The stimulus era is formally over. The Bank of England’s (BOE) surprise 15 basis point interest-rate increase finally moved the agenda from pandemic recovery onto fighting inflation. The pound rose nearly 1% versus the dollar and the entire gilt yield curve rose about eight basis points. The conditions were just too strong for the monetary policy committee to ignore any ...

  On September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. On Decmber 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the US. On August 8, 1945, Russia declared war on Japan. The point here is that for the best part of a thousand years, a convention prevailed that before one state waged war against another, it formally announced its intention to ...

  President Joe Biden’s signature economic legislation isn’t dead. In fact, if Democratic Party leaders could only bring themselves to make a few hard choices, Build Back Better could even get better. Momentum for the nearly $2 trillion bill has seemingly collapsed, with talks between Senator Joe Manchin and the White House breaking down and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ...

  Bloomberg Widespread flight delays in snowstorms and low visibility could occur once new 5G wireless service rolls out in early January, airline executives and aviation officials are warning with increasing alarm. The officials say the new wireless signals threaten to interfere with equipment on planes and helicopters that track aircraft altitude, which could prohibit landings in poor visibility and ...

  Bloomberg The number of people visiting London’s major shopping district was down by almost a fifth on the last weekend before Christmas compared with pre-pandemic levels, a further sign of the toll the spread of the omicron variant is taking on beleaguered UK stores. Footfall in the West End was 17% lower than the equivalent period in 2019, and ...

  Bloomberg Future Retail Ltd’s shares and dollar bonds jumped after an order by India’s antitrust body may make it harder for Amazon.com Inc to block a bid for the Indian department store chain by rival Reliance Industries Ltd. Future’s shares rose by the maximum permissible 20% to 57.5 rupees in Mumbai on Monday, the biggest surge since August last ...

  Bloomberg British Airways (BA) put flights to Hong Kong on hold until March after the imposition of strict quarantine rules by the Asian financial hub’s government saw airline crews forced to isolate in a makeshift camp. The London-based carrier’s schedule shows no services to Hong Kong until the end of February. British Airways initially suspended flights there late last ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam touted plans to revive a controversial security law that ignited a political firestorm two decades ago, after completing an election to install a new legislature filled with Beijing loyalists. The pro-establishment council elected in a muted vote should present “new proposals” by June on how to enact security legislation, Lam told a news ...

  Bloomberg The leader of dissident Tigrayan fighters who’ve been battling Ethiopian federal troops for the past 13 months said he’d ordered a strategic withdrawal in a bid to end the nation’s civil war. The announcement marks a significant development in the conflict and comes after government soldiers recaptured towns in the Afar and Amhara regions seized by the Tigray ...

  Bloomberg Leftist Gabriel Boric was elected president of Chile by a larger-than-expected margin, giving him a mandate to push for higher taxes, greener industries and greater equality after a contest focused on discontent over an investor-friendly economy that has left many behind. The former student protest leader won 56% of the vote, beating conservative rival Jose Antonio Kast’s 44%. ...