International News

Bloomberg Japan’s government and businesses are racing to bring a fire-damaged automotive chip plant back online, underscoring how important the component has become in a supply chain already under strain because of booming demand for semiconductors. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is mobilising to help Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the top providers of chips used in car ...

Bloomberg France still sees gross domestic product growth of 6% this year, even after new lockdown measures came into force in Paris and other regions to contain the coronavirus. “I confirm our ambitions to reach 6% growth in 2021,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a radio interview on France Inter. “The moment when we lift the restrictions, our ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) took advantage of high demand for its social bonds to accelerate funding for a regional jobs program. The bloc pulled in above 96.5 billion euros of orders for a 13-billion-euro offering of five-year and 25-year notes. This syndication is the second in March and will mean the EU is three-quarters of the way through funding ...

Bloomberg BT Group Plc announced a bonus for 59,000 workers, weeks ahead of a potential strike over Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Philip Jansen’s restructuring plans. Staff such as engineers and call center workers who were on the front line during the pandemic will receive 1,000 pounds ($1,371) in cash immediately, the British phone company said in a statement. It said that’s ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved the government’s budget plans for this year and next, including an extra 60 billion euros ($71 billion) in net debt for 2021 to help offset the impact of the coronavirus. The additional borrowing this year takes the total to more than 240 billion euros, as Germany spends freely to support businesses affected by ...

Bloomberg A surge in coronavirus cases in India could hurt the economy’s recovery from a rare recession, as curbs to avoid a new wave creates delays in putting millions who lost their jobs to the pandemic back to work. “There is a restless urgency in the air in India to resume high growth, and incoming data point to even contact-intensive ...

Bloomberg Japanese prosecutors on Monday formally charged two Americans with aiding in the escape of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled trial in Japan over a year ago. Michael Taylor, 60, and Peter Taylor, 28, helped Ghosn illegally leave Japan in December 2019, where he was facing charges of financial misconduct, prosecutors said in a statement on ...

Bloomberg Ant Group Co. created an investment advisory platform on its Alipay app, allowing companies that offer robo adviser services to reach its 1 billion users. Five Chinese asset management companies debuted on the platform known as Tougu Guanjia, which means investment advisory manager. Users will be able to choose robo advisory services from the platform that functions like a ...

Bloomberg The days of the massive first-day pop in Hong Kong’s initial public offering (IPO)M frenzy may be nearing an end. Even as the pandemic spread for most of 2020, the offshore Chinese city’s IPOs and new listings were in hot demand from both institutional and mom-and-pop investors. With the bulk of new share sales posting large gains on their ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s exports are set for another monthly gain in March, adding to signs the global economic recovery is taking hold as vaccinations pick up. Exports rise 12.5% in the first 20 days of the month from a year earlier, the customs office reported on Monday, with chips and cars leading the gains. Average daily shipments increased 16.1% during ...