International News

Bloomberg Europe’s car industry extended a tentative recovery for a second straight month, leaving manufacturers and dealers hoping state subsidies will help spur a stronger rebound. New passenger-car registrations fell 24% in June, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. That’s an improvement on May’s 57% slump and April’s 78% drop. With sales still well below last year’s levels, hopes are ...

Bloomberg It wasn’t meant to be like this for Margrethe Vestager, the European Union competition chief who’s made a name for herself as Silicon Valley’s worst nightmare. Her order for Apple Inc. to pay back a record 13 billion-euros ($14.9 billion) in state aid from Ireland in 2016 sealed her reputation as the world’s most feared antitrust enforcer. But the ...

Bloomberg The UK economy expanded much slower than expected in May, underscoring the struggle to recover from the depth of the coronavirus slump. The expansion of 1.8% fell short of the 5.5% pace expected and still leaves the economy almost 20% smaller in the latest three months. While activity has since picked up as lockdown restrictions eased, the UK, along ...

Bloomberg Cellnex Telecom SA is considering bidding for a stake in CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s European wireless tower business, according to people familiar with the matter, as it scouts for new acquisitions. Europe’s largest wireless tower operator is in early-stage discussions about acquiring a minority holding in the CK Hutchison portfolio, the people said, asking not to be identified as ...

Bloomberg Before the bankruptcies came the bonuses: $10 million at J.C. Penney Co., $25 million at Chesapeake Energy Corp., $1.5 million at Hertz Global Holdings Inc. That’s how much was promised to executives only weeks or in some cases days before bankruptcy. Of the 100 or so major companies that have filed since the coronavirus shutdown began, 19 of them ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) will recommend keeping its external borders shut to Americans and most other foreigners for at least two more weeks as fears grow of a second coronavirus wave, according to officials familiar with the matter. Member-government envoys in Brussels plan to urge no expansion of a list of 15 countries — Canada, Japan, South Korea and ...

Bloomberg Only one-quarter of business leaders say their organisations are fully ready for the end of the Brexit transition period, according to a survey by the Institute of Directors. Nearly half of the 978 company directors polled late last month said they weren’t able to prepare for a transition now, and one in seven said they were focused on the ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte kept investors guessing over the fate of toll-road manager Autostrade per l’Italia SpA, ahead of a cabinet meeting due to consider the option of stripping away its highway concessions in a long confrontation with the Benetton family. A decision on the issue which has split the ruling coalition “must involve the entire government,” Conte told ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson is under pressure to announce a ban on telecoms companies from installing new equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co in Britain’s fifth-generation mobile networks from as soon as the end of 2021. Britain’s National Security Council meets on Tuesday to decide on the company’s future in the UK in the wake of US sanctions against the company. ...

Bloomberg Analog Devices Inc. is close to an all-stock agreement to acquire Maxim Integrated Products Inc., according to reports. The semiconductor companies are talking about a deal that values San Jose, California-based Maxim at more than its current market capitalisation of roughly $17 billion. Norwood, Mass.-based Analog has a market value of $46 billion and also has a large office ...