The defining image of Britain’s Christmas Eve trade deal with the European Union was a beaming Boris Johnson with his thumbs up in the air. There were no celebratory pictures from any of his continental counterparts. Getting to this point is a win in itself for the UK. An end to Brexit’s drama should let the Brits reenter a more ...

For four of the biggest US technology companies — Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — 2020 was one for the books. During a year when the global pandemic put many companies out of business, these market leaders thrived, raking in profits that sent their stock prices soaring and left them more powerful and valuable ...

Should Chinese regulators determine Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to be a monopoly, they ought to look directly to Beijing for an explanation as to how it happened. China announced an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant. Ant Group Co is also in the crosshairs, as the central bank and the banking watchdog will separately ...

The US economy runs on immigration. Immigrants support crucial industries, pay huge amounts in taxes, take care of children and the elderly, sustain American innovation and — perhaps most importantly — make the country a more attractive destination for multinational investment. Over the past few years, President Donald Trump, the Covid-19 pandemic and the end of the big Mexican migration ...

Bloomberg American meatpackers are benefiting from one bright spot in the restaurant industry during the pandemic: fast-food sales. With most restaurants closed or operating at reduced capacity, customers have flocked to places including McDonald’s and Burger King, where they can simply drive through to grab food. That’s helped Cargill Inc.’s protein sales to food-services business to return to near normal, ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte extended the ban on UK flights by two weeks and said he’s open to reinstating tighter movement curbs if coronavirus infections spike. Returning to some form of a lockdown “is a possibility if the severity in numbers will demand that we take corrective measures immediately,” the president said at a meeting of the task force ...

Bloomberg Air travel from Britain to France resumed, though eligibility restrictions and a new Covid-19 testing requirement limited the number of people able to board. A British Airways flight to Paris departed at 9:24 am from London Heathrow, followed by one to Nice, according to the airport’s website. Both were delayed, and an earlier Air France departure was canceled, reflecting ...

Bloomberg US holiday season sales beat low expectations for the pandemic year as online shopping surged. Total retail sales grew 3% over the extended 75-day holiday period, versus a forecast of 2.4%, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks online and in-store retail sales across all payment methods. The number is far better than the 3.5% drop recorded during 2008, the ...

Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc. will begin recalling furloughed employees as soon as US lawmakers approve a relief package with payroll funds for airlines, Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said. The first paychecks were issued to workers who had been sent home, Parker and American’s president, Robert Isom, said in a memo to employees. Pay and benefits would be retroactive ...

Bloomberg Almost 1.2 million people took to the skies in the US, the most since Covid-19 erupted, despite warnings against large gatherings and travel during the holidays. People flocked to airports in past week, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data. An average of more than 1 million people a day passed through TSA screening over the past week, which ...