Bloomberg UK trade unions are challenging plans by Boris Johnson to end Covid-19 regulations in England, saying the prime minister should put public health first. The Trades Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella group for British unions representing more than 5.5 million people, said that the government should first commit to improving sick pay and supporting people with weakened immune ...

Bloomberg Germany spent about 42 billion euros ($48 billion) on a program to secure jobs threatened by the coronavirus pandemic. A government program to pay most of an employee’s wages when they can’t work because of operational issues like lockdowns was worth the cost, Germany’s Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said in an interview with Tagespiegel. “The alternative — namely allowing ...

  Bloomberg US retail sales rebounded by more than forecast with the biggest gain since March, as Americans kept spending through a Covid-19 spike and hot inflation to help drive the economic recovery. The value of overall purchases rise 3.8% in January after a downwardly revised 2.5% drop in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed. The median estimate in ...

  Bloomberg Norway’s economy expanded faster than expected at the end of last year, cementing the outlook for a string of interest rate hikes by Norges Bank from next month. Mainland gross domestic product, which adjusts for the oil-rich nation’s offshore industry, grows 1.4% in fourth quarter from previous three months, the statistics office said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg and ...

  Bloomberg London property is back in vogue as a return to the office fuels demand for homes in the UK capital. That’s according to Rightmove Plc, which said in a report on Monday that buyer enquiries and asking prices both rose sharply this month. The jump represents a turnaround for the London property market, which underperformed other parts of ...

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc faces a review in Germany over an Autopilot feature, as regulatory scrutiny intensifies into carmaker’s driver-assistance technology. Germany’s federal motor vehicle office KBA is investigating Tesla’s automated lane-change function and whether it’s approved for use in Europe, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported. The KBA is also in contact with the Netherlands’ vehicle agency, which is responsible ...

  Bloomberg Prices charged for goods and services in the euro area jumped by a record amount in February as an easing of pandemic restrictions led to an unexpectedly strong rebound in economic activity. Both manufacturers and service providers saw output improve, according to purchasing managers indexes compiled by IHS Markit. Rising demand and a gradual easing of supply bottlenecks ...

  Bloomberg The prospect of Federal Reserve policy tightening and signs of thinner bond market liquidity are denting the case for Treasuries as a reliable haven just as amped up geopolitical tensions around Ukraine have investors on alert for potential refuge assets. That’s spurring some to look more closely at currency markets in particular for alternative ways to protect themselves ...

  Bloomberg US equity futures rise and Asian stocks pared losses on Monday as traders evaluated the possibility of a summit on Ukraine between President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Nasdaq 100, S&P 500 and European contracts erased falls to climb about 1%, while an Asia-Pacific equity index came off its lows but stayed in the red. ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates has expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity with Brazil over the victims of floods and landslides that have hit the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, killing scores of people, leaving tens of injured and missing, and triggering widespread damage. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed ...