Populists humiliated in Italy regional vote

Bloomberg The Democratic Party, the main establishment force in Italy’s government, roared back to life with an authoritative victory in a key regional vote that shut down talk of a snap election. Italian bonds surged. In retaining control over the center-left stronghold of Emilia-Romagna, the Democrats signalled a power shift in PM Giuseppe Conte’s coalition, rejuvenating a four-month-old government that’s ...

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Curbs may push Myanmar into China’s orbit

Bloomberg Myanmar signalled that closer ties with China offer an economic buffer if human-rights concerns cause Western nations to curb trade privileges or investment. The persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority has sparked global condemnation, and led to an International Court of Justice order last week for emergency steps to protect Rohingya from genocide. The controversy imperils Myanmar’s European ...

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Fujimoris lose support in Peru’s congressional vote

Bloomberg The Peruvian party dominated by the opposition Fujimori family looks set to lose support in congressional elections after years of head-butting with the executive, according to unofficial results. A quick count of voting sheets by Ipsos Peru confirmed exit polls showing the country’s unicameral Congress will be divided between as many as 10 parties, with none having a majority. ...

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Drugmakers seek ways to halt virus that eludes travel curbs

Bloomberg Drugmakers are racing to find medicines that can curb the spread of the coronavirus as the infection bypasses China’s travel restrictions. Pharmaceutical companies from Gilead Sciences Inc to Moderna Inc are pursuing two main strategies: helping to re-purpose medicines developed against other lethal viruses from Ebola to HIV, and relying on new technologies to develop a vaccine faster than ...

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Transition bonds can help utilities cut emissions in Japan

Bloomberg Japanese power producers have been emitting more carbon dioxide since a nuclear disaster in 2011 led to an increased reliance on fossil fuels, but a new kind of bond could help them reverse that trend. So-called transition bonds can pay for not-so-green companies to move towards cleaner business models, and Japanese electrical utilities could issue them to help reduce ...

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SoftBank-led group to invest in AlphaCredit

Bloomberg A group of investors led by SoftBank’s Latin America Fund will invest $125 million in AlphaCredit, the Latin American financial technology platform said. The investment will allow “AlphaCredit to consolidate its place as one of the leading financial technology platforms in Latin America, continue its expansion and leverage the competitive advantages of its proven and profitable business model,” the ...

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Renault may name CEO ahead of key meet

Bloomberg Renault SA could name a new chief executive officer ahead of a crucial meeting in Japan on Thursday aimed at showing that the deeply-troubled alliance with Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp is moving past the Carlos Ghosn era. The French carmaker’s board gave the green light for Luca de Meo to become the new CEO, Le Parisien ...

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WeWork signs 3-year office space deal with Gympass

Bloomberg WeWork agreed to provide space in New York to 250 Gympass employees, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. SoftBank is a minority investor in the gym membership app company and is the majority owner of the US office-sharing company WeWork WeWork and Gympass agreed a three-year deal, according to the sources.

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Temasek boosts portfolio, will do more on climate change

Bloomberg Temasek Holdings Pte has “significantly” increased the number of companies it’s bought into while boosting the value of its portfolio by about 3%, Temasek International Chief Executive Officer Dilhan Pillay said. The Singapore state investor’s portfolio value as of March 31, 2019 was S$313 billion ($232 billion) — up 1.49% from the year prior. When asked how it has ...

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Trump loves the ‘swamp’!

The “swamp” just got bigger. You will recall that the swamp was one of candidate Donald Trump’s favourite metaphors in 2016. It disparaged the influence-peddling and lobbying practiced by “special interests” in their quest for government favours and subsidies. Trump pledged to drain the swamp, but in practice he’s doing the opposite — expanding the swamp. The latest and perhaps ...

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