Global business from the Economist

U.S. rates are cut for first time since crisis

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, by a quarter of a percentage point to between 2% and 2.25%. After nearly four years of tightening, Jerome Powell, the central bank's chairman, said the Fed was loosening monetary policy amid uncertainties about trade, the world economy and lower inflation expectations. A few days before the Fed's meeting, figures showed that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the second quarter, well below the first quarter's 3.1%.

The eurozone's economy grew at an annualized rate of just 0.8% in the second quarter. Inflation, meanwhile, fell again in July, to 1.1%, short of the European Central Bank's 2% target. At a meeting of the ECB on July 25, Mario Draghi, its outgoing president, signaled that he was "determined to act" to address the eurozone's persistently low inflation. Many investors are expecting a new round of interest-rate cuts in September.

The London Stock Exchange reached an agreement to buy Refinitiv, a provider of financial data, for $27 billion. Refinitiv is jointly owned by Blackstone and Thomson Reuters, who will both obtain a stake in the LSE as part of the deal. By acquiring Refinitiv, the stock exchange and clearinghouse group will expand its market-information operations, pitting it on many trading floors against Bloomberg, another data provider.

In a deal that creates a behemoth in the market for everyday drugs, Pfizer agreed to merge its off-patent medicines business with Mylan, a generics drugmaker. The transaction will place Pfizer's previously bestselling drugs such as Viagra in a new company alongside Mylan's products.

Michael O'Leary, the boss of Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline, said that around 900 jobs might be shed, including 500 pilots, in part because the grounding of Boeing's 737 max aircraft has caused Ryanair to cut flights.

The U.S. Justice Department approved the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, but only after the mobile-telecoms companies agreed to sell a range of assets to Dish, a satellite-TV company, that will bolster its wireless services and expand competition in the market. T-Mobile and Sprint still face a lawsuit trying to block the deal brought by several states, led by California and New York, before they can seal their transaction.

Navalny

Huawei, a Chinese telecoms-equipment maker, reported a 23% increase in revenue in the first half of the year and said its 5G business was thriving, despite being blacklisted by the United States. The company did acknowledge, however, that the U.S. prohibition on its hardware was affecting smartphone sales outside China.

SoftBank announced the creation of a second Vision Fund through which it and outside investors will back technology startups. The new fund hopes to raise $108 billion.

Global politics from the Economist

Russian opposition leader gets treatment

Russia's main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was taken from prison to a hospital to be treated for what the authorities called an allergic reaction but supporters said may have been poisoning. He was later returned to prison, where he is in custody for organizing an illegal protest, according to the Kremlin. More than 1,000 people were arrested at a demonstration in Moscow demanding that independent candidates be allowed to stand in a citywide election. More protests are planned.

Boris Johnson spent a busy first week as Britain's prime minister. He created a new office to administer lifelong support for veterans of the armed forces; pledged resources for several projects; and promised to open the spending taps for public services. Next for Johnson was a whistle-stop "Union" tour with visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Brexit loomed in the background.

The latest Democratic debates shed more heat than light on what policies the party will fight the next election on. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner, was targeted by his colleagues in a bad-tempered clash in which the candidates squabbled over who was the most progressive.

Diplomats from Iran and five world powers met to try to salvage a deal, signed in 2015, that eased economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, the estranged wife of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, asked Britain's High Court for wardship of their two children, as well as a forced-marriage protection order. Princess Haya, who is thought to be hiding in London, is Sheikh Mohammed's sixth wife. Two of his daughters have also tried to run away.