Bloomberg Samsonite International SA, the world’s biggest luggage maker, has its eyes on adding a handbag brand and is open to a deal that could rival its $1.8 billion purchase of Tumi, according to Chairman Timothy Charles Parker. Handbags would help Samsonite fill a gap as the company focuses on boosting sales of office gear and non-travel products to women, ...

Bloomberg HNA Group Co. will be hard-pressed to get anything close to the $2.2 billion it paid for a Manhattan office tower during its real estate binge. In 2017, the Chinese conglomerate bought 245 Park Ave., a late 1960s-era building that’s home to JPMorgan Chase & Co., paying one of the highest prices ever for a New York office property. ...

Bloomberg European Union countries may decide this week whether to impose new political or economic sanctions on Russia after the UK accused Moscow of using a nerve agent on its territory, according to a senior Polish government official. “Poland supports the view that we should show solidarity within the EU and NATO and show Russia that it can’t cross new ...

Bloomberg The UK clinched a deal that will buy it time in Brexit talks in a move the European Union’s chief negotiator hailed as a decisive step. But it’s all still contingent on finding a solution to the most intractable issue of all — the Irish border. The two sides reached an agreement for a 21-month transition period that’s due ...

Bloomberg Jailed opposition presidential candidate Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko refused to appear in court for the first time since he was detained almost two years ago. Mokoko, who turned 71 on Monday, didn’t show up at the High Court in the capital, Brazzaville, because as a former chief of staff of the army he’s immune from prosecution, his lawyer Eric Yvon ...

Bloomberg Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s prosecution for graft appears at first glance to be a victory for the anti-corruption campaign of the nation’s new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. Yet it also carries risks for his ruling African National Congress. Not only will a drawn-out trial be a constant reminder to voters that he was enmeshed in scandal for most ...

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saw his support tumble in weekend opinion polls as anger continues to rise over a cronyism scandal. Two of the polls — conducted separately by the Asahi newspaper and NNN news network — showed public backing for Abe had fallen to its lowest level since he took office in 2012. They were conducted after ...

There are many good economic reasons why President Donald Trump is wrong to obsess over the US trade deficit with China. One is that this bilateral deficit isn’t as severe as he thinks — and, in any case, the structural factors that caused the imbalance in the first place are changing. Before launching a US-China trade war, the White House ...

Hong Kong has used UBS Group AG to send a harsh message to investment banks: Take your job as a gateway to initial public offerings seriously. With deals starting to boom again and the city’s exchange planning to allow dual-class shares, regulators are right to adopt a tougher stance. The Securities and Futures Commission suspended UBS from sponsoring Hong Kong ...

The March 4 Italian elections have produced a lot of drama, an equity-market selloff, and as yet no sign of a government — but in the bond market, stability should prevail. Ten-year Italian yields have held close to 2 percent all year so far. Of course, there was always going to be a benefit from the European Central Bank’s (ECB) quantitative ...