The news from Washington last week, as usual, was grim. Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Bipartisan talks over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals are dragging out. Senators negotiating a police-reform bill missed their deadline. It’s disappointing to progressives who want to see the government get things done, ...

Bloomberg Food giant Monde Nissin Corp’s record-breaking entry into the Philippine stock market is driving a shakeup that’s impacting everything from the nation’s consumer sector to holdings of some of the biggest money managers. Investors say the $1 billion initial share offering — the biggest ever debut in the Southeast Asian country — is pushing them to reallocate funds from ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it continues to have permission to operate several weekly flights to Moscow and St Petersburg, after at least two European airlines scrapped routes when Russian aviation authorities withheld authorisation for changes to avoid flying over Belarus. The German carrier operates seven weekly connections to Moscow and four to St Petersburg, according to a spokeswoman. Air ...

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd is offering unlimited flights for a year among a pool of prizes for people who’ve had Covid-19 shots, the biggest incentive yet from an Australian business in a bid to accelerate the country’s sluggish vaccination rollout. Giving details about the program on Monday, Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said 10 “mega prizes” would give families of ...

Bloomberg The US will have a busy vacation season this summer as cities make a strong comeback, according to Stephen Kaufer, chief executive officer of TripAdvisor Inc. “Now we have a lot more activities all around the country, and it’s not just outdoors. The cities are making a very real comeback,” Kaufer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. Hotel searches ...

Bloomberg The back-to-school season has always been important for US retailers, and this year’s is likely to be a doozy. Consumer wallets fat with stimulus checks helped Walmart Inc and Target Corp blow past sales estimates in the first quarter, but those funds will dry up at some point. Stepping into the fold, analysts expect an unprecedented shopping season as ...

Bloomberg Ulta Beauty Inc reported first-quarter comparable sales that beat expectations, showing that makeup usage is making a recovery. Comparable sales, a key metric for retailers, rose 66% for the quarter — above the 39% average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. The beauty retailer raised its outlook for 2021, with net sales now seen in a range of $7.7 billion ...

Bloomberg The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have urged China to give outside observers “unfettered access” to Xinjiang, a move that is likely to draw criticism from Beijing. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern “expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation” in China’s far western region and said the United Nations and others should ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said the US will stand up for human rights and pledged to raise the matter during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month. “I’ll be meeting with President Putin in a couple of weeks in Geneva, making it clear that we will not, we will not stand by and let him abuse those rights,” ...

Bloomberg West African leaders suspended Mali from a regional bloc after military officers wrested control of the country’s government, the second coup in the West African country in nine months. The suspension will remain in force until the nation returns to constitutional rule, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayorkor Botchway told reporters in the capital, Accra, following an emergency ...