Bloomberg Poland’s coalition of pro-European opposition parties broke apart when the Peasants Party withdrew after faring badly in European Parliament ballot. The move plays into the hands of the ruling Law & Justice party, which won the European Union ballot with a record 45 percent support, eating into the Peasants’ traditional rural stronghold and taking the driver’s seat for this ...
Read More »Merkel coalition partner quits, putting ruling bloc at risk
Bloomberg The leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner stepped down in a surprise move that puts into question the survival of the government itself. Andrea Nahles, head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), said she will resign as chief and parliamentary caucus leader after losing the rank and file’s backing. The party suffered a devastating defeat in ...
Read More »S&P 500 sleepwalk gets over as May awakening ignites $4tn loss
Bloomberg If euphoria was the concern, you can stop worrying. With books now closed, the S&P 500 has formally delivered its worst May return in seven years and second-worst since the 1960s, falling 6.6 percent. For tech traders watching the Nasdaq 100, the experience was only a shade less harrowing than the crash months of October and December. Peace has ...
Read More »Little solace in sight for pound as Britain political risks mount
Bloomberg There is little on the horizon that can help the pound regain its footing as investors brace for subdued UK economic data and the risk of a euroskeptic prime minister. Sterling fell for a third month against the dollar in May and touched its weakest level since January versus the euro amid persistent market anxiety about Britain’s political upheaval ...
Read More »US’s Ohio state approves coal, nuclear power plant subsidies
Bloomberg The Ohio House of Representatives approved a measure that would subsidise the state’s struggling coal and nuclear plants after lobbying from a member of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. Bob Paduchik, who also led the Ohio Trump campaign in 2016, called lawmakers urging them to support the legislation and stressing that the president was behind it as well, according ...
Read More »US touts LNG exports as molecules of liberty
Bloomberg The US has a message for the rest of the world: Get ready for a lot more “freedom gas.†The country’s growing muscle as a natural gas exporter isn’t only seen by the Trump administration as an economic boon at home — it’s also viewed as a foreign policy tool. That view was articulated as the Department of Energy ...
Read More »Shell plans to buy oil-block stake in South Africa
Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc is planning to acquire an oil-block stake in a second deal in South Africa’s relatively unexplored waters, months after a major discovery by Total SA boosted the country’s hydrocarbon prospects. Shell has applied to take a stake in a license owned by OK Energy, located in deep waters off South Africa’s west coast, according to ...
Read More »Total signals withdrawal from Congo oil search
Bloomberg Total SA, the only oil major exploring for crude in the Democratic Republic of Congo, indicated it’s pulling out of a block in the central African nation, one of its partners said. The French company has been searching for oil in Block 3 in eastern Congo since March 2011. Its license for the field, near the border with Uganda, ...
Read More »Airlines plead for regulators to unite on 737 Max’s return
Bloomberg Airlines are calling on aviation regulators worldwide to work together to get Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max back in the skies and to prevent the regulatory response from splintering and slowing the jet’s return. As aviation bosses met in South Korea for their biggest gathering since the two 737 Max disasters, Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air ...
Read More »China trade war risks engulfing Embraer
Bloomberg For Embraer Commercial, the escalating rift between the US and China is making things difficult. That’s because the commercial plane-making unit of Embraer SA counts China as its biggest market and is in the process of being taken over by the US’s top exporter, Boeing Co. The unit, which will be renamed Boeing Brasil Commercial, is seeking antitrust approval ...
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