Bloomberg Brazil’s retail sales rose more than forecast on gains in categories such as fuels, clothing and electronics, as cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus plunged. Sales rose 1.1% in February from the month prior, more than the 0.3% median estimate from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. At the same time, January’s increase was revised higher to 2.1%. ...

Bloomberg A group of senior US senators delivered a message of support for Taiwan during a visit, a move that China answered with a display of military force. Members of the delegation, including Republican Lindsey Graham, told Beijing that the US will start making China account for bullying Taiwan and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “Here is ...

  Bloomberg Three Russian government officials were charged with conspiring to affect US policy towards Russia with staged events and propaganda — including efforts to influence members of Congress. An indictment against Aleksandr Babakov, deputy chairman of the state duma, Russia’s lower legislative body, and two members of his staff was unsealed in Manhattan federal court. Babakov, Aleksandr Vorobev and ...

  Bloomberg Frank James, the man arrested on federal terrorism charges for allegedly opening fire in a packed New York subway car, was ordered held without bail after prosecutors argued he posed a “serious and ongoing danger to the community.” Ten people were shot and 13 others injured during the melee that erupted after the rush hour assault in Brooklyn. ...

Bloomberg North Korea celebrated the 110th birthday of its deceased state founder, while a US aircraft carrier group was in waters east of the peninsula with Pyongyang poised for provocations that could include its first nuclear test since 2017. Festivities that included dance celebrations, music and fireworks commenced in Pyongyang, state TV said, as part of the celebrations for the ...

  Bloomberg Police detained Vietnam Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister To Anh Dung as part of an investigation into bribery accusations while he organised repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the pandemic, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website. A former officer of the public security ministry’s immigration department and an officer at the health ministry ...

Bloomberg As Russian forces shift their military focus to the east, some Ukrainians who fled their homes early in the invasion are venturing back to see what’s left of their lives and whether they can start to rebuild. Daryna Tarasenko, a 27-year-old portrait photographer who abandoned her Kyiv apartment on the day of the February 24 attack, returned last week ...

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank delivered its biggest interest-rate increase in 22 years, signaling that policy makers around world may need to step up efforts to get inflation under control. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee lifted the official cash rate by half a percentage point to 1.5% in Wellington, the first time it has delivered an increase of ...

  Bloomberg China’s central bank pledged financial support for logistics firms and truck drivers to ensure the country can maintain supply chain stability amid the worst Covid outbreak in two years. The People’s Bank of China will ask lenders to “reasonably” extend and renew loans for the industry, it said in a statement, following a central bank meeting on coordinating ...

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc plans to cut half of its existing office space in Singapore’s financial district, according to people familiar with the matter, in what is set to be the biggest floor reduction by a bank in the city-state in recent years. The London-based bank is giving up nine of the floors it leases at Marina Bay Financial ...