International News

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. has agreed to acquire RiskIQ, a security software maker, as the tech giant tries to expand its products and better protect customers amid a rising tide of global cyberattacks. The deal will be announced as soon as the next few days, said the people, who asked not to be identified speaking about an acquisition that isn’t yet ...

Bloomberg US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will press European Union (EU) officials in Brussels to reconsider their plan to propose a digital levy after securing the Group of Twenty’s endorsement for the principles of a global corporate-tax agreement. Yellen is in Brussels following the gathering of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers in Venice, which concluded with the group’s call ...

Bloomberg Britain’s household wealth surged 900 billion pounds ($1.3 trillion) during the pandemic, and much of that went to the richest people, a study by the Resolution Foundation showed. The figure is well above the Bank of England’s estimate for how much money consumers accumulated during lockdowns that shut most stores and prevented people from traveling. It adds to evidence ...

Bloomberg The UK faces three potentially catastrophic risks to its public finances, the government’s budget watchdog said, underlining the challenge confronting Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to restore fiscal restraint. Unfunded pressures on government departments total some 30 billion pounds ($42 billion) over the next three years as a result of the pandemic, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) ...

Bloomberg Canadians are entering the second half of the year more confident about their economic prospects than they’ve ever been. Consumer sentiment marched higher to a new record last week, according to polling by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News, driven by optimism about the outlook for the economy and growing job security. The numbers will stoke confidence among economists ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s pledge to refrain from pursuing new trade deals is leaving a key training and assistance program for workers, who the administration says are at the center of its agenda, without a clear path for renewal. Biden on July 1 officially lost Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA — the fast-track deal-making ability Congress delegates to a president ...

Bloomberg German manufacturers unexpectedly saw demand decline in May, suggesting an uneven start to the country’s economic recovery. Orders fall 3.7%, worse than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The Economy Ministry said the slump was driven by weak export demand for cars following a steep rise the previous month. Domestic orders rise as much as 0.9%. German companies are ...

Bloomberg Labour markets in developed nations have recovered only half of the loss of employment they suffered in the pandemic, with the young and low-skilled hurt most. That’s the conclusion of a 400-page study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which found that about 22 million jobs disappeared by the end of 2020 in industrial nations. The ...

Bloomberg France desperately needs pension reform, just not right away. That’s the message for President Emmanuel Macron from a chorus of top business leaders, days before he’s set to announce whether he’ll attempt change before the 2022 election. “There’s already a great deal of worry and uncertainty. It would be a gamble to add more,” Stephane Richard, chief executive officer ...

Bloomberg German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier poured cold water on a French proposal to give the European Union a lasting tool to raise common debt. France intends to push for a permanent mechanism on joint EU debt issuance to drive investment in innovation that member countries can’t finance on their own, according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. The comments ...