Bloomberg Berenberg, Germany’s oldest bank, has given up hope that US-China trade tensions will subside any time soon — with severe consequences for export-reliant nations. Economists slashed their 2020 growth forecasts for countries including Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. They expect the euro area will expand by just 0.9%, down from 1.4% predicted only a few months ...
Read More »Banks worried over S Africa’s new credit ammendment bill
Bloomberg South African banks are concerned that some of their customers will get away with not having to repay their debt. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Credit Amendment Bill into law, setting the groundwork for over-indebted consumers to have payments suspended, in part or full, for as many as 24 months, or even scrapped if their financial situation has ...
Read More »BofA says, municipal-bond yields won’t turn negative
Bloomberg Bank of America Corp., (BofA) the biggest underwriter of state and local government debt, isn’t worried that municipal-bond yields will turn negative, even if they do in other parts of the US fixed-income markets. Bond yields have been plunging fast, making it seem possible that American investors could actually wind up paying governments to lend them money — as ...
Read More »Macy’s stock falls on outlook, department store chain fears
Bloomberg Macy’s Inc plunged after a worse-than-expected second quarter underscored investor fears that the teetering department-store industry is slated for more pain ahead. The retailer, the first of its peers to report earnings, slashed its profit outlook for the year — and it warned that the cut doesn’t even take into account the next round of Chinese tariffs, some of ...
Read More »US backs F-16 sale to Taiwan, drawing warning from China
Bloomberg The Trump administration has informally told Congress that it supports a potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, drawing a preemptive warning from China at a critical moment in trade talks with the US. The State Department has informally told key House and Senate committees that it supports the $8 billion sale of 66 F-16s, according to two ...
Read More »China state agency unveils rocket for commercial use
BEIJING / WAM A Chinese government space agency successfully launched its first rocket meant for commercial use as firms in the country compete to join a commercial satellite boom, Reuters quoted state television CCTV as saying. Smart Dragon-1 rocket, which weighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC) successfully delivered three ...
Read More »Cathay flight staff unions regret CEO’s departure
Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways’s flight attendants unions said they were “saddened†and “regret†the departure of CEO Rupert Hogg and Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Paul Loo. In a Facebook post published on Sunday, the unions representing flight attendants of Cathay Pacific and sister firm Hong Kong Dragon Airlines said the resignations were made to “take up the collective responsibility ...
Read More »Virgin Galactic unveils new space base, but no flights yet
Bloomberg Caviar and seared tuna will be on the menu for Virgin Galactic astronauts in training when they arrive at the company’s new home in the desert scrublands of southern New Mexico. As they gaze out at the mountains east of the otherworldly structure, a master of espresso arts will dose out shots from a barista island, accompanied by multiple ...
Read More »Customs computers restored at US airports
Bloomberg Entry for people arriving at airports across the US began returning after a Customs and Border Protection computer system failed, forcing the manual processing of passengers on a busy summer travel day. The system was being restored and passengers being processed, the agency said in a statement at 6:25 pm New York time. The failure was isolated to operations ...
Read More »UAE voices support for peaceful transition of power in Sudan
KHARTOUM / WAM The UAE on Saturday expressed its support for Sudan in its quest to create a polit-ical system capable of achieving the development of the state and driving the country towards a prosperous future, affirmed Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State. In a statement following his participation in the ceremony held in Khartoum to ...
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