Yemen calls on World Bank to intensify support

RIYADH / WAM The Yemeni government has called on the World Bank to increase its support to the country amid the “huge challenges” its facing as a result of the war fueled by Iranian-backed Houthis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Yemeni PM Maeen Abdulmalik urged the World Bank to reconsider restructuring the support being ...

Read More »

Oil price collapse deals heavy blow to Nigeria’s economy

Bloomberg The collapse in international oil prices, having dealt a devastating blow to Nigeria’s finances, now threatens the West African nation’s shaky federal political system. Earnings from crude sales will plunge 80% to $2.84 billion this year, the nation’s budget office said last month. A protracted loss of income could leave most of Nigeria’s 36 states unable to function. It ...

Read More »

Mozambique LNG project raises $15b of debt

Bloomberg Total SA’s liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique raised $15 billion of debt — about the same size as the African country’s economy — exceeding a funding target even as the virus pandemic threatens the global financial system. Energy companies have struggled over the past few months as prices of everything from oil to natural gas slumped with the ...

Read More »

Massachusetts to review ‘gas utilities’

Bloomberg Massachusetts’s top law-enforcement officer is asking regulators to investigate the future of natural-gas utilities in the state as it fights climate change. Attorney General Maura Healey called on the Department of Public Utilities to examine what steps need to be taken as the state weans itself off fossil fuels to help meet its goal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions ...

Read More »

Green Tasmania could help wean Australian cities off coal

Bloomberg Tasmania wants to turn itself into a battery. The island state off the Australian mainland’s southern tip is pursuing what its leaders say is the world’s most ambitious renewable energy target, boosting hydro and wind generation to twice its own needs by 2040 and exporting the rest via a planned undersea cable. The strategy could play a key role ...

Read More »

US limits China’s airlines to two weekly flights over spat

Bloomberg The Trump Administration, in the latest move ratcheting up tensions in US-China trade, said that the nation had continued to violate airlines’ rights by restricting flights and ordered new limits on its carriers. Responding to a move by China to limit US passenger airlines to one flight per week each, the US Department of Transportation said it would only ...

Read More »

Avianca may get aid over ‘state measures’

Bloomberg An emergency measure allowing Colombia’s government to take equity stakes in private companies opens the door for a bailout of the nation’s largest airline, Avianca Holdings SA, which declared bankruptcy last month amid an unprecedented downturn in travel. The new regulation, which permits the government to take minority positions in companies that have been impacted by the sharp economic ...

Read More »

Delta to pause flights to 11 cities in reminder of US weakness

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc will drop service to 11 midsize US cities next month amid weak demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a reminder of the industry’s fragility after a record stock rally. The service suspensions affecting cities from Aspen, Colorado, to Bangor, Maine, will help lower costs, Delta said in a statement. The affected airports are among 75 ...

Read More »

Boeing heads for $35b weekly gain in airline rally’s wake

Bloomberg Boeing Co is heading for its best week in more than two months as surprise job gains and airline bookings signal that demand for air travel — and jetliners — is poised to recover from a historic plunge. The US planemaker’s status among investors has recently flipped to darling from market pariah, although analysts caution that Boeing still faces ...

Read More »

Victoria’s Secret UK arm appoints administrators

Bloomberg Victoria’s Secret UK arm is appointing an administrator to help overhaul its business, amid plunging sales across the retail sector. The unit of Ohio-based L Brands Inc, which operates 25 stores in the country, will appoint Deloitte to renegotiate leases or sell the stores, Stuart Burgdoerfer, the unit’s interim chief executive officer, said in an emailed statement. Victoria’s Secret ...

Read More »