Bloomberg Australian retailers recorded their best month of sales in nearly a year as consumers splashed out on everything from dining out to clothing, taking advantage of the easing of protracted lockdowns and building momentum in the economy for the final quarter. Sales surged 4.9% in October from a month earlier, when they rose 1.3%, and more than doubled ...

  Bloomberg Ralph Lauren Corp is debuting its first digital fashion line in Roblox Corp’s virtual world, becoming the latest apparel maker to try building brand awareness in the metaverse. The company, known best for its polo shirts, is offering a “Winter Escape” experience in the Roblox online universe. Players can enjoy activities such as ice skating while shopping for ...

  Bloomberg Group of Seven (G-7) governments are converging around a warning to Russia that President Vladimir Putin will face severe costs if he sends troops into Ukraine, a senior US official said. Discussions at a weekend meeting of G-7 foreign ministers in Liverpool, England, have been in line with President Joe Biden’s public stance towards the threat of a ...

  Bloomberg The UK opposition Labour Party has taken its biggest lead over the ruling Conservative Party since 2014 in a new opinion poll, in the latest sign that allegations around Covid-19 rule-breaking parties are eroding support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Support for the Labour party is at 41%, according to an Opinium survey for the Observer newspaper. That ...

  Bloomberg An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.0 shook buildings in Tokyo, temporarily halting some train lines along Japan’s eastern coastal region. The earthquake occurred in the southern part of Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture at about 12:30 pm local time, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. There is no threat of a tsunami, and train lines had resumed operations ...

  Bloomberg Residents in New Caledonia, an archipelago in the strategic waters of the Pacific, have voted overwhelmingly to remain a French territory, in a victory for French President Emmanuel Macron. More than 96% voted against independence from France, state-run AFP news agency reported. Turnout was low, however, after indigenous pro-independence leaders called to boycott the referendum, which meant to ...

  Bloomberg Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was warned he’ll be considered in “willful noncompliance” with a Congressional subpoena if he fails to testify to a House panel investigating the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Representative James Clyburn, the committee’s chairman, didn’t specify possible consequences in a letter to Navarro. Navarro told the panel in a ...

    Bloomberg UK business groups called for government support after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced restrictions to curb the spread of the omicron variant, which Bloomberg Economics estimates could cost the economy as much as 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) a month. In remarks following Johnson’s televised address to the nation, business groups said the measures, which include advice ...

  Bloomberg Spanish inflation accelerated to the fastest in nearly three decades in November on rising food prices, underscoring the lingering consequences of supply-chain bottlenecks across Europe. Consumer prices jumped 5.6%, national data showed — the highest since September 1992. The European Union-harmonised measure also came in at that level, matching the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. A national ...

  Bloomberg General Electric Co said it now expects to buy back $25 billion of bonds, expanding one of the biggest debt repurchases ever, after finding strong demand from investors to sell the securities. Investors have so far offered to sell about $33 billion of bonds to the company, GE said in a statement. GE had sought to buy back ...