Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd soared after reporting revenue rose a better-than-expected 9%, reassuring investors trying to come to grips with the economic cost of sweeping lockdowns intended to eradicate Covid-19. The shares rose more than 12% in Hong Kong after the company reported revenue climbed to 204.05 billion yuan ($30.3 billion) in the March quarter, beating analysts’ projections. Chief ...

  Bloomberg Australian retailers recorded a fourth consecutive month of sales gains, suggesting cashed-up households are so far weathering a spike in the cost of living from surging fuel and other prices. Sales advanced 0.9% in April to a fresh record $24.1 billion and just shy of economists’ estimates for a 1% increase, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. “Cost ...

Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd has started a review that could lead to the shuttering of its pilot bases in the US, the Hong Kong carrier’s last overseas outpost, as it continues to cut costs to stem a cash drain from operating so few flights during the Covid crisis. Cathay has bases in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and ...

  Bloomberg India’s flying public is becoming increasingly frustrated with the nation’s airlines, according to a survey undertaken for Bloomberg, saying that customer service and the behaviour of airline staff has deteriorated sharply in the wake of Covid-19. Some 79% of the 15,000 airline passengers surveyed by LocalCircles said they believe carriers in India are compromising on passenger comfort and ...

  Bloomberg A consortium backed by the billionaire Issa brothers is considering dropping out of the bidding for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc’s international arm due to disagreements over price, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Issas, who were bidding together with TDR Capital, balked at a request by Walgreens to increase their offer for the Boots drugstore chain ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson urged more military support for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces, including sending advanced weapons such as Multiple Launch Rocket (MLR) Systems that can strike targets from a far longer distance. The British prime minister aired his support for more arms for Ukraine as he pushed back against the idea that, with the war now in its ...

Bloomberg Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s lead surged over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro as the field of candidates seeking Brazil’s top office thins out ahead of the October election, according to DataFolha’s latest poll. The 76-year-old leader of the Workers’ Party would win 48% of the first-round vote, while Bolsonaro would receive 27%, the survey found. In March, they ...

  Bloomberg New York City and Washington could be in for some window-rattling thunderstorms and gusty winds on Friday. Tornado watches were posted from Maryland to North Carolina on Friday, indicating the atmosphere was primed for the destructive storms, the National Weather Service said. As the day wears on, that risk will likely roll north into New Jersey, the upper ...

  Bloomberg Fiji will join the US in a wide-ranging economic initiative, making it the first Pacific Island country to do so as competition heats up between Beijing and Washington for influence in the Asia-Pacific. News of Fiji becoming the 14th country to join President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) came as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a ...

Bloomberg Former President Donald Trump must testify under oath in New York’s “well founded” probe of his company, a state appeals court ruled. The appellate panel in Manhattan upheld a lower-court ruling from February, rejecting Trump’s argument that New York Attorney General Letitia James opened the investigation because she’s politically biased. James, who is probing potentially fraudulent asset valuations at ...