Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he’s prepared to release the transcript sought by House Democrats of his first phone call with Ukraine’s president, in April, as soon as Tuesday. “We’ll probably give it to you on Tuesday, Monday being a holiday,†Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One. “We have another transcript coming out, which is ...
Read More »Freed from jail, Lula’s ready to fight in LatAm
Bloomberg Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has pledged to travel around Latin America, offering support for leftist leaders at a moment when the region is engulfed by growing political turmoil. “I’m finally free and willing to fight,†Lula said in a video message that was broadcast at the Puebla Group’s meeting in Buenos Aires. “I’m willing to ...
Read More »Spain votes in repeat election amid pleas to break logjam
Bloomberg Spaniards went to the polls on Sunday for the second time this year as the country strives to break a political logjam that’s threatening economic momentum and allowing disputes over national unity to fester. Polling booths opened at 9 am and were expected to close at 8 pm with voters choosing 350 deputies and 208 senators. It’s a procedure ...
Read More »Pressure grows on UK to return last African colony
Bloomberg From a one-story house with mustard-colored walls off a bustling road in Mauritius, Olivier Bancoult is defying the UK by plotting a return to the tiny tropical island where he was born. A 55-year-old native of the remote Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, Bancoult heads a group of mostly elderly women who, like him, were expelled shortly after ...
Read More »Hong Kong ‘panel’ raises doubts over police inquiry
Bloomberg Hong Kong’s police watchdog has neither the authority nor the resources to effectively investigate the ongoing protests in the city, according to the Independent Expert Panel brought in to advise it. The panel saw “a shortfall†in the powers of the Independent Police Complaints Council, according to a statement posted on the Twitter account of panel member Clifford Stott, ...
Read More »Singapore’s Lee seeks support ahead of poll
Bloomberg Singapore’s leaders need strong backing from voters to weather uncertain times, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he called on members of the ruling party to prepare for a “tough fight†at the next general election. Speaking at the People’s Action Party (PAP) convention, Lee pointed to some economies around the world where public faith in governments has ...
Read More »European depositors get a boost from German politics
Germany’s dismal coalition politics may help unlock progress in talks on the European banking union. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz’s apparent mandate to negotiate a common deposit reinsurance scheme for Europe could help him win the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and keep the shaky government, in which the SPD is the junior partner, going for another two years. ...
Read More »Fed may not keep its inflation promise
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell virtually promised last week to hold off on raising interest rates until faster inflation is not just a forecast, but a reality. With this dovish assurance, the Fed becomes less of a threat to the economic outlook – assuming he is able to keep that promise. With the Fed looking to stop cutting rates, the ...
Read More »Xerox deal for HP would be a license to print money
In what universe can a tiring, $8.8 billion maker of photocopiers even think about acquiring a $27 billion, moderately sexier maker of printers and PCs? This one, apparently. Xerox Holdings Corp. is contemplating a cash-and-stock bid for HP Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported. While the size of the discrepancy in market values makes a deal seem hard to digest, ...
Read More »Wind, solar power have now become affordable
In the midst of otherwise depressing developments in the progress of climate change, one bit of good news shines through: The economics of renewable energy have been improving fast — especially those of onshore wind and utility-scale solar power. A new analysis of the levelized cost of energy from Lazard, the company I work for, shows that over the past ...
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