Bloomberg The Palestinian Authority said it’s ending security ties with Israel after nine civilians were killed in a West Bank gunfight, in an escalation in violence that was later followed by a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian government body, on Thursday announced three days of mourning following the clashes in the city of ...

Bloomberg A retired Nato general will seek to fend off an attempted political comeback by the Czech Republic’s billionaire former premier as the nation votes in a presidential runoff election. Petr Pavel, who once served as Nato’s highest-ranking military officer, is favored to win the contest to become head of state after narrowly defeating former Prime Minister Andrej Babis a ...

Bloomberg Myanmar’s military government took an early step toward holding parliamentary elections, but it did so by imposing strict rules on political parties that may make fair balloting difficult. The country has been under sanctions, including by the US and EU, since the coup in 2021 that toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Seeking to ease ...

  Bloomberg The main party in Thailand’s ruling coalition named Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan as its sole premier candidate in general elections slated for May. Prawit, a former army chief and long-time ally of incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, was the unanimous choice of about 500 party members at a general meeting of the Palang Pracharath Party held in ...

  Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA’s targets for reducing funding of fossil fuels are inadequate as they leave room for firms like TotalEnergies SE to increase their output, activists including Reclaim Finance said. The Paris-based lender announced that it would reduce its funding of oil extraction and production by more than 80%, to less than €1 billion ($1.1 billion) by 2030. ...

  Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) named 360 managing directors, with more than half of the promotions awarded to women or people of colour. The appointments mark the third consecutive year that underrepresented groups made up the majority of the class, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel matters. The executives were notified in ...

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s money exchange companies will let the currency drop slowly in the open market after deciding to abolish the limit on the dollar-rupee rate. The Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) has informed the central bank of its decision to remove the limit, President Malik Bostan said in a phone interview. The group had earlier voluntarily decided to ...

  Bloomberg Colombia is forecast to extend its biggest-ever series of interest rate rises to curb inflation that is defying a regional downward trend. The central bank will lift its policy rate one percentage point to 13%, its highest level since 1999, according to 16 of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The rest expect a smaller move, of half or ...

  Bloomberg Mastercard Inc. dropped after warning revenue growth would slow even faster than expected this quarter, stoking fears that inflation has put a damper on consumer spending. The payments giant said spending on its cards increased 11% to $1.73 trillion in the fourth quarter, missing the $1.77 trillion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company also warned ...

  Bloomberg South Africa’s central bank slowed the pace of interest-rate hikes as it slashed its economic-growth forecast for this year and warned of continuing risks to the inflation outlook. The monetary policy committee increased the benchmark interest rate to 7.25% from 7%, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said at a briefing in Pretoria. Only six of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ...