Bloomberg South Korea’s Moon Jae-in vowed to make another push for peace in his final months as president, despite fresh signs that Kim Jong Un has little interest in reciprocating. Moon used his last new year address as South Korea’s leader to press for a cause that has defined his political career. The former democracy campaigner and son of ...

  Bloomberg A third Hong Kong news outlet announced it would shut as the city installed a legislature vetted for loyalty to the Communist Party, in a stark illustration of Beijing’s success in silencing the local opposition. The milestones unfolded in dramatic split screen as Citizen News briefed reporters on its decision to close at midnight at the same time ...

  Bloomberg President Jair Bolsonaro was flown to a hospital in Sao Paulo in the early hours of Monday, cutting short his beach vacation after suffering from abdominal pain. Bolsonaro was admitted to the hospital to undergo clinical tests after feeling “abdominal discomfort,” his press office said in a note. The president had symptoms of intestinal obstruction, according to a ...

  Bloomberg Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said the new government is working on tax relief measures of more than 30 billion euros ($34 billion). “In this legislative period, we will relieve people and medium-sized businesses by well over 30 billion euros,” he told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Planned measures include the ability to fully deduct contributions to pension ...

  Bloomberg Mario Draghi’s government has won lawmakers’ support for a 32 billion-euro ($36 billion) budget plan for 2022 aimed at supporting Italy’s growth. The bill was approved with a confidence vote in parliament in Rome, and will face a final formal vote. The spending plan — the first drafted by the executive led by the former European Central Bank ...

  Bloomberg The UK government will develop contingency plans to help companies and supply chains avoid disruptions from staff absences due to Covid-19, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing the Cabinet Office. The government has identified a range of staff-support measures, including former teachers for schools and volunteers in the public sector, the newspaper said. It has asked private businesses ...

  Bloomberg Telefonica SA reached an agreement with unions in Spain to cut about 2,700 jobs through voluntary redundancies of older workers. The departures are expected to cost about 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) that will be booked in fourth quarter earnings, the company said in a regulatory filing. The plan targets workers turning 55 or older in 2022 and ...

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc delivered 308,600 vehicles worldwide in the fourth quarter, smashing the previous record for the electric-car maker and setting a capstone on a year in which the company joined the exclusive $1 trillion market valuation club. The better-than-expected results posted Sunday pushed Tesla’s total sales for the year to more than 936,000, up about 87% over 2020’s ...

  Bloomberg US equity futures gained, while Asian stocks were mixed in thin trading as investors mulled the impact of the omicron variant on the global recovery. Shares of troubled China Evergrande Group were suspended in Hong Kong. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts advanced at the start of the new year, with major markets including Australia, Japan and China ...

  Bloomberg Traders looking for a turnaround in Asian stocks in 2022 will be keeping a watchful eye on Chinese stimulus, the direction of the dollar, fading retail participation and the outlook for equity listings. The case for a rebound should be aided by lower valuations after the MSCI Asia Pacific Index underperformed its global counterpart by around 20 percentage ...