Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-05-04)

ILLUSTRATION

BY

CAROLYN

FIGEL.

BEACH:

LOREN

ELLIOTT/REUTERS.

TANGEN:

NINA

E.RANGOY/REUTERS.

HAFTAR:

COSTAS

BALTAS/REUTERS.

OSPEL: FABRICE COFRINI/GETTY IMAGES. SCANDINAVIAN: JOHAN NILSSON/GETTY IMAGES

4

BloombergBusinessweek ByBenediktKammel

 IN BRIEF

○ The number of confirmed

coronavirus cases around

the world now exceeds

3m

Almost a third of them are

in the U.S., where more than

50,000 have died. Some of

the hardest-hit countries in

Europe, such as Spain and

Italy, have started easing

restrictions as the rate of

new infections declines.

○ HSBC warned

that losses

from bad loans

may balloon to

$11 billion this year,

the highest since

the 2008-

financial crisis.

○ Crude extended its slide,

dropping to about

$

a barrel on April 28. The

price of oil has declined

more than 80% this year

as the pandemic vaporized

demand for crude, gasoline,

and other derivatives. The

collapse in consumption

has created a glut that’s

straining storage limits

worldwide.  

○ Sergio Moro,

the justice

minister of Brazil,

resigned from

Jair Bolsonaro’s

cabinet.

○ Libyan military

commander Khalifa

Haftar dropped

his support for

an agreement between

warring factions to unite

the country. Calling the

plan, brokered with help

from the United Nations in

2015, “a thing of the past,”

Haftar plans to advance his

assault on Tripoli and form

a new government for the

war-torn country.

○ Global military spending

rose to

$1.9t

n 2019, the highest

ince 1988, according to

Sweden’s Sipri Institute.

TheU.S. remains by far

hebiggest spender at

$732 billion, which accounts

or38% of the total and

almost as much as the next

0 countries combined.

○ Boeing

pulled out of

a $4.2 billion

commercial-jet

deal with Brazil’s

Embraer.

○ The U.S. economy shrank

4.8% in the first quarter,

marking the biggest slide

since 2008. But the worst

is yet to come, with the

current quarter bearing the

full brunt of the lockdown.

Analysts expect the

economy to tumble by a

record amount.

○ Surfers at Australia’s fabled Bondi Beach rushed to catch some waves after

authorities reopened it for swimming and surfing following a five-week shutdown.

The two manufacturers entered talks

in 2017 to jointly design a midrange

jet family. But Boeing’s situation has

deteriorated after two crashes of

its 737 Max and grounded carriers

damped demand. Embraer said Boeing

was wrong to terminate the accord

and will seek damages.

The former star judge, who made his

name as an anticorruption warrior,

stepped down in protest after the

president fired the head of the federal

police. His departure comes a week

after the controversial dismissal of

the health minister over a difference in

pandemic policy.

○ “In hindsight, I see

that perhaps I should

have made it abitless

expensive.”

Nicolai Tangen, due to head Norway’s sovereign

wealth fund in September, has been caughtupin

a scandal over an extravagant party he organized

in Philadelphia. The 2018 event was attendedby

academics, politicians, and pop stars, as wellash

predecessor at the fund, who’s now under firefo

taking a private jet home.

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