Boeing is selling 100 planes to Iran June 20, 2016 Iran has reached a deal to buy 100 Boeing planes, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation has told state media. Ali Abedzadeh added the two sides are waiting on approval from the US government. "Of the 250 [passenger] planes in Iran, 230 have to be replaced," Abedzadeh told Mehr News Agency. He added that no timeline [...]
Nigeria finally drops dollar peg but will this revive the country’s fortunes? June 20, 2016 After several decades, Nigeria has finally abandoned its currency peg to the US dollar. Hampered by low global oil prices, the African economy has lost some lustre. But will a devaluation be enough to turn its fortunes around? The Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to allow the naira to float freely has been welcomed by [...]
Germany’s Schaeuble delivers thinly-veiled Brexit warning June 19, 2016 Germany's finance minister has said that no country in Europe would be able to cope with the challenges of the 21st century on its own. European leaders have been ramping up their warnings about the consequences of the Leave campaign triumphing. They're concerned about the political and economic ramifications of Britain's ejection from the four-decade alliance. Speaking at the IfW [...]
Olympics 2016: Rio de Janeiro declares financial emergency in latest setback June 18, 2016 Rio de Janeiro has declared itself in a state of financial emergency as it scrambles to avoid a complete shutdown of vital public services ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games. With just 49 days until the opening ceremony, the Brazilian city has gone cap in hand to the federal government to ask for extra cash [...]
BASF buys Albemarle’s surface treatment unit in $3.2bn (£2.2bn) cash deal June 17, 2016 German chemical producer BASF is buying Albemarle's surface treatment business Chemetall for $3.2bn (£2.24bn) in cash. Frankfurt-based Chemetall is a global supplier of specialty chemicals used to treat the surfaces of metals and plastics, and a large part of its business is in making chemicals to protect sheet metal for cars against corrosion. The acquisition sees [...]
Sky rebrands Movies to Cinema as it regroups amid growing competition from online streaming sites June 15, 2016 Broadcaster Sky is hoping a change to its popular film channels will be able to arrest the recent downward trend in its share price. TV networks around the world are battening down the hatches against a rising tide of competition. From 8 July, Sky will premiere a new film every day on its movie channels. [...]
Fed rates kept on hold by Brexit bugbears and May’s disappointing jobs report June 15, 2016 The US Federal Reserve has voted to keep its interest rates on hold at its monthly meeting, inline with market expectations. There had previously been expectations that the Fed would hike rates for the second time in a decade this month though recently sentiment has soured. The US central bank has held the target range for [...]
MSCI denies China A-shares from its indices June 15, 2016 Chinese mainland shares were denied entry into the MSCI index yesterday, making it the third time the country's domestic markets were shunned by the index provider. MSCI had raised expectations it would accept China A-shares when it laid out a plan for inclusion earlier in the year, saying its close work with Chinese regulators had [...]
Policeman and his partner killed in Paris terrorist attack June 14, 2016 A French police chief and his partner were killed late last night, in a knife attack claimed by Islamic State (Isis). The policeman was stabbed to death in front of his home in the Paris suburb of Magnanville, and his partner's body was found inside the building, officials said. The attacker barricaded himself inside his [...]
London now has one millionaire for every 29 inhabitants as Monaco tops millionaire chart June 14, 2016 London now has one millionaire for every 29 inhabitants, or 3.4 per cent of the population, new research has revealed. The UK capital has climbed from sixth to fifth place in a ranking of the world's top cities per capita for people with net assets worth $1m (£0.7m) or more, excluding the value of their main house. London rival New York [...]