February in Romania has brought 27 consecutive days of protests against the current government, at a scale unmatched since the Revolution in 1989. In a record day, more than 600,000 people gathered in the capital’s Victory Square and around the country to overturn a decision by the current ruling party to decriminalize some acts of corruption and abuse of office. This decision was especially self-serving given the […]
LONDON The “sheer intransigence” of the British government over Brexit could lead to a second Scottish independence referendum, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday, warning time was running out for the country to change course. Writing in the Times newspaper, Sturgeon said Britain’s vote to leave the European Union had changed the landscape since Scotland last held a referendum on its independence, voting by a 10-point […]
Early last year Olivier Leprêtre signed a new lease on a €2.7m fishing boat. Then the UK voted to leave the EU — and the trawlerman from Boulogne-sur-Mer on the other side of the Channel is already regretting his decision. “If I’d known Brexit would happen, I never would have signed,” he says, gesturing towards the British coastline just 50km away. “It could crush us.” His fears […]
SoftBank is leading efforts to consolidate the space technology sector with talks to merge OneWeb, the US satellite start-up it backs, with Intelsat, one of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators. Bonds sold by Intelsat surged on Monday after it was reported that the deeply indebted satellite operator was nearing a deal with SoftBank to merge with OneWeb, which raised $1.2bn from the Japanese group and other investors in December. […]
Chinese companies have borrowed more money from the international bond market than from domestic investors so far this year, breaking with tradition as authorities in Beijing focus on curbing capital outflows. Banks and other corporate borrowers have been quietly encouraged to raise money offshore in other currencies, limiting the need for Chinese companies to sell renminbi to finance overseas investments. Borrowing more outside the mainland also allows […]
The near collapse of the €29bn merger between the London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Börse was precipitated by the LSE’s decision to aggressively reject concessions demanded by Brussels without warning or consulting its German partner. Both exchanges took turns apportioning blame to EU authorities and obstinate rivals on Monday, making clear the deal once touted as creating a European champion to challenge their larger US rivals […]
BANJUL Gambian President Adama Barrow replaced the heads of the army and the prisons system, both considered pillars of his predecessor’s repressive government, officials said on Monday. The moves were the latest in a series of personnel changes by Barrow, who is seeking to assert his control following the end of Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule. Jammeh fled into exile last month after refusing to accept his election […]
When Turkey’s children returned to school in September, there was something new on the curriculum: a week-by-week syllabus, mandated by the minister of education, celebrating what many call Turkey’s “second revolution”. Course materials included two slickly produced patriotic videos laced with references to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s success in putting down the attempted coup on July 15. The first opens with an image of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, […]
French government debt has capped its best run since the aftermath of Britain’s vote for Brexit, underlining the rapid shift in investor sentiment towards the country’s presidential election which now looms over financial markets. The yield on the 10-year French bond dropped to its lowest in a month, as money managers and traders continued to take succour after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron received the backing of potential […]
By Marton Dunai | BUDAPEST BUDAPEST Hungary has begun building a second line of fence along its southern border with Serbia, a government spokesman said on Monday, a move likely to exacerbate criticism from some of the country’s European Union partners. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing government considers migration to be one of the largest threats to the status quo in the EU. But officials in Brussels […]
LONDON/FRANKFURT The London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) has all but ended a planned merger with Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) to create Europe’s biggest stock exchange by ruling out meeting a European antitrust demand, saying it has strong prospects alone. In a bid to create a European trading powerhouse that would better compete against U.S. rivals making inroads on their home turf, the two exchanges struck a 29 billion euro […]
Monday 08:50 GMT Overview European stock markets are making gains, tracking another set of record highs for Wall Street’s main equities gauges. The rally reaches the region even after Asia missed out, with banking and commodity stocks leading a sell-off there. Hot topic US equity futures are pointing to further gains after a late rally on Friday pushed the S&P 500 up 0.2 per cent while the […]
Submitted by Alex Gorka via The Strategic Culture Foundation, The rifts within the EU continue to widen as Poland and Hungary join together in opposition to the EU bureaucracy. Soon after Poland’s ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in October 2015, the Polish parliament passed a law allowing the government to appoint the judges of its choosing to the highest court and not recognize […]
In the previous episode of the currency wars, a few years ago, the Euro-Dollar exchange rate was in the spotlight. This has now completely disappeared to the background and whilst the countries of the Eurozone must be pretty happy with the weak currency (which boosts the export and increases the demand for domestically produced goods), the United States are less than happy as it weakens the position […]
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are neck-and-neck in the latest Emnid poll with seven months to go before a federal election. The poll in Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed the SPD, which has surged in recent weeks since nominating former European Parliament President Martin Schulz as its candidate, dropping by one percentage point compared with the same poll last week […]
Back pain affects about 700 million people and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Now, a new study shows that it is not just uncomfortable and debilitating, but also a potential indicator of early death. Examining the health and death records of 4,390 older Danish twins, a team of researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia found that those who reported lower back pain had a […]
25 February 2017 Fitch Ratings-London-24 February 2017: Fitch Ratings has assigned UAE based Majid Al Futtaim Holding LLC’s (MAF) proposed benchmark size subordinated perpetual hybrid notes a rating of ‘BB+(EXP)’. The proposed securities qualify for 50% equity credit. The final rating is contingent on the receipt of final documents conforming materially to the preliminary documentation reviewed. The hybrid note proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes […]
French authorities have made yet another monumental error in judgment after arresting Marine Le Pen’s chief of staff and bodyguard for questioning over alleged misuse of public funds to pay parliamentary assistants – the equivalent of a jaywalking ticket in terms of public opinion. By making le mountain out of le molehill, this latest debacle by French authorities is the most recent in a long list of backfired attempts to […]
Sign up to receive Authers’ Note daily by email here Despite appearances to the contrary, the Trump trade may be moving into reverse as the president’s maiden State of the Union address approaches. The overall level of the stock market is, of course, at fresh records. But the pattern within it is shifting again. The end of the week saw sharp falls for almost all equity markets […]
Emirates has accused the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of acting unprofessionally over claims it breached laws by not paying compensation to passengers who experience a delay. The Dubai-based airline denied breaking any law with regard to payment of passenger compensation for delayed flights, after the CAA launched enforcement action against it and four other international carriers. The CAA said the airlines – Emirates, Etihad Airways, American […]
Eat the World DXB is in full swing this weekend, with 25 international street-food traders from the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore serving up street food with vendors from the UAE (each street food trader is cleverly marked by its country’s flag). Held in Burj Park with a close-up view of the Burj Khalifa, the festival has plenty of food on offer, a host of […]
As with the worlds of haute couture and prêt-à-porter in fashion, France’s small-cap companies depend vitally on the success of the main Paris bourse. Yet as the country braces itself for the presidential election, and as US and other international investors start reducing their French holdings, a flight from the small-caps to the larger, more liquid French companies might be expected. But the opposite has actually been […]
By Arshad Mohammed | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The longest-serving U.S. diplomat warned against isolationism, protectionism and Russian aggression on Friday in a retirement speech implicitly criticizing some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies even as he urged officials to serve the White House loyally. Ambassador Dan Fried argued that since becoming a world power over a century ago, the United States had largely pursued an open, rules-based world, […]
By John Walcott and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A proposal the Trump administration is considering to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation has stalled over warnings from defence and intelligence officials that the move could backfire, according to officials familiar with the matter. “If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the […]
