Bloomberg South Korea’s top diplomat said the US ally will stand by Washington’s side in its fight against hate crimes. “We will continue to actively support the efforts of the US government to fight against hate crimes, and stand firmly by its side against hatred and violence,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said in a text message to reporters ...

Bloomberg Like many nations, Paraguay faces an uphill battle to procure coronavirus vaccines. But its quest is being complicated by fraught relations between China on one side, and Taiwan and the US on the other. The Paraguayan government has been approached with offers of Chinese-made vaccines in exchange for breaking ties with Taiwan, the country’s foreign ministry said in statement ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s Supreme Court found that the judge who presided over corruption cases against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was biased, a ruling that could unravel the landmark Carwash anti-graft probe. A panel of justices voted 3 to 2 that former judge Sergio Moro, who spearheaded the operation, was prejudiced in convicting Lula of money laundering and corruption ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the German people for forgiveness after making a rare public apology for sparking massive criticism with plans for a five-day Easter shutdown. Merkel dropped the proposal, calling it a “mistake,” after a hastily-arranged video conference with the heads of Germany’s 16 states around 33 hours after announcing the move. She defended one of Germany’s toughest ...

Bloomberg The UK government has “significantly underestimated” how much it will cost to decarbonise heating in British homes, a touchstone of its net zero promise. The simple step of insulating Britain’s drafty homes is essential before gas boilers can be replaced with low carbon technology like heat pumps. The cost of improving energy efficiency could be as much as 18,000 ...

Bloomberg France still sees gross domestic product growth of 6% this year, even after new lockdown measures came into force in Paris and other regions to contain the coronavirus. “I confirm our ambitions to reach 6% growth in 2021,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a radio interview on France Inter. “The moment when we lift the restrictions, our ...

Bloomberg US sales of new homes declined in February to a nine-month low as severe winter weather in parts of the country limited foot traffic against a backdrop of elevated prices that may be restraining momentum. Purchases of new single-family homes decreased 18.2% — the sharpest decline since July 2013 — to a 775,000 annualised pace from an upwardly revised ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) took advantage of high demand for its social bonds to accelerate funding for a regional jobs program. The bloc pulled in above 96.5 billion euros of orders for a 13-billion-euro offering of five-year and 25-year notes. This syndication is the second in March and will mean the EU is three-quarters of the way through funding ...

Bloomberg BT Group Plc announced a bonus for 59,000 workers, weeks ahead of a potential strike over Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Philip Jansen’s restructuring plans. Staff such as engineers and call center workers who were on the front line during the pandemic will receive 1,000 pounds ($1,371) in cash immediately, the British phone company said in a statement. It said that’s ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved the government’s budget plans for this year and next, including an extra 60 billion euros ($71 billion) in net debt for 2021 to help offset the impact of the coronavirus. The additional borrowing this year takes the total to more than 240 billion euros, as Germany spends freely to support businesses affected by ...