May, 2018

• 23 May

  Covestro to cut its teeth on small M&A deals

  

  Bloomberg Covestro AG, the German chemical maker with roots dating back more than 150 years, is acting like a young upstart as it considers its first acquisitions after former parent Bayer AG completed cutting ties this month. Covestro wants to add polymer technology and broaden its coatings, adhesives and specialty-products offerings, said Patrick Thomas, who steps down as chief executive ...

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• 23 May

  Trump casts doubt on summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

  

  Bloomberg US President Donald Trump expressed pessimism about whether the summit with North Korea’s leader would take place, even as American officials pressed ahead with plans for a historic meeting on June 12 in Singapore. South Korean President Moon Jae-in flew to Washington for the day amid growing uncertainty about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s goals for the summit after ...

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• 23 May

  Pompeo affirms Russia tried to help Trump win election

  

  Bloomberg Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged — after prodding by lawmakers — that he backs the finding by US intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the US presidential campaign to hurt Hillary Clinton and ultimately help Donald Trump. Pompeo, who previously was Trump’s CIA director, was pressed by Democrats on whether he accepted that finding during testimony on Wednesday ...

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• 23 May

  Venezuela expels US diplomats in retaliation

  

  Bloomberg Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said he’s expelling the top two US diplomats in the country after America imposed sanctions in the wake of a disputed election, saying that the men had meddled in internal politics. Charge d’Affaires Todd Robinson and Consul General Brian Naranjo were declared persona non grata and must leave Venezuela in 48 hours, Maduro said. The ...

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• 23 May

  Abramovich’s immigration woes reach Swiss top court

  

  Bloomberg Britain isn’t the only place where Roman Abramovich is having residency issues. While the Russian billionaire grapples with delays to his UK visa, a Swiss newspaper’s appeal to report on why Abramovich’s bid for residency in the ski resort of Verbier was scuppered last year has reached the country’s Supreme Court. A spokesman for the Lausanne-based court wouldn’t say ...

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• 23 May

  Qaddafi regime’s legacy fuels violence in W Africa

  

  Bloomberg Centuries-old communal tensions across West Africa are taking an increasingly bloody turn, fuelled by competition for land and water and an influx of weapons and fighters from Libya. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed that cocktail of guns and gunmen for the intensifying clashes between crop farmers and herders as well as robberies and kidnapping by bandit gangs. The ...

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• 23 May

  Brexit bill to be paid even without trade deal, admits UK

  

  Bloomberg A leading Brexit minister in Theresa May’s government was forced into a painful political admission — the UK is legally bound to settle its divorce bill even if it doesn’t get a future trade deal with the EU. To make the bitter pill of 39 billion pounds ($52 billion) easier to swallow for the public and Brexit cheerleaders, May ...

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• 23 May

  China couldn’t sustain growing like mad forever

  

  China, not the US, is the world’s largest economy. Though the US still tops when measured at market-exchange rates, China is about 20 percent larger after adjusting for the lower cost of goods and services there. The latter metric is what really counts, both in terms of standards of living and, probably, in terms of military purchasing power. With four ...

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• 23 May

  ECB must stop the rot in Italian bonds

  

  “Whatever it takes.” Those three symbolic words were uttered by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in July 2012, and European bonds have benefited hugely from the “Draghi put” ever since. Italy has revived existential questions about the bloc. The latest twist in this drama looks to be the agreement between Five Star and the League on a prime minister, ...

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• 23 May

  Zuckerberg won only half the battle in Brussels

  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had two priorities heading into a hearing at the European Parliament on Tuesday. First, he had to avoid a serious gaffe that could be replayed again and again as a soundbite on the evening news. Second, he had to convince lawmakers that Facebook Inc. is doing enough to counter fake news, foreign interventions into elections and ...

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