Bloomberg A newly formed Zimbabwean opposition party won the bulk of seats in the country’s first vote held since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, signalling it will be a force to be reckoned with in next year’s general elections. The Citizens Coalition for Change won 19 of 28 parliamentary seats and 75 of the 120 council seats. Led ...

  Bloomberg North Korea looks set to detonate its first nuclear bomb in more than four years, as the US’s sanctions, disputes with Russia and China make further United Nations penalties against the country unlikely. Workers have been observed digging a new passageway at the Punggye-ri site where North Korea conducted all six of its previous nuclear tests, South Korean ...

  Bloomberg While Russia is embroiled in its invasion of Ukraine, surging tensions elsewhere in the Kremlin’s backyard are threatening to reignite conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two Caucasus nations fought a 44-day war over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that killed thousands in late 2020 until Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered a ceasefire deal. That agreement involved Russia ...

  Bloomberg Hundreds of Ethiopian troops converged on a town near the border of the northern Tigray province, days after the government and rebels from the region agreed on a humanitarian truce. Over the past few days, 32 buses carrying soldiers were seen in Kobo in Amhara state south of Tigray, some of whom may be replacing personnel who were ...

  Bloomberg Germany’s industrial base, just emerging from pandemic and unprecedented supply-chain challenges, is taking another beating with Russia’s war on Ukraine hitting its powerhouse car, chemical and precision machinery manufacturers. As the conflict pushes energy costs to new heights and a wave of inflation builds, scores of companies including BMW AG, BASF SE and ThyssenKrupp AG have warned their ...

  Bloomberg The unemployment rate fell last month in more than half of US states, including in 12 where jobless rates dropped to record lows. Nebraska and Utah, with unemployment at 2.1%, tied for the lowest in the country, according to Labour Department data. Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin also posted record lows ...

  Bloomberg Confidence among Italian businesses and consumers fall sharply on concerns about the economic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The economic sentiment index fell to 105.4 in March from a revised 107.9 in February, statistics office Istat said. Measures of consumer and manufacturing confidence both declined, with the former reaching its lowest level since January 2021. Expectations for ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is proposing a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.65 billion) funding package for farmers, plus freeing up fallow land for crops as it seeks to shore up food security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Food prices have soared as the war cuts off most shipments from Ukraine, a major grain and chicken exporter. In the first ever release ...

Bloomberg Faster inflation would normally fuel expectations for higher interest rates. In the UK, where price gains are the quickest in three decades, traders are betting on rate cuts. They’re paying heed to a warning this month from the Bank of England that surging costs for energy, clothing and food could lead to a weaker growth outlook. Money markets show ...

  Bloomberg Investors are scrambling for safety as risks mount, from the war in Ukraine to rising interest rates and a global recession. They have found it in the US stock market — particularly the biggest American companies. The S&P 500 Index is up more than 8% over the past two weeks, recouping all of its losses since the Russian ...