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Bloomberg Texas has started seeing a slight increase in power use this week in one of the first signs that electricity demand is bouncing back in the US as lockdowns ease. While power use in the Lone Star state is still depressed, the state’s main grid operator noticed a slight improvement in electricity use during early morning hours, according to ...

Bloomberg Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co is considering a sale of its majority stake in PT Paiton Energy, one of Indonesia’s biggest independent power producers, people with knowledge of the matter said. Mitsui is working with an adviser on a potential divestment of its 45.5% stake in the power producer, said the people, who asked not to be identified ...

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a stimulus package for India, he said it was worth Rs 20 trillion — $265 billion, equivalent to about 10% of the country’s GDP. This seemed to fit in with the amounts being spent by some rich OECD economies to deal with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Equity markets exulted. In Modi’s ...

Bloomberg Cape Town, South Africa’s second-biggest city, said it could buy its own renewable energy within five to six years if it wins a court case against the government. The city of 4 million people has sued the Energy Ministry and the national power regulator to obtain the right to procure its energy in a case that could pave the ...

It’s no surprise to hear that retailers’ online sales are surging through the coronavirus pandemic. But would you guess that for some of the biggest winners, it’s their physical stores that gave those sales a boost? Even as consumers grapple with stay-at-home orders and their own fears of contagion, a surprisingly large number are willing to pick up their digital ...

Like all businesses upended by the pandemic lockdowns, banks were forced to reorganise with little time. They managed to shutter large parts of their branch networks and to send most of their employees to work remotely. So far, the experiment has been largely free of glitches — and instructive. By redeploying armies of staff, lenders were mostly able to adapt ...

Weak presidents are not safe for democracy. Bright Line Watch, a project of political scientists worried about the erosion of democratic institutions, has found increasing concern by experts about the state of US democracy since 2017. That’s despite the well-documented case that Donald Trump has been an unusually weak president. He often defers to Republican Party regulars on policy questions; ...

Bloomberg India’s decision to resume domestic flights from May 25 was a bolt out of the blue for most of the country’s aviation companies. Top executives at three Indian airlines said they learned about the move when the aviation minister tweeted it. The executives asked not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media. Airline shares surged. Most ...

Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings Inc’s new chief executive officer vowed to work with the carrier’s labour unions on “creative” ways to slash labour spending and potentially avoid furloughs if travel demand doesn’t recover by October. Reduced work hours would be one possible approach, Scott Kirby said in an interview with CNBC and again at the United’s annual meeting. His comments ...

Bloomberg European Union regulators called on passengers to wear face masks, observe physical distancing and frequently wash their hands in new guidelines for air travel in the age of Covid-19. Significant changes will also be needed for airlines and airports, EU aviation and health agencies said in a statement. Carriers and airport operators must ensure that passengers keep a distance ...