China diplomat’s transfer upends FM predictions

Bloomberg China’s decision to transfer one of its most high-profile diplomats —and most senior Russia experts — to a state media regulator is fanning speculation over who will be foreign minister after an upcoming reshuffle. Former Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, 59, who has frequently stood in for Foreign Minister Wang Yi in recent months, has been appointed as the ...

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Australia PM plays down China reset after diplomatic meeting

  Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has downplayed the possibility of a reset in relations with the Chinese government after a high-profile meeting between the two countries, saying Beijing must first lift sanctions on a wide-range of Australian exports. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles met with China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in Singapore, where both were attending the annual ...

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US inflation hits new 40-year high as price increases spread

  Bloomberg US inflation accelerated to a fresh 40-year high in May, a sign that price pressures are becoming entrenched in the economy. That will likely push the Federal Reserve to extend an aggressive series of interest-rate hikes and adds to political problems for the White House and Democrats. The consumer price index increased 8.6% from a year earlier in ...

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EU nearing agreement on crypto regulation

  Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is nearing an agreement on key legislation to regulate the cryptocurrency sector that would set common rules across the 27 member states, people familiar with the matter said. France, which currently chairs the EU, and the European Parliament are optimistic about resolving remaining issues holding up the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) package and reaching ...

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Boris Johnson hints at cutting food tariffs to help reduce costs

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson took aim at his own government’s tariffs on imports of food that is not produced domestically, saying their removal could ease the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. But even his officials say otherwise. “Why do we have a tariff of 93 pence a kilo on Turkish olive oil?” Johnson said at a speech in Blackpool, northern England, days ...

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France says economy will grow this year

  Bloomberg The French economy will grow this year despite soaring inflation and uncertainty over the war in Ukraine, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. The minister declined to give an estimate, saying he would update country’s growth forecast once a revised budget bill is presented following the legislative elections later this month. “It was 4%, it’s obvious that with ...

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Fertilisers piling up at Brazil ports signal further price drop

  Bloomberg A glut of fertilisers at the biggest Brazilian ports signals that the price of the nutrients may have to drop further before farmers start buying. In Paranagua, private warehouses reached their maximum storage capacity of 3.5 million tons, according to Luiz Teixeira da Silva, Paranagua’s operations director. A terminal operated by VLI Logistics, one of the two at ...

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US futures pare gains as European stocks retreat

  Bloomberg US equity futures pared gains on Tuesday and a rebound in European stocks proved short-lived, suggesting markets aren’t out of the woods after a rout driven by expectations of sharper Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes to fight inflation. S&P 500 contracts came off session highs to trade around 0.5%, signalling some relief after the plunge that erased $1.3 trillion ...

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RBI assurance may not ease India bond selloff, says top fund

  Bloomberg Indian central bank’s verbal pledge to support a record government-borrowing program hasn’t been backed by actions so far and that may lead to a deeper selloff in the bond market, according to a top fund manager. The RBI “has just started doing a little bit of open-mouth operations in the sense they want the yield curve to behave ...

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Germany, UAE joint investments can tackle climate change: Envoy

  Dubai / WAM Germany and the UAE as strong economic partners will continue “the old-fashioned trade,” but they have an opportunity to make joint investments in new technologies and businesses of the “new economy” that will help achieve their net-zero targets, a top German diplomat told the Emirates News Agency (WAM). “We have very good economic relations. But there’s ...

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