Headlines

Administrators for SCL Elections, an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica, attempted to sell the company but only received four proposals, including an offer for £1 for the scandal ridden data firm’s brand name, according to a corporate filing on Saturday. Cambridge Analytica, SCL Elections and several other related companies in May began Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in the US and filed for insolvency in the UK after the fallout from revelations about Cambridge Analytica’s role in a massive leak of Facebook data, the Financial Times reported.

On the surface, China’s economy is humming along smoothly. It’s the numbers behind the numbers that point to mounting challenges for the world’s other economic superpower, the International New York Times reported. The Chinese government on Monday reported that the economy grew 6.7 percent in the three months that ended in June compared with a year ago. That is pretty close to the rate that China has reported quarter after quarter over the past two and a half years. The pace puts it comfortably within its target of achieving growth of around 6.5 percent for the full year.

The Middle East and north Africa must accelerate economic reforms and tackle an unemployment crisis among women and young people that risks fuelling wider unrest across the region, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In a report published on Thursday, the fund highlighted the vast gender gap in the regional workforce, the Financial Times reported. If this was narrowed “from triple to double the average for other emerging markets and developing economies”, the region’s economic growth could have doubled in the past decade, gaining $1tn in cumulative output, it said.

Germany on Thursday held up the final bailout disbursement for Greece, a move indicative of how difficult it will be for the southern country to regain financial sovereignty even as it exits an eight-year bailout regime in August, The Wall Street Journal reported. Eurozone finance ministers approved the €15 billion ($17.5 billion) aid payment at a meeting in Brussels, but Germany declined to sign off on the deal.

EU regulators have approved Irish airline Ryanair’s planned purchase of 75 per cent of Laudamotion, the Austrian carrier founded by triple Formula One champion, Niki Lauda. Ryanair pledged last February to invest €100 million in Laudamotion and took a 24.9 per cent stake in the business, which it said would increase to 75 per cent once it got European Commission approval, the Irish Times reported. Brussels unconditionally approved the deal on Thursday. “The commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area,” a statement said.

Britain’s government, in a plan unveiled on Thursday, envisions a new, special arrangement for the country’s large financial sector after Britain leaves the European Union next year, the International New York Times reported. It remains to be seen, though, if the bloc’s officials will accept the proposal. In the new plan, Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, abandoned previous hopes of a so-called “mutual recognition” of financial regulations between the United Kingdom and Europe.

China is letting up on its drive to keep a lid on debt growth as it faces a softening economy at home and escalating trade tensions with the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported. Senior Chinese leaders led by President Xi Jinping have been sending unmistakable signals that the campaign to rein in financial risk isn’t the overriding priority it has been.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has been prompted by the collapse of the UK outsourcer Carillion to look at setting up a list of public-sector service suppliers, to help avoid the State becoming too exposed to individual firms, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at a Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Thursday, NTMA chief executive Conor O’Kelly said that such a list would allow procurement officials in departments and Government agencies to assess if Irish taxpayers had too much exposure to certain “counterparties”.

Global mining giants Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Rio Tinto PLC have agreed to hand over control of the world’s second-biggest copper mine to Indonesia, moving closer to resolving one of the world’s most prominent recent battles over resource wealth, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thursday’s agreement comes after years of tense negotiations and follows moves by governments around the world, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Tanzania, to wrest control of mines and take a bigger cut of profits.

Some investors in funds managed by Dubai-based Abraaj want to block the sale of assets to Colony Capital pending a review of Abraaj’s handling of funds, according to a report seen by Reuters, potentially delaying a deal key to the survival of the investment management business. United States-based Colony offered last month to buy the fund management unit that runs Abraaj’s Latin America, Sub Saharan Africa, North Africa and Turkey funds after months of turmoil at Abraaj triggered by a dispute with investors over the use of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund, Reuters reported.