When Ford Motor Company announced it was shuttering its operations in Brazil, the reaction was swift and shrill. Adversaries of President Jair Bolsonaro were quick to blame official neglect and ineptitude, to the delight of cartoonists and social media warriors. Bolsonaro faulted decades of dirigisme and accused Ford of plumping for subsidies, even as the Economy Ministry scolded the automaker ...

Consumers didn’t end 2020 with a bang, Commerce Department retail sales figures show. But the unusual dynamics of a year defined by the pandemic — which gave rise to trends such as shoppers buying Christmas gifts earlier and shifting their spending from experiences to goods — meant a December pullback didn’t stop the retail industry from enjoying a solid holiday ...

As details emerge about the Janaury 6 attack on the Capitol, it’s become clear that some of the rioters were planning far worse acts of violence, and national-security officials at all levels of government were utterly unprepared. Congress should conduct an urgent and thorough investigation to determine what went wrong and how to stop it from happening again. The immediate ...

Bloomberg Two of India’s richest men have landed in an unlikely controversy over farming laws, becoming targets of protesters who allege the tycoons have benefited from their close links to PM Narendra Modi. For weeks, tens of thousands of farmers have camped outside the nation’s capital, demanding the withdrawal of recently passed legislation they say, without evidence, was designed to ...

Bloomberg Malaysia isn’t a laggard in securing vaccines, Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said, seeking to allay concerns about the speed of the country’s purchases of shots. The nation is set to get its first delivery of vaccines before the end of February and the government will try its best to get as many people inoculated within a year, he said. ...

Bloomberg China will donate 500,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to the Philippines and vowed to accelerate infrastructure investment in the Southeast Asian nation as ties between the two improve. The pledge was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during meetings with Filipino counterpart Teodoro Locsin and President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila, according to statements from Duterte’s office and the Philippines’ ...

Bloomberg Gold demand in the world’s second-biggest user will rebound this year after collapsing in 2020 as the rollout of vaccines pushes life back closer to normal, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). Some of the weddings and festive buying that had been postponed because of the pandemic will come back in 2021, and this pent-up demand will boost ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s unemployment rate for the three months ended December is likely to exceed the highest level in 16 years because of the impact of tightened coronavirus restrictions, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on his blog on Sunday. The latest jobless rate is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. Unemployment stood at a high of 6.4% for the three ...

Bloomberg Nazara Technologies Ltd, the cricket games developer backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, became the first Indian gaming technology company to seek a market debut as mobile entertainment takes off across the world’s No. 2 smartphone arena. The Mumbai-headquartered startup filed initial public offering documents with India’s market regulator. Its impending debut on the local exchanges could encourage other Indian ...

Bloomberg A Virginia man was arrested when he tried to enter a restricted area near the US Capitol with unauthorised credentials, a loaded handgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to police. Wesley Allen Beeler of Front Royal, Virginia, was stopped by US Capitol Police at about 6:30 pm, according to a police report. He had driven up to ...