Headlines

U.S. appeals court judges on Wednesday appeared skeptical of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's claim that it can require an idled oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands to obtain a costly new pollution permit before restarting operations, Reuters reported. During oral arguments in St. Croix, a three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned whether the federal Clean Air Act allows the agency to require Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation LLLP, the refinery's owner, to obtain the permit, since they are typically only necessary for new projects.

German airline Lufthansa on Thursday signed a deal with the Italian government for a 41-percent minority share in the long-struggling ITA Airways, formerly Alitalia, the Associated Press reported. The deal calls for investments of 575 million euros in capital increases, 325 million euros from Lufthansa and the rest from the Italian Finance Ministry, providing capital for growth. Lufthansa will also have the option of buying the remaining shares at a later date.

The German economy was in recession in early 2023 after household spending in Europe's economic engine finally succumbed to the pressure of high inflation, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the first quarter of the year when adjusted for price and calendar effects, a second estimate from the statistics office showed on Thursday. This follows a decline of 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022. A recession is commonly defined as two successive quarters of contraction.

Analysts from Goldman Sachs & Co and XP Investimentos are betting a fresh bout of dollar weakness can fuel gains in the Mexican peso, the world’s best performing currency, Bloomberg reported. The bullish calls come after the currency — dubbed the “super peso” because of its astounding rally — gave up some of its gains amid political noise at home and a global selloff amid U.S. debt-ceiling talks. Despite recent losses, the peso is still up 9.5% against the dollar this year, the best major currency in the world in that span.

Most British households, many feeling a cost-of-living squeeze, can expect cheaper energy bills from July after regulator Ofgem slashed its price cap to reflect a slump in wholesale costs, Reuters reported. Britain has the joint-highest rate of inflation among the Group of Seven nations along with Italy, and official data this week showed consumer prices rose 8.7% in annual terms in April, slowing from March, but still at elevated levels.

When Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was Brazil’s leader from 2003 to 2011, he didn’t have to contend with an independent central bank, according to an analysis in The Washington Post. Reelected president in October, he has resisted the new reality created by a 2021 law enshrining the bank’s power to set monetary policy autonomously. He has called the law “nonsense” and publicly criticized the bank’s inflation goals and interest rates, creating tension with its chief, Roberto Campos Neto.

Investment firm Permira has acquired the majority of Gruppo Florence, in a deal which a source close to the matter said valued the hub of Italian luxury clothing and leather goods manufacturers at more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), Reuters reported. The deal announced on Thursday highlights a trend among private-equity funds, which after running out of big brands to buy, have locked on to the challenges of the luxury industry's supply chain and turned to a "buy and build" strategy.

The rows of towering buildings crowding the banks of the Gan River are a testament to the real estate boom that transformed Nanchang in eastern China from a gritty manufacturing hub to a modern urban center, the New York Times reported. Now those skyscrapers are evidence of something very different: China’s real estate market in crisis, reeling after years of overbuilding.

Pratt & Whitney has no engines currently available for India's Go First airline, which also has no rights over them, the counsel for the U.S. firm told a Delaware court on Thursday as the two companies engaged in a raging dispute over the supplies, Reuters reported. The Indian airline has approached the Delaware court to enforce an arbitration order it won in Singapore against Pratt & Whitney, which it blames for its financial troubles and argues the U.S. firm failed to supply engines on time. Pratt says those claims are without merit.

UBS on Thursday won unconditional EU antitrust approval to acquire Credit Suisse as part of a government-orchestrated rescue of its Swiss rival, Reuters reported. The European Commission said the deal would not raise competition concerns in Europe, confirming a Reuters story earlier this month. "The combined entity will continue facing significant competitive pressure from a wide range of competitors in all of those markets, including several major global banks as well as specialist providers and strong local players," the EU competition watchdog said in a statement.