Clifton George convicted of fatally stabbing charity worker Annabel Rook after she tried to end relationship A man who fatally stabbed his partner and then set off a gas explosion at their north-east London home last summer has been found guilty of her murder. Clifton George, 45, had denied murdering Annabel Rook, a 46-year-old charity founder, during an argument at their home in Stoke Newington, ...
Clifton George convicted of fatally stabbing charity worker Annabel Rook after she tried to end relationship A man who fatally stabbed his partner and then set off a gas explosion at their north-east London home last summer has been found guilty of her murder. Clifton George, 45, had denied murdering Annabel Rook, a 46-year-old charity founder, during an argument at their home in Stoke Newington, on 17 June 2025. He admitted her manslaughter. Continue reading...
Spain is “confident” it’ll be awarded a massive artificial intelligence data center project by the EU and plans to invest as much as €800 million ($929 million) in it. The government expects to announce details on the Spanish proposal for one of the EU’s five so-called gigafactories in “coming weeks” and it’ll earmark between €600 million and €800 million of public funds for it, Digital Affairs Mi...
Spain is “confident” it’ll be awarded a massive artificial intelligence data center project by the EU and plans to invest as much as €800 million ($929 million) in it. The government expects to announce details on the Spanish proposal for one of the EU’s five so-called gigafactories in “coming weeks” and it’ll earmark between €600 million and €800 million of public funds for it, Digital Affairs Minister Óscar López said in Madrid Wednesday. Spain will announce the names of the companies that will join the gigafactory consortium before the European Union opens the formal process, which is expected to be in July, he said. Telefónica SA and ACS SA are among companies expected to take part n the consortium. The European Union announced a €20 billion plan to back so-called gigafactories last year to accelerate investment in AI infrastructure from private companies. The plan was expected to be launched earlier this year but has been delayed due to a lack of clarity about demand and to when the subsidies will be available, threatening to undermine the initiative, Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday. The five EU projects will be financed in two phases, with funds earmarked in 2028 and 2030. Consortium will be formed by corporations, who will fund part of the projects.
Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan, Canada and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 countries including the UK, EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US t...
Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan, Canada and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 countries including the UK, EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US to respect the tariff deal it entered into last July and arguing stealth tariffs breached the spirit of that agreement. Continue reading...
Boy Wirat Central banks in emerging and frontier markets are taking the lead in raising their benchmark interest rates as the Iran war fuels inflationary pressures. Iran has effectively blocked most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, disrupting global trade in goods ranging from oil to fertilizers. This has in turn hit food and agricultural supply chains, driving pri...
Boy Wirat Central banks in emerging and frontier markets are taking the lead in raising their benchmark interest rates as the Iran war fuels inflationary pressures. Iran has effectively blocked most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, disrupting global trade in goods ranging from oil to fertilizers. This has in turn hit food and agricultural supply chains, driving prices higher worldwide. In response, Indonesia, South Africa, Rwanda and Sri Lanka hiked rates over the past two weeks, while Singapore and the Philippines did so in April. The Philippine central bank is also considering an off-cycle rate hike. India is widely expected to maintain rates on Friday, but some analysts say a surprise hike may be in the cards as the rupee continues to weaken. Japan is seen raising rates later this month, and South Korea may follow in July. Developed markets have largely left rates unchanged, except for Australia and Norway, which lifted rates in May. But Europe may not be far behind in policy tightening. Eurozone inflation growth crossed 3% in May, the highest since 2023 and well above the ECB's 2% target, driven by a 10.9% jump in energy prices. "These hot prints have effectively locked in a 25-basis-point interest rate hike at next week's ECB meeting, with traders pricing an additional 50 bps of tightening by year-end," said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst, OANDA. In the U.S., Fed Funds futures are leaning towards the Federal Reserve maintaining rates at 3.50%-3.75% until at least October, according to CME's FedWatch tool . But recent data supports the narrative that the U.S. economy could be re-accelerating despite stretched consumer finances, ING economists noted, adding that the Fed may have to hike by year-end. "Based on the data, I'm more concerned about the growing risks of persistently elevated inflation than the risks to full employment and that monetary policy may not be sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2%," Clevel...
Bahrain is marketing a dollar bond hours after fending off Iranian missile attacks, in a key test of investor appetite for Middle East debt. The Persian Gulf island nation is selling a benchmark-sized 10-year dollar note with a rate of around 7.5%, according to a person familiar with the matter. The senior unsecured bond is the first sovereign public market deal from the region since the war began...
Bahrain is marketing a dollar bond hours after fending off Iranian missile attacks, in a key test of investor appetite for Middle East debt. The Persian Gulf island nation is selling a benchmark-sized 10-year dollar note with a rate of around 7.5%, according to a person familiar with the matter. The senior unsecured bond is the first sovereign public market deal from the region since the war began in late February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It is expected to price later on Wednesday. Bonds issued by the heavily-indebted kingdom were hit by the outbreak of war at the end of February but had recovered by the middle of April, helped by the provision of financial support from the United Arab Emirates, which signed a 20 billion dirham ($5.4 billion) currency-swap agreement . Still, the sale will test demand for Gulf debt in the absence of a longer-term ceasefire between the US and Iran. Bahrain said Wednesday morning that it had intercepted three missiles and a number of drones fired by Iran , with the target likely being a US naval base in the country. Regional borrowers have stayed away from public debt markets during the conflict. Instead, issuance has been dominated by bank capital deals and private placements. Read more: Debt-Laden Bahrain’s Bonds Bounce Back From Shock of Iran War The war has dealt a heavy blow to Bahrain. Like other Gulf states, such as the UAE, it came under heavy fire from the Islamic Republic before Tehran agreed a ceasefire with the US in early April. Its oil revenues have been close to zero since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while non-oil revenues – which account for about 85% of gross domestic product – are likely down 11%, Goldman Sachs estimated in April. HSBC projects the economy will contract by about 4% this year and the budget deficit will exceed 8% of GDP. Unlike the UAE and Saudi Arabia, however, Bahrain has relatively low foreign-exchange reserves, the International Monetary Fund reported in January, and its d...
US stocks struggled to build on record gains amid ceasefire tensions between the US and Iran. Growing strains on the ceasefire between the US and Iran sent oil prices higher for a third straight day. Meanwhile US President Donald Trump is proposing new tariffs of at least 10% on imports from 60 trading partners Bloomberg Cross-Asset Strategist Ven Ram breaks down the implications of the latest tar...
US stocks struggled to build on record gains amid ceasefire tensions between the US and Iran. Growing strains on the ceasefire between the US and Iran sent oil prices higher for a third straight day. Meanwhile US President Donald Trump is proposing new tariffs of at least 10% on imports from 60 trading partners Bloomberg Cross-Asset Strategist Ven Ram breaks down the implications of the latest tariffs' announcement, the need for the Fed to tighten and also how the Bank of England needs to act early with Bloomberg's Lizzy Burden on "Daybreak Europe." (Source: Bloomberg)