Bloomberg Wm Morrison Supermarkets’ planned takeover of struggling UK convenience store-chain McColl’s Retail Group Plc will get a formal antitrust probe from Britain’s competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had officially kicked off a merger inquiry into the deal to see whether it would result in a lessening of competition in the UK groceries market, ...

  Bloomberg Sephora, the cosmetics retailer owned by LVMH, agreed to sell its Russian subsidiary, making it the latest brand to pull out of the country following its invasion of Ukraine. LVMH is selling Sephora’s Russia business to the local general manager, the company said. In early March, the group temporarily closed its Russian stores. Sephora’s exit comes as European ...

Bloomberg Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country for the Maldives on a military aircraft, an air force spokesman said on television, hours ahead of his expected resignation on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan Air Force provided an aircraft for the 73-year-old leader to leave the country following a decision by the security council, Air Force spokesman Group Captain Dushan ...

  Bloomberg Sri Lanka had to impose emergency rule because it received intelligence reports that attempts were on to take over the PM’s office and air force chief’s house, Prime Minister and Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a televised address Wednesday. Speaking on a private TV channel — after protesters took control of the state broadcaster and prime minister’s ...

  Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin’s younger daughter has been handed a new role with the country’s most powerful business lobby to help beat the impact of international sanctions over his war in Ukraine, the RBC newspaper reported. Katerina Tikhonova, who is sanctioned by the US and its allies, was named co-chairman of a committee to coordinate import-substitution efforts by ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi said he won’t continue leading Italy’s government if the Five Star Movement leaves his coalition, in a sign of growing impatience for the constant squabbling among parties. “For me there is no government without Five Star,” Draghi said at a press conference on Tuesday. “There is no Draghi government different from the current one.” Draghi is under ...

Bloomberg Venezuela has arrested Americans this year even as that country’s government has made gestures toward improving relations with the US to help ease a humanitarian and political crisis. A State Department spokesperson confirmed the arrests on Tuesday night but did not identify the Americans, say how many had been detained, or provide any further details, citing privacy concerns. The ...

  Bloomberg Outgoing UK prime minister Boris Johnson raised the prospect of leaving office sooner than expected, suggesting his successor could be chosen “by acclamation” rather than in an eight-week contest as planned. His appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday had the air of a valedictory outing, as he declared he was “proud” of ...

Bloomberg About 20 million Americans quit their jobs in the first five months of this year, in what’s come to be known as the Great Resignation. Many now regret the decision, according to a new survey. More than one-quarter of those who left work are reconsidering whether they made the right move, according to a study of more than 15,000 ...

  Bloomberg Investor confidence in Germany’s economy slumped to the lowest since 2011 as the country faces the growing prospect of a recession and risks mount that it’s shut off from Russian energy supplies. Snapping two months of gains, the ZEW institute’s gauge of expectations falls to -53.8 in July from -28 in the previous month, missing economists’ estimates. An ...