Up to World War II, the history of Alsace region along the Rhine used to be an example of everything that was wrong with Europe. Then it became a case study in everything that could go right in Europe — and potentially the world. Are we forgetting the Alsatian lesson and going back to the bad old world? That Alsatian ...

Bloomberg Vladimir Putin has a message for the US and its allies: Moscow won’t tolerate creeping expansion by their armed forces into Ukraine. That’s what he’s told German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other western officials who’ve called in recent days to warn him about what they say is a new accumulation of tanks and troops near the border with his ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will run against his daughter Sara for the vice presidency in next year’s elections, ABS-CBN reported, citing Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. President Duterte plans to file his candidacy on Monday, the last day to finalise bids for the 2022 polls, Andanar was quoted by ABS-CBN as saying on Saturday. When contacted by Bloomberg, Andanar said ...

Bloomberg US consumer sentiment unexpectedly collapsed in early November as Americans grew increasingly concerned about rising prices and the inflationary impact on their finances. The University of Michigan’s preliminary sentiment index decreased to 66.8 from 71.7 in October, data released showed. The November figure trailed all projections in a Bloomberg survey of economists which called for an increase to 72.5. ...

Bloomberg The British Chambers of Commerce said 80% of UK businesses are feeling the effects of higher prices as well as shortages of goods and workers, a finding that adds to concerns about inflation. The lobby group said its survey of 1,000 companies showed 80% saw an increase in their prices in the past year and almost half said those ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc agreed to pay $29.9 million to employees at its stores who were forced to submit to security bag checks — off the clock — when they left work after or during their shifts. Lawyers for the workers asked a federal judge to approve settlement, which was reached after a protracted eight-year legal battle. Apple Store employees filed ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s largest independent hedge funds have grown wary of local assets after the nation moved to ease its fiscal rules, fuelling fears of a sharp increase in interest rates and a potential recession ahead. Firms including Itau Unibanco now predict Brazil’s economy will contract next year after policy makers raise the benchmark rate to over 11%, the highest since ...

Bloomberg Blackstone Infrastructure Partners bought out the controlling shareholders of Carrix Inc., one of the world’s largest marine-terminal operators. The families had been weighing a sale of their holding in the Seattle-based firm, Bloomberg reported in June. The stake was expected to fetch $2.5 billion. “The Smith/Hemingway family sold its shares to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners,” Bob Watters, a Carrix spokesman, ...

Bloomberg Inflation is soaring across the euro area, but it’s also diverging by the most in years in a further complication for the European Central Bank’s ongoing Covid-19 pandemic stimulus. How quickly consumer prices are rising depends on where you are inside the 19-member currency bloc. In Estonia, where energy costs are surging, the 2021 rate is forecast to be ...

Bloomberg American workers are hoping that the tight pandemic labour market will translate into better pay. It might just mean robots take their jobs instead. Labour shortages and rising wages are pushing US business to invest in automation. A recent Federal Reserve survey of chief financial officers found that at firms with difficulty hiring, one-third are implementing or exploring automation ...