English Newsletters Events Podcasts Videos Africanews Search

Quirino Mealha

Economy

Extreme heat threatens Italy's Parmigiano-backed loans

Extreme heat is squeezing Italy's "cheese banks", the climate-controlled vaults in Emilia-Romagna where hundreds of thousands of Parmigiano Reggiano wheels sit as collateral for farm loans, pushing up energy bills and thinning the milk supply that fills them.

Markets

Oil prices rise as Trump and Iran trade reparations demands

Oil prices and US government bond yields both climbed on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump answered Iran's demand for war reparations with a sweeping counterclaim of his own, pushing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz further out of reach.

Economy

ECB holds rates at 2.25% as reignited Iran war boosts inflation fears

The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, pausing after June's first hike in three years as easing inflation bought policymakers time, while renewed fighting in the Middle East caused a new rise in energy prices, keeping another hike firmly on the table for autumn.

Economy

Oil producers race to build alternatives to Hormuz as oil hits $100

Gulf oil producers are spending billions of dollars on pipelines designed to route crude around the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran's grip on the waterway drags on causing oil prices to hit $100 a barrel for the first time since May.

ADVERTISEMENT

Economy

New UK PM touts 'cost of living government' with tax cut and £2 buses

Andy Burnham has used his first days in Downing Street to scrap the 5% VAT charged on household electricity bills and cap single bus fares in England at £2, telling his new cabinet that Britain now has a "cost of living government".

Economy

Spain backs Hernández de Cos in first-ever bid for the ECB presidency

The Spanish government has chosen Pablo Hernández de Cos, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements and former Bank of Spain governor, as its candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde at the ECB.

Economy

One in five EU jobs classed as vulnerable and Spain tops the list

Close to one in five jobs in the European Union qualifies as vulnerable on at least one of three counts, inadequate pay, insecure employment or a lack of workplace rights, according to a new report from Eurofound, which places Spain at the top of the table.

Economy

What is Spain's World Cup victory actually worth to the economy?

Spain's 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday's World Cup final brings a record $50 million (€43.7m) cheque from FIFA and, if past champions are any guide, a measurable but fleeting lift for the economy.

Economy

Eurozone inflation at 2.8%: Will it be enough for the ECB to pause?

Eurozone inflation was confirmed at 2.8% for June on Friday, marking the first decline this year and giving the European Central Bank a timely argument to keep its deposit facility rate unchanged at 2.25% when it meets this week.

Business

BlackRock tops $15tn: Where does the financial giant put it all?

BlackRock has become the first asset manager to oversee more than $15 trillion (€13tn), nearly three times the nominal annual output of Germany, the EU’s largest economy. Here is how the money is spread.

Business

The world's most profitable airlines: Record earnings collide with war

The nine most profitable airlines on the planet earned a combined $25.11 billion (€22bn) in their latest annual results, with Emirates keeping its crown. However, the numbers largely reflect an industry snapshot moments before the Iran war changed everything.

Business

TSMC posts record profit and pledges $100bn to expand US manufacturing

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) beat Wall Street expectations on Thursday with a record second-quarter net profit, up 77% from a year earlier, while pledging a further $100bn (€87.4bn) to expand its chipmaking capacity in the US.

Economy

ECB selects 36 payment providers for digital euro pilot

The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected 36 payment service providers to help test the digital euro in a year-long pilot from 2027, marking the latest milestone in the EU's effort to create a digital form of central bank money while reducing reliance on foreign payment networks.

Business

France and Spain meet in the most expensive World Cup semi-final ever

Tuesday's clash between France and Spain in Texas is not just a footballing spectacle, it is also, by market value, the costliest semi-final the World Cup has staged, with the two squads worth a combined $3.2 billion (€2.8bn).

Business

TSMC's June sales drive revenue surge of 68% ahead of earnings report

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported a 35.6% increase in revenue during the first-half of 2026, and of 68% in June, highlighting continued strong demand for AI chips ahead of the firm's full second-quarter earnings report later this week.

Economy

Global oil demand set for first annual drop since COVID, IEA says

Global oil consumption is on course to shrink this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Energy Agency has said, as the war between the US and Iran throttled Gulf exports, though the IEA also noted supply increased in June.

Business

EasyJet backs Apollo's £5.7bn takeover bid over Castlelake

The budget airline easyJet has swung behind a £5.7 billion (€6.6bn) takeover proposal from the US private equity giant Apollo, abandoning its support for a rival American bidder days after agreeing to that offer.

Markets

SK hynix: From near-collapse to $1 trillion and a Nasdaq listing

SK hynix, the South Korean chipmaker whose memory chips power AI data centres around the world, lists on the Nasdaq this week in one of the largest share sales in history, capping a journey from near-bankruptcy to a trillion-dollar valuation.

Business

Can a new global defence bank unlock £100bn for rearmament?

Nine countries have thrown their weight behind a new multilateral bank designed to bankroll Western rearmament, but the notable caution of Europe's largest military and economic powers raises the question of whether it can become the answer to defence funding.

Business

Premier League clubs' financial losses surged over 600% in a season

English top-flight football clubs saw their combined pre-tax losses balloon from £135 million (€158mn) to £948 million (€1.1bn) in the 2024/25 season, even as their revenues climbed to a record high.

ADVERTISEMENT