The Bank of England (BOE) delivered an unusually apocalyptic economic outlook at last week’s quarterly economic review, overshadowing the biggest interest-rate hike in more than a quarter of a century. Yet UK markets have barely moved, and their skepticism is entirely understandable and completely justified. Like a bad pianist playing the right notes but not in the correct order, the ...

  When it comes to a comfortable retirement, women in the US have the cards stacked against them. New efforts to start changing this are laudable, and yet they’re still missing the mark because they’re being shaped by decades of misperceptions. The inequities a woman faces throughout her working life — from earning less to shouldering the lion’s share of ...

  Italian politics bears a striking resemblance to South American telenovelas: filled with episodes of unrequited love, bizarre couplings and multiple breakups. Narrative lines reach a fever pitch of crisis before an unexpected turn of events makes everything right — the deus-ex-machina moment. That’s the climax in ancient dramas when a god is swung on stage by a machine to ...

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd signalled a stronger second-half outlook even as Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang told staff Hong Kong’s status has been hammered by Covid travel restrictions that continue to shackle the city. While Hong Kong’s main airline said its first-half net loss narrowed to HK$5.3 billion ($675 million) from HK$7.9 billion a year earlier, Tang said ...

  Bloomberg TUI AG, the world’s biggest tour operator, said it remains on course to post a profit this year, with bookings and prices looking strong for the rest of the summer even as Europeans suffer a cost of living squeeze. The firm expects to report “significantly positive” underlying earnings before interest and tax for the 12 months through September, ...

  Bloomberg Royal Ahold Delhaize NV raised its forecast for the year as it weathered soaring inflation, but pulled plans to publicly list its Dutch e-commerce unit Bol.com due to volatile equity market conditions. The Stop & Shop owner said it now expects underlying earnings per share to grow at a mid-single-digit rate this fiscal year relative to 2021 as ...

  Bloomberg Hundreds of Amazon.com Inc’s UK workers are planning walkouts in the coming days after logistics workers clashed with managers over pay. A series of walkouts and slowdown protests at seven facilities in Essex, Coventry, Bristol, Swindon, Chesterfield, Warrington and Rugeley last week are expected to be followed by further protests over the coming days, according to warehouse workers ...

  Bloomberg Lululemon Athletica Inc employees will vote this month on unionising a store in Washington, testing the strength of an organising wave that’s been sweeping through previously union-free US retail firms. The US National Labor Relations Board has approved an agreement between the company and the new labor group organising the location, the Association of Concerted Educators (ACE), to ...

  Bloomberg The UK and China have agreed to resume direct passenger flights, a sign that Chinese authorities are slowly loosening their grip on the world’s tightest Covid-19 regime and opening up to travel again. Chinese airlines will offer the first flights and work is ongoing to resume routes for UK carriers, the British Embassy in China said in a ...

  Bloomberg China’s military said exercises held around Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit had concluded, while pledging to continue regular patrols near the island. The People’s Liberation Army “successfully completed all tasks” set out in exercises last week, Eastern Theater Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi said Wednesday. The statement ended ambiguity on the status ...