Bloomberg US President Donald Trump has urged Britain to name Nigel Farage, a flamboyant and popular advocate for leaving the European Union, to negotiate a final Brexit agreement, the Sunday Times reported. Trump said the UK should refuse to pay the 39 billion-pound ($49 billion) settlement to cover commitments to the EU and walk away unless it gets “a fair ...
Read More »3 killed in Israeli rocket attack in Syrian suburb
Bloomberg The Israeli rocket attack on eastern suburb of Quneitra has left 3 soldiers dead and 7 others injured, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. Syrian air defenses earlier intercepted “enemy targets†over a Damascus suburb, Sana reported. The Israeli rockets came from the direction of the Golan Heights, according to Sana. Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters struck ...
Read More »40 injured in Russian military plant explosion
Bloomberg A military-explosives factory east of Moscow blew up, injuring more than 40 people and sending a plume of smoke over parts of the city of Dzerzhinsk. Fifteen of the 43 injured were hospitalised, Interfax reported, citing the Health Care Ministry. A fire at the Kristall plant was brought under control after an administrative building was destroyed by the explosions, ...
Read More »No intention to be ‘boss of world’: China
Bloomberg China doesn’t seek to surpass the US as the globe’s dominant power but is prepared to “fight to the end†if needed, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe said, as trade friction grows between the world’s biggest economies. “China has no intention, no power, to be the boss of this world, and against the United States to fight for this status,†...
Read More »Poland opposition bloc splits after vote defeat
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 ...
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