Bloomberg The UK’s auditing watchdog has started an investigation into Mazars’ audit of French Connection Group Plc. The Financial Reporting Council said on Wednesday the probe would focus on the year ending on January 31, 2020 without disclosing further details. The struggling UK fashion retailer has failed to keep pace on price with its high street rivals and has been ...

Bloomberg Mondelez International Inc will require employees at its offices in Chicago, Miami and East Hanover, New Jersey, to be fully vaccinated “as a condition of employment,” according to a statement. The maker of Chips Ahoy! cookies and Halls cough drops said that vaccine adoption “is essential to lowering case counts, preventing Covid hospitalisations and deaths and ending this pandemic,” ...

Bloomberg US President Joe Biden said he and China’s Xi Jinping have reaffirmed their agreement on Taiwan, as top envoys for the two countries were expected to discuss simmering tensions over the democratically ruled island during talks in Zurich. Biden told reporters after returning from a trip to Michigan that he and the Chinese president spoke and agreed to stick ...

Bloomberg Afghanistan’s state power company has appealed to a United Nations-led mission to give $90 million to settle unpaid bills to Central Asian suppliers before electricity gets cut off for the country given that the three-month deadline for payments has passed. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan from mid-August, electricity bills haven’t been paid to neighbouring countries that supply ...

Bloomberg Mali’s foreign ministry has summoned the country’s French ambassador after France’s President Emmanuel Macron questioned the legitimacy of the African nation’s interim leadership. Tensions between France and Mali have been rising since Mali’s Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, accused France of abandoning his country “mid-flight” in the fight against extremists. Radio France International reported that Macron last week rejected ...

Bloomberg The US trade deficit widened to a record in August, reflecting a pickup in the value of imports of consumer goods and industrial supplies. The gap in trade of goods and services increased 4.2% to $73.3 billion, from a revised $70.3 billion in July, according to Commerce Department data. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was ...

Bloomberg Canada’s trade surplus with the rest of the world expanded significantly in August on larger energy exports. The country’s merchandise trade surplus was C$1.94 billion ($1.5 billion) from a revised C$736 million surplus in July, Statistics Canada reported in Ottawa. Economists were expecting a surplus of C$430 million, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. August was ...

Bloomberg Telefonica SA is considering options for its Spanish fiber network, including a stake sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The Spanish telecommunications company has spoken with potential advisers about a carve-out of the unit ahead of a possible deal to bring in new investors, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Any transaction ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to play down a supply chain crisis that’s seen fuel shortages across the country and farm animals threatened with destruction, calling it a “turning point” for the UK economy as it emerges from the pandemic and after leaving the European Union. In interviews, Johnson pushed his relentlessly positive message that the country will benefit ...

Bloomberg Toronto home sales posted their first increase in six months as the end-of-summer holidays finally brought buyers some new supply, though it still wasn’t enough to alleviate a historically tight market or keep prices from continuing their upward march. The number of Toronto homes changing hands climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in September, the first rise from one month ...