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☆ Airbnb: Italy threatens to seize more than $800 million over unpaid taxes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome CNN —Italian tax authorities are poised to seize some €779 million ($836 million) from Airbnb as a result of its alleged failure to pay taxes owed by landlords using the platform. Prosecutor Marcello Viola told Italian reporters Monday that three people who were administrators for Airbnb in Italy also face unpaid tax charges. A spokesperson for Airbnb told CNN Tuesday: “Airbnb Ireland has been in active discussions with the Italian tax agency since June 2023 to resolve this matter. In 2017, Google, owned by Alphabet (GOOGL), agreed to pay Italy €306 million ($327 million) to cover taxes for the years 2009 to 2015. And in 2015, the country worked out a similar unpaid tax deal with Apple (AAPL) worth €318 million ($340 million).

Persons: Rome, Airbnb, Marcello Viola, “, won’t, Giorgia Meloni, Airbnb —, Antonio Tajani, — Anna Cooban Organizations: Rome CNN, Union, Airbnb, CNN, ”, Google, Italy €, Apple Locations: Airbnb, Europe, United States, Milan, Ireland, €, Italy, Italian, New York City, Italy’s

That’s almost three times what Russia spent on defense in 2021, before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Those figures are likely to underestimate the total spent on Russia’s war effort. He said that before the war Russia would typically splash around 3-4% of its annual gross domestic product on defense but now it could be anywhere between 8% and 10%. Russia’s exports are still greater than the value of its imports, despite a boost to the latter from the hefty military spending. Rising military spending is, on the other hand, boosting Russia’s industrial output and, with it, GDP.

Persons: London CNN —, Vladimir Putin, Putin, That’s, Richard Connolly, Janis Kluge, Irina Okladnikova, Liam Peach, it’s, Peach, Kluge, “, ”, —, Maksim Konstantinov, Alexandra Suslina, Suslina, Alexandra Prokopenko, Prokopenko, — Anna Cooban, Tim Lister, Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: London CNN, Reuters, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Royal United Services Institute for Defence, Security Studies, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Capital Economics, CNN, “, ZUMA, International Monetary Fund, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, International Energy Agency, West Locations: “, Ukraine, Russia, Stockholm, Moscow, “ Russia, Russian, Saint Petersburg, Soviet, Berlin

☆ UK employment hits record high but the economy is still short 1 million workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —The number of people in work in the United Kingdom has climbed above its pre-pandemic level for the first time, reaching a record high. Employment hit a record 33.1 million between February and April, with increases in both the number of employees and self-employed workers, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. Employment in the United Kingdom has recovered more slowly than in any other major economy since the pandemic, according to the UK Institute for Employment Studies. This is the fastest rise on record, apart from the period when the figures were distorted by the pandemic, Morgan noted. Food inflation remained above 19% — near a 45-year high — hitting poor households the hardest because they spend more of their available income on food.

Persons: Darren Morgan, Morgan, Liz Truss, Jeremy Hunt, ”, Ashley Webb, Anna Cooban Organizations: London CNN, National Statistics, Employment, UK Institute for Employment Studies, Bank of, “, Capital Economics, Bank, Ill Locations: United Kingdom, Europe, United States

London CNN —Europe’s banks are not yet in the clear, a top EU regulator said Monday, two weeks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States unleashed turmoil in the global banking sector. José Manuel Campa, the head of the European Banking Authority (EBA), told a German newspaper that European lenders remained vulnerable following the demise of SVB and the subsequent emergency rescue of Credit Suisse by UBS. The regulator is currently finalizing a study of the effects of interest rate risks on European banks, which it started working on in the fall. “The investigation is not yet concluded, but I can say already today that we don’t expect to find major institutions with significant solvency risks arising from unrealized losses,” Campa said. Meanwhile, years of mismanagement and scandal at Credit Suisse left it particularly exposed to a broad sense of unease about banks.

☆ Credit Suisse faces fateful weekend. Will UBS step up with a rescue bid?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The fate of Credit Suisse could be decided in the next 36 hours after a torrid week for Switzerland’s second biggest bank. But by Friday, analysts were speculating that a full-blown rescue would be needed, and reports began to swirl of a possible takeover by its biggest Swiss rival, UBS (UBS). The FT said the boards of UBS and Credit Suisse were expected to meet separately over the weekend. Credit Suisse and UBS both declined to comment to Reuters. “BlackRock is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so,” a BlackRock spokesperson told CNN.

☆ What caused the global banking crisis this week and will it lead to a recession?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Silicon Valley Bank’s customers were frantically pulling their money from the California-based lender before US regulators intervened to take control. Thursday, March 16 — First Republic Bank was teetering on the brink as customers withdrew their deposits. In guaranteeing all deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Republic Bank, the US Federal Reserve is on the hook for $140 billion. Then there’s the $54 billion the Swiss National Bank offered Credit Suisse in the form of an emergency loan. The $318 billion the Fed has loaned in total to the financial system is about half what was extended during the global financial crisis.

☆ How companies are trying to help victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Companies around the world are racing to provide help to the victims of the devastating earthquake straddling Turkey and Syria, by donating food, medicines, services and cash. Hamdi Ulukaya has donated $1 million to an earthquake relief fund set up by Turkish Philanthropy Funds, the US-based donor organization has said. please donate to @tphilanthropy earthquake relief and recovery efforts. The aid organization is working to help people in Turkey and Syria affected by the quake. Aid agencies are particularly worried about victims in northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

☆ Air fares will have to rise to clean up aviation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

He said that financiers and energy suppliers should invest in SAF production, including in emerging markets. The wealthy people in this room and wealthy nations should be funding the energy transition in aviation to help support developing countries,” he added. Holland-Kaye said that companies can play a major role accelerating the adoption of SAF because business travel accounts for about 30% of fuel used in aviation. In 2021, the industry pledged to replaced 10% of global jet fuel supply with SAF by 2030. Clean energy investments need a major boost if the world is to meet its climate goals, according to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

☆ Rivian halts plans to build electric vans with Mercedes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Rivian said Monday it would no longer pursue a deal with Mercedes to build electric vans for businesses in Europe. “At this point in time, we believe focusing on our consumer business, as well as our existing commercial business, represent the most attractive near-term opportunities to maximize value for Rivian,” Scaringe said. A memorandum between Rivian and Mercedes was agreed just three months ago. They had planned to produce two large vans — one based on Mercedes’ engineering and another with “second-generation” Rivian engineering. Rivian, which is known for its electric trucks, generated huge hype when it made its public market debut in 2021.

☆ UK tries to shore up energy supply with US deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Britain has agreed a new energy partnership with the United States that aims to end its reliance on Russia and lower soaring energy costs. He said the aim was to double the amount of liquified natural gas (LNG) the United States exports to Britain compared to 2021 levels. The initiative with the United Kingdom comes nine months after the United States agreed a deal with the European Union to increase LNG shipments to Europe. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the United States became the world’s largest exporter of LNG in the first half of this year. Under the new partnership, the United States will aim to export “at least” 9-10 billion cubic meters of LNG via UK terminals.

☆ Mercedes CEO says Europe’s gas crisis will accelerate its shift to renewables
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Europe’s gas crisis will be “a catalyst” for Mercedes-Benz to push deeper into clean energy, says its CEO. The German government had already set in motion a crisis management plan that could see rationing gas to businesses if that happened. The group has also signed on to use a wind energy facility in the Baltic Sea that will “add another 25%” of capacity, said Källenius. “We’re going to diversify, we’re going to make ourselves more resilient, and of course we’re going to go carbon-free,” he added. The company unveiled the electric vehicle Sunday at the Paris Motor Show, as part of efforts to further diversify its lineup.

Berlin/London (CNN Business) Germany is nationalizing Uniper , its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. Uniper provides 40% of the country's gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe's biggest economy. But Habeck said the situation had "worsened dramatically" since Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely on September 1, citing an oil leak. Although gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 are suspended, Germany's gas reserves are filled at more than 90% capacity, European Storage provider GIE AGSI+ said on its website. UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

Berlin/London CNN Business —Germany is nationalizing Uniper, its biggest importer of natural gas, as part of an €8 billion ($7.9 billion) plan to prevent an energy shortage this winter. The German government will hold around 99% of Uniper after injecting new capital and buying out its Finnish parent company Fortum (FOJCF), German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday. Uniper provides 40% of the country’s gas supply and is crucial for large companies and private consumers in Europe’s biggest economy. Under the rescue deal, the government committed to provide €7.7 billion ($7.8 billion) to cover potential future losses, while state-run bank KfW agreed to increase its credit facility by €7 billion ($7.1 billion). UK details subsidies for businessGermany is not alone in paying a very heavy price to overcome gas supply shortages.

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