August, 2018

• 5 August

  Trump says son’s meeting with Russians ‘totally legal’

  Bloomberg US President Donald Trump repeated that he didn’t know about his son’s meeting with Russians at Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign, while asserting that such meetings are a routine part of politics— “totally legal and done all the time.” Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my ...

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• 5 August

  Jail for separatist leaders unacceptable: Catalonia

  Bloomberg Catalan President Joaquim Torra said his government won’t accept separatist leaders being sent to prison for declaring independence as the region prepared for the one-year anniversary of a tumultuous illegal referendum that plunged Spain into a constitutional crisis. A court decision due in the fall that could see independence leaders imprisoned for up to 30 years will be a ...

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• 5 August

  Jailed Lula is endorsed by Workers’ Party for Brazil’s top job

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s left-wing Workers’ Party formally endorsed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the upcoming presidential election, even though the former leader has been in jail since April on a corruption conviction. The Workers’ Party, known by its Portuguese acronym of PT, pushed ahead with Lula’s candidacy during a convention on Saturday in Sao Paulo. “Our democracy is at risk,” ...

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• 5 August

  Trump administration fails to sway judge on DACA

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration failed again to convince a federal judge that there’s a legitimate reason to rescind legal protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children and seek to avoid deportation. US District Judge John Bates in Washington said that a second attempt by the Department of Homeland Security to ...

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• 5 August

  Congo ‘leader’ blocked from returning home

  Bloomberg Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi was twice refused permission to return home to register for the December presidential election, his campaign team said. The government rejected the allegations. Katumbi, in self-imposed exile since May 2016, had planned to fly to Lubumbashi, his home town in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo, on August 3 but his jet was denied permission ...

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• 5 August

  Big Oil cheers quietly as Trump moves to ease auto standards

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration’s plan to relax fuel-economy and vehicle pollution standards could be a boon to US oil producers who’ve quietly lobbied for the measure. The proposal would translate into an additional 500,000 barrels of US oil demand per day by the early 2030s, about 2 to 3 percent of projected consumption, according to government calculations. “It’s a increase ...

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• 5 August

  Saudi prince Alwaleed signs $267 million deal with music firm Deezer

  

  Bloomberg Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has invested 1 billion riyals ($267 million) into music streaming company Deezer, his first deal since being detained last year in a government crackdown on corruption. The prince’s Kingdom Holding Co. investment vehicle and his media company Rotana Group have bought new shares in Deezer, according to a statement from Alwaleed’s office. Deezer ...

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• 5 August

  New York yanks air permit on new gas-fired plant

  Bloomberg New York regulators declined to renew an air permit for a controversial 680-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in New York state, effectively shutting it down just before it was poised to go into service. The Department of Environmental Conservation denied the renewal application. The agency said the owner Competitive Power Ventures Inc. did not have a Title V Clean ...

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• 5 August

  Linde-Praxair merger faces hurdle

  Bloomberg A $42 billion merger to create what would become the world’s largest gas producer is facing an unexpected hurdle from the US antitrust regulator that could derail the deal. The Federal Trade Commission indicated it wants Germany’s Linde AG and Praxair Inc. to sell more assets before it approves their deal, Linde said in a statement to the markets. ...

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• 5 August

  ‘Brexit no-deal outcome more likely than not’

  

  Bloomberg The Brexit negotiations are more likely to end in failure than in success, UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said, adding to a growing sense that Britain is heading for a messy divorce from the European Union. There’s a 60 percent likelihood of a no-deal outcome, Fox told the Sunday Times in an interview. He blamed the European Commission ...

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