Bloomberg The Mercosur trade group and the European Union will reach a trade agreement soon, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said in Buenos Aires, during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to the South American nation. The trade bloc, which also consists of Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, is keen to finalize the long-negotiated deal, Fernandez said, adding that he has spoken to ...

  Bloomberg Europe’s biggest semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding NV said an agreement between the Netherlands, the US and Japan to restrict exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China shouldn’t have a “material effect” on forecast it has published for this year. “In combination with the current market situation, we do not expect these measures to have a material effect ...

  Bloomberg The boss of Britain’s largest sandwich-maker says price negotiations with supermarkets have become so strained amid the inflation crisis that sometimes walking away is the only option. “In certain cases we’ve said to people ‘If you’re not prepared to take this price, we’re not prepared to supply you’,” said Dalton Philips, Chief Executive Officer at Greencore Plc, speaking ...

Bloomberg A former Nato general pledging unwavering support for Ukraine will become the next Czech president after securing a convincing victory over a combative former billionaire prime minister. Petr Pavel, who once served as Nato’s highest-ranking military officer, declared victory after winning 57.9% with 98% of polling districts counted, according to data published by the Czech Statistics Office. Andrej Babis, ...

  Bloomberg The eldest son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that his father doesn’t have a deadline to return to Brazil and dismissed the idea of extradition by the US. Bolsonaro traveled to the US late last month, two days before the end of his term, skipping the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. ...

  Bloomberg After more than 100 days walking nearly the entire length of India, Rahul Gandhi, scion of the nation’s most famous political dynasty, stood before a shivering crowd in rural Himachal Pradesh as a cheer went up. Bearded and clad in a white t-shirt, Gandhi bore none of the vestiges of wealth or elitism that have smudged his family’s ...

  Bloomberg Paetongtarn Shinawatra, bidding to follow in the footsteps of her father and aunt in becoming Thai prime minister, is confident her party can achieve a landslide victory at the next elections with better policies to ease the burden of voters. The 36-year-old daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra is widely seen as the Pheu Thai opposition party’s top potential candidate ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired Nadhim Zahawi, citing “serious” breaches of ethics rules after revelations about the Conservative Party chairman’s tax affairs made his position untenable. In a letter to Zahawi on Sunday, Sunak said that the independent review of the matter had been concluded and “it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the ...

  Bloomberg Britain’s soaring wage inflation is likely to push the Bank of England (BOE) to another sharp increase in interest rates this week. Investors and economists expect the UK central bank to raise its key rate a half point to 4% on February 2. That would mark the highest since 2008 and the quickest string of hikes in three ...

  Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank slowed the pace of monetary tightening and signalled that interest rate rises are nearing an end as the economy’s growth outlook dims. The bank lifted its benchmark rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 12.75%, governor Leonardo Villar told reporters after the meeting. Five of the seven-member board voted for the move, while ...