Bloomberg Ukraine is working to get more of its fighters out of Mariupol’s beseiged Azovstal compound, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as Russia threatened to put on trial those it said had “surrendered†at the steel plant. “The evacuation mission continues†overseen by the military and intelligence service with help from “the most influential international mediators,†Zelenskiy said in his nightly ...
Read More »Taiwan must strengthen its defenses: US official
Bloomberg Taiwan must gird itself against potential Chinese aggression through military deterrence that includes acquiring the right weapons and proper training, the top US naval officer said. “That is a big lesson learned and a wakeup call, particularly with respect to not only having the right kit but are people trained to use it the right way,†Admiral Michael Gilday, ...
Read More »US-Taliban deal pushed Afghanistan to collapse: Watchdog
Bloomberg The US deal with the Taliban — forged under President Donald Trump and implemented under President Joe Biden — was “the single most important factor†in the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s forces as American troops withdrew last year. As in Vietnam decades earlier, the US “spent years and billions of dollars training and equipping†the Afghan National Security Forces ...
Read More »North Korea may launch ICBM in show of strength
Bloomberg Kim Jong-un may be preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to coincide with US President Joe Biden’s trip to the region, as the North Korean leader battles a Covid-19 outbreak posing one of the greatest crises faced by his regime. Kim looks poised to test launch an ICBM in the next two to four days, CNN said, ...
Read More »BofA investors hoard cash at highest level in two decades
Bloomberg Investors are piling into cash as the outlook for global growth drops to an all-time low and stagflation worries mount, according to a Bank of America Corp (BofA) fund manager survey that points to continued stock-market declines. Cash levels among investors hit the highest level since September 2001, the report showed, with BofA describing the results as “extremely ...
Read More »SocGen’s survivor CEO Oudea to quit after 15-year reign
Bloomberg Societe Generale Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea said he will leave the lender next year, bringing to a close a 15-year reign that spans the great financial crisis to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Oudea, the longest-serving CEO of a major European bank, told shareholders of his surprise decision not to seek reappointment during SocGen’s annual general meeting in Paris. ...
Read More »RBA mulls three options for size of interest-rate hike
Bloomberg Australia’s central bank said it considered three options for the size of its first interest-rate increase since 2010, according to minutes of its May 3 policy meeting, when it raised the cash rate by 25 basis points. The board agreed that hiking by 15 basis points, as forecast by most economists, didn’t make sense given policy was very ...
Read More »Americans put more on credit cards as inflation boosts costs
Bloomberg Americans are putting more on their credit cards and taking out fewer mortgages, as they need to increasingly borrow to cover the higher cost of everyday essentials and respond to rising interest rates. A record 537 million credit card accounts were opened in first quarter, a jump of 31 million over the past year, according to the Federal ...
Read More »Uruguay central bank lifts key rate to 9.25%
Bloomberg Uruguay’s central bank increased its benchmark interest rate to 9.25% and signalled borrowing costs will keep rising as monetary policy turns contractive to fight inflation. Policy makers raised the key rate by three quarters of a percentage point, and forecast at least two more increases of half a percentage point at its next meetings. The move came on ...
Read More »Santander begins search for successor to CEO Jose Alvarez
Bloomberg Banco Santander SA has begun the search for a successor to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jose Antonio Alvarez, the bank veteran who stayed on in the top position after the botched appointment of ex-UBS Group AG banker Andrea Orcel. Santander Chairman Ana Botin and the board are seeking internal and external candidates after Alvarez — who has been in ...
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