Bloomberg The European Commission approved $2.9 billion of restructuring aid for TAP SA intended to help the ailing Portuguese airline become viable. The EU Commission also approved 107.1 million euros to compensate the Lisbon-based carrier for damages suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it said. Faced with the prospect of TAP collapsing, Portugal’s government began providing aid ...

  Bloomberg The Italian luxury house Ermenegildo Zegna NV is open to acquiring other textile manufacturers or a fashion brand that’s strong with younger shoppers, its chief executive officer said. Zegna manufactures its own fabrics, knitwear and yarns, and also sells those products to other brands, such as Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli. “We have this luxury textile platform,” Ermenegildo Zegna ...

  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways warned of several flight cancellations to and from Hong Kong in January as operational and travel restrictions continue to affect its schedules. The airline said it is reviewing its passenger flights and apologised to customers. The year-end holiday season is typically a busy time for Cathay and Hong Kong as an aviation hub, but the ...

  Bloomberg Russia welcomed US willingness to start talks next month on its security proposals, a day after President Vladimir Putin threatened a military response if the Kremlin’s demands aren’t met. “We would like to hope that for the upcoming negotiations, which is already positive, our partners will come with clearly formulated positions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s election body proposed delaying the presidential vote by one month, calling on parliament to resolve disputes that have threatened the landmark ballot in the Opec nation. The High National Election Commission said the inadequacy of electoral legislation was a main obstacle to the vote taking place as scheduled. Its proposal to instead hold the first round of ...

  Bloomberg Former Philippine Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the late dictator, led by a wide margin in a presidential preference survey conducted this month by pollster Pulse Asia Research. Marcos was chosen by 53% of the 2,400 respondents as their preferred successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, Pulse Asia said. Vice President Leni Robredo, the opposition leader, came a ...

  Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping told Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam the city is developing in a good direction, days after an election installed a legislature of Beijing loyalists in the Asian financial hub. Xi added that he fully recognised the work of her government, as the pair met in Beijing. Lam’s annual trip to brief China’s state leaders ...

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushed through tighter social-distancing restrictions to stave off the threat of a “massive” surge of the omicron Covid-19 variant just as families gather for the Christmas holidays. The latest measures, which add to existing curbs that mainly affect the unvaccinated, include limiting gatherings to 10 people starting from December 28. The restrictions, which Scholz ...

  Bloomberg It led the world with inflation targeting, but New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) is no pioneer for women. The Reserve Bank has released its gender pay gap for the first time, revealing a gulf that’s more than twice the size of the shortfall in the nation’s public service as a whole. As at June 30, the average gender pay ...

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) could bolster liquidity in the banking system by selling yuan, which will help lower borrowing costs while stemming the currency’s gains, Nomura Inc. said. The central bank needs more aggressive steps to tackle China’s slowing economy, and swapping the yuan for foreign exchange is its best option, according to Nomura’s chief China ...