Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition April 15, 2019

● A battle has erupted for control of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. Eight years after the uprising that ended Moammar Al Qaddafi’s 40-year rule, warlord Khalifa Haftar is trying to topple the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. ● Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for a revote in Istanbul. His ruling party suffered an apparent defeat in the city—his power base—in March’s regional elections. Erdogan alleges there were “widespread irregularities” and “organized” fraud. ● Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration presented the first photos of a black hole, at the heart of Messier 87, a galaxy 55 million light-years away. ● Saudi Aramco received more than $100b in orders for its debut bond sale. This marks a turnaround for Saudi Arabia, which has been shunned by investors and…

In 2000, some 1.4 billion people lived at or below the global poverty line of $1.90 a day. Today, the number is about 600 million. This remarkable change is mainly due to growth in China and India: Much of sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria, has failed to share in the success. A decade ago, Nigeria had far fewer people in extreme poverty than either China or India; today, according to data compiled by the World Data Lab, it has more than both combined. The count stands at more than 90 million and has risen both in absolute terms and as a share of the total. Nigeria’s success or failure in confronting extreme poverty will be pivotal for the rest of Africa—partly because of its huge population but also because of its outsize influence…

▶ Can They Go Much Higher? Last year was the most profitable in banking history. So expectations are high as some of the biggest financial names report first-quarter earnings: Goldman Sachs and Citigroup on April 15, followed by Bank of America the next day, and Morgan Stanley on April 17. ▶ China releases economic data on April 17, including first-quarter GDP and the latest retail sales and industrial production, amid trade tensions with the U.S. ▶ Netflix reports first-quarter earnings on April 16. The company is relying on its international business for growth as the U.S. market becomes more saturated. ▶ The Bank of Korea unveils its rate decision after an April 18 policy meeting. Central banks worldwide are pausing rate hikes as economic growth slows. ▶ Indonesia’s 190 million eligible voters will pick…

At first glance, there’s little to betray the village of Edington’s status as the lodestar of Brexit. Squeezed between the chalk hills of Salisbury Plain and Wiltshire’s clay downs to the north, Edington lacks a school, a shop, or an obvious center. It has a village pub, the Three Daggers, and an ornate priory church serving a population the 2011 census put at 734 souls. It’s here, though, that historians broadly agree England was born. And England is key to understanding what’s happening in the U.K. today. For if anything is clear from its tortuous divorce from the European Union, the spectacle of an angry and divided nation in desperate need of direction is an English phenomenon, not a British one. Edington lies in an ancient landscape dotted with Neolithic long barrows…

Most 60-year-old men don’t go food shopping every day, but Tommy Mule does. Mule (pronounced Moo-LAY), a morning radio host in Rochester, N.Y., pops into his local grocery store daily for some Vietnamese spring rolls, a rotisserie chicken, or just a coffee and some chitchat with Jimmy, his pal in the produce department. The broadcaster likes the place so much he hired the supermarket to cater his wedding. He often takes out-of-town guests on a tour of the place. “They say, ‘It’s a goddamn grocery store. How good could it be?’ ” he says. “But I say it’s the best shopping experience you’ve ever had.” Mule’s retail nirvana is Wegmans Food Markets. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. The privately held, family-run chain based in Rochester has only 98…

When the lease was up on Ed Kim’s 2015 Fiat 500L, he and his wife went through four Los Angeles area dealerships before they found one willing to take back the car. Three had dropped the Fiat brand from their stores—including the one that originally leased him the car. “We had this orphaned car in our driveway that we needed to bring back, with no dealership willing to take it in,” says Kim. “It was such a weird and bizarre situation.” Kim’s troubles are a sign of just how much Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s American experiment with stylish Italian microcars has failed to live up to expectations. Fiat brand sales in the U.S. peaked at about 46,000 in 2014, with the addition of the roomier 500L, and have been in free…