Bloomberg Olaf Scholz took over as chancellor of Germany and is under immediate pressure to tackle a brutal Covid-19 outbreak and a raft of geopolitical challenges including tensions with Russia. The Social Democrat was sworn in, ending Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure and becoming the country’s ninth chancellor since World War II. The 63-year-old, Merkel’s vice chancellor for the past four ...

Bloomberg The omicron variant of the coronavirus appears to have spread across South Africa’s northern border with Zimbabwe reporting record daily cases and its highest ever test positivity rate.

Bloomberg China cut the amount of cash most banks must hold in reserve, acting to counter the economic slowdown in a move that puts the central bank on a different policy path than many of its peers. The People’s Bank of China will reduce the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point for most banks on December 15, releasing 1.2 ...