and urged supporters of Prabowo Subianto to allow the election commission to peacefully complete the election process. The opposition has claimed widespread tampering of voters list and accused the country’s independent election commission of colluding with President Joko Widodo’s administration to deny a win for Prabowo, ...

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• 24 April

  Brexit chaos spurs renewed Scottish drive for independence vote

  

  Bloomberg The leader of Scotland’s pro-independence government vowed to push for another vote on leaving the UK within two years to protect the country from the consequences of Brexit. Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of the semi-autonomous administration in Edinburgh, said the political system in London had failed Scotland, ignoring its vote to stay in the European Union and undermining the ...

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