WORLD
Macron Readies Modi’s Bastille Day Visit in Nod to Global South
The invitation reflects booming business and military bilateral ties as well as India’s strategic importance as the world’s most populated country and the current leader of the Group of 20 nations, according to the officials who are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
BUSINESS
Reliance targeting Jio Financial listing as soon as October
Reliance is holding a meeting of shareholders and creditors on May 2 to vote on the plan to spin off and list the unit, according to an exchange filing in March.
TRENDS
Here’s How You Should Be Doing Afternoon Tea, Top Chef Says
The shelves are stocked with the kind of treats that make you feel like you’ve walked into a fairy tale, with whimsical biscuit-filled tins in all shapes and sizes, bottles of Champagne, chocolates galore, as well as honey from bees at Queen Camilla’s garden in Wiltshire.
AUTOMOBILE
Mercedes Says China Buyers Sticking With Combustion Models as EVs Take Off
After decades at the top in the world’s biggest car market, Mercedes and German peers BMW AG and Volkswagen AG are falling behind local competitors as EV demand surges.
INDIA
India puts country on alert for scorching heat waves in May
Temperatures will be above-normal in some northeastern, southern and eastern regions, according to the India Meteorological Department.
BUSINESS
High-End Airline Starlux’s Inaugural Taipei-LA Flight Piloted by Chairman
The Taipei-based company, one of a handful of airlines to launch during Covid, celebrated its first intercontinental flight, from Taiwan to Los Angeles, on Wednesday.
TECHNOLOGY
Celebs, Politicians Join Twitter Rival Bluesky: Here’s How You Can Too
Many are looking no further than Bluesky, which has its own origins in Twitter and, to all intents and purposes, acts in a very similar fashion. Its latest devotees include US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, writer-comedian Dril and model Chrissy Teigen
WORLD
Russian oil is still powering Europe’s cars with help of India
“Russian oil is finding its way back into Europe despite all the sanctioning and India ramping up fuel exports to the west is a good example of it,” said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at the firm.
BUSINESS
Adani Cement pays back $200 million Holcim debt
The pre-payment will help billionaire Gautam Adani’s firm seek an extension of the debt taken to fund the acquisition by three years, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.
BUSINESS
Wizz Air says long-range Airbus jets will put India within reach
“There’s great potential in India, as the country has seen an immense development,” Wizz Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said in an interview in Budapest today.
WORLD
One-day VIX shows market’s receding fear of inflation data, Fed decisions
Namely, diminishing anxiety over macroeconomic events such as inflation data and Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meetings, which previously had been big instigators of turbulence.
WORLD
Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune jumps $10 billion on Meta sales rebound
Meta shares rose 14% after the earnings report, lifting Zuckerberg’s fortune to $87.3 billion and boosting him up a notch on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to 12th place. It’s the highest the Meta chief executive officer’s wealth has been in more than a year.
WORLD
London rents top £2,500 for first time as supply of homes drops
Online property site Rightmove said asking rents in the capital rose 0.9% to a fresh record in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous three months. That marked a sharp slowdown from quarterly growth of 5.8% at the end of 2022. Asking rents were up 14% year-on-year and are rising faster in outer London.
WORLD
Chinese EV giant BYD’s profit surges over 400% in Q1
Net income in the three months through March surged 411% from a year earlier to 4.13 billion yuan ($597 million), the Shenzhen-based automaker said in a statement Thursday. Operating revenue rose 80% to 120.2 billion yuan, while its gross margin was 17.9%, up about 5.5 percentage points.
WORLD
Amazon jolts investors with talk of cloud growth slowdown
Amazon Web Services revenue rose 16% to $21.4 billion in the first quarter as Amazon reported stronger-than-expected profit and sales in the period.
WORLD
Singapore takes aim at rich Chinese with 60% property tax
In new measures announced Thursday, foreigners will pay 60% tax on any residential purchase, while the rate for using an entity or a trust was raised to 65%, preventing any circumvention of the rules. Permanent residents and citizens buying their second residential property will also pay more.
BUSINESS
Nomura expects mid-sized companies to drive India M&A
“Indian corporates will start becoming buyers of assets rather than sellers,” Amit Thawani, head of India coverage investment banking at Nomura, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Adani aims to raise about $800 million for financing green projects
Billionaire Gautam Adani-led group is in discussions with global banks including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., DBS Bank Ltd., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. and Standard Chartered Plc, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.
WORLD
These are the best restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau according to Michelin
There’s a new three-star restaurant in town, Ta Vie, in the boutique Pottinger hotel in Hong Kong.
WORLD
Peter Thiel doesn't plan to give money to 2024 candidates
Peter Thiel was a prominent backer of Donald Trump in the 2016 election, and helped bankroll the 2022 Senate campaigns of Republican JD Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona.
WORLD
Elon Musk meets with Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill as senate looks into AI
Just as he did on a previous visit, Musk, the chief executive officer of SpaceX, Tesla Inc. and Twitter Inc., slipped in quietly. On Jan. 27, he stopped at the offices of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and spoke to other top congressional Republicans. He also met with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.
WORLD
Why flying is so expensive and likely to remain that way
For one, there’s a lack of planes. Airlines idled large portions of their fleets because travel demand was so lackluster during the pandemic that they weren’t needed. Now they can’t bring them back fast enough — it takes 100 working hours to ready the biggest jets for service after being parked away.
WORLD
Donald Trump rematch may be Joe Biden’s best bet, polls show
Joe Biden, 80, trailed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, in nine of the dozen most recent polls with hypothetical match-ups in the RealClearPolitics average of surveys.
WORLD
Microsoft’s headache-inducing Army goggles delayed for at least two years
Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, is expected to provide a “heads-up display” for US ground forces, similar to that for fighter pilots. It’s based on the company’s HoloLens “mixed reality” goggles.
