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Bloomberg Europe is tightening restrictions to regain control of resurgent coronavirus infections, with Paris closing restaurants and new curbs likely on the way in Italy and Ireland. The continent is struggling to control the latest outbreak as opposition to limits on movement mounts and leaders resist the stringent lockdowns that hammered economies in the second quarter. Instead, the approach is ...

Bloomberg UK car sales fall for a second straight month, sliding 4.4% in the country’s weakest September for auto purchases in more than two decades. Registrations dropped to 328,041 cars, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. That follows a 5.8% decline in August and dashes hopes for an early recovery from a coronavirus-driven slump. The ...

Bloomberg Italy’s Nexi SpA agreed to buy SIA SpA in an all-share deal that will create one of Europe’s biggest payment providers. The transaction, which values closely held SIA at 4.56 billion euros ($5.3 billion) will give Nexi shareholders about 70% of the joint company. The combined business will have annual revenue of about 1.8 billion euros and a market ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. has agreed to build a series of new data centers in Greece, in a move the Greek government says will boost entrepreneurship and encourage other major companies to invest in the country. The “ongoing” investment will be the biggest by the US technology giant in its 28 years of operations in Greece, Microsoft President Brad Smith said ...

Bloomberg The dysfunction in Sweden’s credit market is creating opportunities for investors ready to take advantage of murky pricing and unreliable liquidity. Niklas Edman, a portfolio manager at Carnegie Fonder AB, says that market features such as illiquidity, a lack of transparency and price volatility are “not only a risk or threat, they can also pose an opportunity.” Given the ...

Manama / Emirates Business Trade between the UAE and Bahrain returned to levels not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with new figures revealing $936 million in bi-lateral commerce during the first half of this year. June’s figures showed the positive economic impact of support measures on the economies of both kingdoms, with trade returning to $139.6 million — the ...

Bloomberg Libya’s oil output has risen to 295,000 barrels following a truce in the Opec nation’s civil war and the lifting of a blockade on energy facilities. Fields that feed the newly restarted eastern ports of Hariga, Brega and Zueitina are ramping up production, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Output was 250,000 barrels a day a ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE welcomed the signing of a peace agreement between the Sudanese government and Sudanese armed groups in Juba. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its appreciation for the efforts of President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan and all parties that contributed to this historic achievement. ...

New Delhi / WAM Even as India extended the ban on regular, scheduled international air travel until October 31, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, said he expected international flights to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2021. In a series of media interactions, including a conversation with the Emirates New Agency (WAM), the minister anticipated ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia added new incentives to keep its mortgage boom going by scrapping a 15% value-added tax on property sales and offering other relief for home buyers amid a push by the Arab world’s largest economy to expand residential ownership. Property transactions will instead be subject to a new 5% real estate sales tax, according to state-run news agency ...