March, 2019

• 5 March

  Macron, Bolsonaro stir Ukraine’s Zelenski

  

  Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro are role models for the unexpected frontrunner in the race for Ukraine’s presidency, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who sees a kinship with them as bold newcomers to politics. Zelenskiy, a comedian-turned-producer, doubled his support in opinion polls since announcing his bid on December 31. With his lead holding up ahead of incumbent ...

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• 5 March

  Macron wants EU agency to stop election-meddling

  Bloomberg With the European Union heading into a series of critical elections, French leader Emmanuel Macron sounded the alarm about foreign interference and called for the formation of an EU-wide body to protect voting from “cyber-attacks and manipulations.” The creation of such an agency to counter fake news is the first proposal of its kind and came in a 1,600-word ...

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• 5 March

  Thailand to build largest floating solar farms

  

  Bloomberg Thailand plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farms to pow-er Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and to boost the country’s share of clean energy. State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will float 16 solar farms with a combined capacity of more than 2.7 gigawatts in nine of its hydroelectric dam reservoirs by 2037, said Thepparat Theppitak, a deputy ...

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• 5 March

  Libya’s biggest oil field restarts

  

  Bloomberg Libya’s biggest oil field resumed production. Sharara resumed production and is expected to reach 80,000 barrels in one day, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. Regular output will be fully restored in the coming days, now that the site has been re-secured ...

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• 5 March

  China lowers growth target, cuts taxes as economy slows

  

  Bloomberg China lowered its goal for economic growth and announced a major tax cut, as policymakers seek to pull off a gradual deceleration while grappling with a debt legacy and the trade standoff with the US. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth target released on Tuesday morning in Premier Li Keqiang’s annual work report to the National People’s Congress was ...

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• 5 March

  SoftBank raises $3b loan to help bridge funding gaps in deals

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund raised a $3 billion loan from banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to help bridge funding gaps in deals, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Goldman Sachs along with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led the so-called capital call facility, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is ...

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• 5 March

  Indonesia chases trade pacts to push exports

  Bloomberg Indonesia is going all out to strike trade pacts with about a dozen countries and blocs as US-China trade war hurts its shipments and threatens to worsen a current-account deficit. The urgency to seal as many trade pacts as possible stems from the need to reverse a slump in exports in the past three months, which sent the nation’s ...

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• 5 March

  Hyundai Home Shopping pressed by US investor to give back $365m

  

  Bloomberg One of Hyundai Home Shopping Network Corp.’s largest investors is calling for the company to return about $365 million in cash to shareholders, realign executive compensation and split off some of its businesses. Dalton Investments, which said its accounts and its clients own a 2.5 percent stake, said in a letter on Tuesday to Hyundai Home Shopping’s board that ...

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• 5 March

  Ghosn release on bail in doubt

  

  Bloomberg Carlos Ghosn’s impending release from a Tokyo jail is in jeopardy after prosecutors appealed a decision granting bail to the fallen car titan after 107 days in custody. The prosecution responded just hours after a Tokyo court approved the release of the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman on bail of 1 billion yen. The authorities didn’t disclose the reason ...

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• 5 March

  World’s dirtiest air is in India where pollution costs lives

  

  Bloomberg Seven of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to a new study showing South Asia’s battle with deteriorating air quality and the economic toll it’s expected to take worldwide. Gurugram, located southwest of India’s capital New Delhi, led all cities in pollution levels in 2018, even as its score improved from the ...

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