Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retail sales surprisingly rebounded in April, lifting the sector out of contraction after strict Covid curbs hammered consumer spending earlier this year. Sales value rose 11.7% in April from a year earlier, the Census and Statistics Department said. That was far better than the median estimate of a 7.9% decline expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey. ...

Bloomberg As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine settles into a grinding war of attrition, one question more than any other will likely decide the outcome: On whose side is time? Much of what unfolds will be determined by unpredictable battlefield dynamics, especially as Russian forces attempt a dash for territory in eastern Ukraine before heavy artillery from the US and elsewhere ...

Bloomberg Russia’s economy has been dealt a severe blow by international sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine and that damage will become increasingly clear, according to Germany’s vice chancellor. The revenue Russia receives from commodities like oil and gas is “painful,” Robert Habeck, who is also the economy minister, said in a speech to parliament. But that doesn’t accurately ...