Bloomberg Libya’s warring factions have embarked on a tenuous ceasefire in a nine-month war that has drawn in Russia and Turkey, following a call by the presidents of both countries to halt the fighting. Forces loyal to eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched the war in April against the internationally recognised government, and the Tripoli-based government reduced violence as ...

Bloomberg The UK must prepare to fight wars without the help of the US, British defense secretary Robert Ben Wallace said in an interview with the Sunday Times. Wallace said he worries “if the United States withdraws from its leadership around the world,” and such a possibility keeps him “awake at night,” according to the newspaper. He suggested the government ...

Bloomberg US officials reiterated their partnership with Taiwan and Democratic candidate Joe Biden advocated stronger relations with the island after President Tsai Ing-wen swept to victory in an election that pressured voters to pick sides in the battle for influence between America and China. “You are stronger because of your free and open society,” Biden, the former US vice president, ...

Bloomberg Iranian security forces stepped up patrols in Tehran, seeking to quell further anti-government protests after the regime admitted downing a Ukrainian passenger jet, triggering anger on the streets and global outrage. Videos on social media, which couldn’t immediately be verified by Bloomberg, showed motorcycle-mounted security forces in green camouflage and anti-riot body armour stationed on the city’s Valiasr square ...

Bloomberg Thousands of people gathered in a square in Hong Kong’s city centre on Sunday for a peaceful rally under the watchful gaze of riot police who kept their distance from the event while patrolling the area. The authorised meeting was held by Hong Kong Civil Assembly Team, which described it as a “pre-march assembly” for a rally scheduled for ...

Bloomberg Thousands of people joined a rally in Thailand to protest against the military-backed government and call for more political freedom, less than a year after a disputed general election. The demonstrators gathered on Sunday in a Bangkok park for an early-morning protest jog against the administration led by prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. Former army chief Prayuth seized power in ...

One of the controversies that swirls around the Federal Reserve — America’s central bank — is whether it could rescue the economy from collapse in the event of another financial crisis. Among economists, there are many skeptics, but Ben Bernanke, who was Fed chairman during the 2007-09 Great Recession, isn’t one of them. In a long and detailed paper, Bernanke ...

Give Macy’s Inc. a polite clap, and no more, for kicking off the retail holiday reporting season in reasonable style. The department store giant said that like-for-like sales from company-owned stores fell 0.7% in November and December, compared with the year earlier period. That’s by no means stellar, but it was much better than its dismal third quarter, when same-store ...

A perennial risk in the airline industry is that executives splash money on shiny new planes but fail to make an adequate return. Willie Walsh, the chief executive officer of International Consolidated Airlines Group, has tried to do things differently by — shock! — insisting that the British, Irish and Spanish airlines he oversees make decent money. (Created in 2011, ...

The start of a new year brings with it a raft of data on the world’s energy systems. So far, electricity sector figures show a transition well underway — some sources increasing, others collapsing. Each market is different, but the trends in markets as diverse as the UK, Spain, Australia and Texas all show profound changes in what is a ...