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Bloomberg President Joe Biden held his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, pressing him on issues from the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny to the massive hack of US computer systems that’s been linked to Moscow. The Kremlin confirmed that the call took place Tuesday, describing the conversation as “businesslike and frank.” The leaders also talked about ...

Bloomberg Europe’s economy is starting to follow the familiar script of lagging its international peers when recovering from a crisis. That was the upshot of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) forecasts, which downgraded the growth outlook for 2021 across Europe and underscored a generally poorer performance compared with China and the US. Such diverging fortunes reflect the stringency of lockdowns ...

Bloomberg Argentina posted its first trade deficit since August 2018 as exports collapsed after a lengthy strike in some port operations. The country recorded a trade deficit of $364 million in December, compared to a $500 million surplus forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey, government data published Tuesday showed. While imports grew 25% in annual terms driven by an ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. said fiscal second-quarter sales rise 17%, a faster clip than analysts projected, thanks to buoyant demand for corporate cloud-computing services and software tools that support at-home workers. Revenue in the period ended December 31 rise to $43.1 billion, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said in a statement. That exceeded the $40.2 billion average estimate of analysts polled ...

Bloomberg UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will hold talks with his Swiss counterpart as the two countries seek to deepen financial services ties in the wake of Brexit. The virtual discussions with Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer will focus on the goal of “a comprehensive mutual recognition agreement” to cut costs and barriers for UK firms operating in Switzerland ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff proposed temporarily allowing expanded debt spending by Germany’s federal government, prompting a swift rejection from officials in his own party. Helge Braun, Merkel’s chancellery minister, wrote in Handelsblatt newspaper that the country’s so-called debt brake, which is enshrined in the constitution, should be altered to allow more borrowing to help offset the impact ...

ABU DHABI / WAM HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has expressed appreciation for his ministry’s efforts in confronting the coronavirus pandemic, and said that with commitment, awareness, solidarity and the embracement of science “we will be able to tackle the negative repercussions of the pandemic.” His Highness made the comments as ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Etisalat has made history by emerging as the strongest brand across all categories in Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. This feat puts Etisalat among the top 25 brands globally in the strongest brands index by Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy. With this ranking from Brand Finance, Etisalat is now ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The United Arab Emirates has provided urgent humanitarian aid to people affected by the recent earthquake that rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The initiative was launched on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the monitoring ...

DUBAI / WAM Breakbulk Middle East (BBME), the GCC’s leading breakbulk and project cargo event, held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, will be presented digitally this year. Titled Breakbulk Middle East Digital Special, the new version of the much-awaited event, will take place on February 9-10. The next in-person event is scheduled for February ...