Bloomberg Boutique women’s clothing chain Francesca’s Holdings Corp filed for bankruptcy after the pandemic eroded the company’s already flagging sales. The Houston-based company sought Chapter 11 protection in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware with plans to sell the business, according to a statement. TerraMar Capital LLC or an affiliate has agreed to become the stalking-horse bidder in a court-supervised auction, ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s top trade official held out the prospect of a long-sought deal with the US on aircraft subsidies before President Donald Trump leaves office. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said “it’s possible” that both sides will reach an agreement by January 20 governing aid to Boeing Co and Airbus SE. He reiterated an offer to remove EU ...

Bloomberg South Africa isn’t just in talks with potential buyers of a stake in the country’s insolvent state-owned airline, it’s also seeking partners for subsidiaries such as low-cost airline Mango and catering unit Air Chefs. The result will be a number of private-sector entities working with various parts of South African Airways (SAA) whenever it resumes operations, according to Public ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump blasted Georgia’s elections as corrupt but urged his supporters to vote for two GOP senators facing re-election anyway, keeping up attacks that party leaders worry could backfire and end their control of the Senate. At a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, Trump took aim at GOP Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after complaining ...

Bloomberg Former Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui said he and his family no longer have access to their bank accounts in the city after he fled to self-imposed exile in the UK, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. Five accounts belonging to Hui, his wife and parents have been inaccessible since Saturday, he said in an interview with ...

Bloomberg Australia lacks an overarching approach to handling a “much more assertive” China, and needs a plan for economic diversification and liaising with Asian allies to handle the emerging superpower, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said. “The strategy should be working out how we deal with the effects for Australia and the region of a China which demonstrably is ...

Bloomberg Mexico wants to restrict the activities of foreign agents after the arrest of a former top general in Los Angeles sparked diplomatic tension with the US. The proposed measures may put at risk the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) operations with Mexican informants. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a bill to senators to tweak the national security law to ...

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga saw his cabinet’s approval rating fall more than 12 percentage points from the previous month as his government struggled to handle another wave of coronavirus infections, according to a Kyodo poll. Support for Suga’s cabinet fell to 50.3% from 63% the previous month, according to the survey conducted between December 5 and 6 and ...

Bloomberg UK and European Union negotiators were expected to resume trade talks on Sunday as both sides strive to patch up serious last-minute differences that are threatening to derail a deal. Officials said the next 48 hours would be crucial after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke by telephone and agreed to ...

Bloomberg A deadline set by the Trump administration for the forced sale of TikTok’s US assets will come and go on Friday without a final deal, according to people familiar with the discussions. While the deadline has been extended multiple times, TikTok isn’t expected to receive a new one, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the ...