April, 2018

• 23 April

  Libya says yet to approve Total’s $450mn deal for Marathon assets

  

  Bloomberg French oil giant Total SA said last month it had acquired Marathon Oil Corp.’s assets in Libya in a $450 million deal. Not so fast, says the country’s state energy company. Libya’s National Oil Corp. hasn’t yet approved the transaction and is “discussing arrangements” for the proposed sale with the country’s presidency council, Chairman Mustafa Sanalla said on Monday. ...

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• 23 April

  China targets 100% clean power for new economic zone

  Bloomberg China aims to supply a new economic zone being built near Beijing, known as the Xiongan New Area, with 100 percent clean electricity, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The goal is part of an ambitious plan by President Xi Jinping to remake a backwater region into a glittering new technology and innovation hub. Electricity will account for more ...

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• 23 April

  Jordan eyes first power storage project

  Bloomberg Jordan is pressing ahead with its first electricity storage project to bolster its expansion in solar and wind generation. The Middle Eastern kingdom expects to sign a contract for a 30-megawatt battery in the third quarter, according to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Al Kharabsheh. The project, which was tendered last year, will help ensure the country has ...

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• 23 April

  Ukraine leads agenda as G-7 ministers gather sans Pompeo

  

  Bloomberg The latest Group of Seven (G7) meetings have begun with a focus on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, an issue Canada’s foreign minister knows well. Chrystia Freeland, a lawmaker of Ukrainian descent who is banned from Russia, kicked off the meeting of foreign ministers by hosting them for brunch — waffles, eggs, a cake, served by her children in her ...

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• 23 April

  India opposition to take chief justice dispute to top court

  

  Bloomberg India’s opposition parties have vowed to take their controversial bid to initiate an impeachment motion against the country’s chief justice to the Supreme Court. Led by the Congress Party, the opposition alliance vowed to challenge vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu’s decision to reject their motion to impeach Chief Justice Dipak Misra over allegations that he misused his authority to ...

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• 23 April

  S Africa to appeal court ruling on black ownership of mines

  Bloomberg South Africa has sought leave to appeal a court judgment earlier this month over a crucial black-ownership principle in the country’s Mining Charter, the nation’s mining lobby said. The Chamber of Mines has been notified that Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and the Department of Mineral Resources filed the application, it said. The High Court in Pretoria on April ...

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• 23 April

  Travel-ban fight at court to test presidential power

  

  Bloomberg Fifteen months after Donald Trump’s first travel ban set the in-your-face tone for his presidency, the controversy finally comes before the Supreme Court in a showdown over the limits of the president’s power to control who enters the country. In arguments on Wednesday, the justices for the first time will directly confront the policy, which in its latest version ...

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• 23 April

  Mario Abdo Benitez wins Paraguay presidency

  Bloomberg Mario Abdo Benitez, a former senator from the ruling Colorado Party, won Sunday’s presidential election in Paraguay, in a surprisingly narrow victory over the opposition candidate. Abdo Benitez, 46, whose father was the secretary of long-ruling dictator Alfredo Stroessner, had 46.4 percent of the vote, with almost 100 percent of voting stations counted, according to preliminary results from the ...

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• 23 April

  The man who brought Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un to the table

  

  Bloomberg Moon Jae-in set his mind on South Korea’s presidency nine years ago, when his ailing role model, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Kim Dae-jung, pulled him close and urged him to keep fighting for peace with North Korea. Soon after, Kim, the first South Korean leader to visit Pyongyang, was dead. Moon found himself among a core of acolytes determined to ...

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• 23 April

  Ambani’s $38bn startup packs six-month sales into a quarter

  

  Bloomberg A smartphone in India cost more than $200 just two years ago. Now you can get a decent phone for nothing but a refundable deposit of $23. Data packages are cheap, and a startup company even throws in free voice calls for life. For this, consumers can thank Mukesh Ambani, a 61-year-old petrochemicals titan who is the country’s richest ...

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