Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered officials to check for safety risks ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary, the state-owned radio broadcaster reported, following a deadly gas explosion in Hubei province. Xi told local authorities to “improve political sensitivity” and thoroughly investigate safety risks throughout the country to “create a good atmosphere” for the Party’s anniversary, according to ...

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that Trump-era officials testify under oath about the Justice Department’s effort to secretly subpoena data from House Democrats and the news media. Former attorneys general Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions, along with Rod Rosenstein, a former deputy attorney general, must answer to questions about subpoenas that were issued to at least two Democrats tied ...

Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government wants to restart dialog with Beijing, as a series of trade reprisals from China strain the already-weakened relationship between the two countries. “We, of course, would like to see the dialog that was occurring to continue again and start again,” Morrison said at a press conference at the Group of Seven ...

Bloomberg The coronavirus pandemic real-estate boom has made some Canadians richer, while others languish. The net worth of the nation’s households increased by about C$770 billion ($633 billion) in the first three months of 2021, a record 6% gain, to C$13.7 trillion, Statistics Canada said in a report. Since the start of 2020, that figure has increased by more than ...

Bloomberg The UK hospitality industry warned it may lose 500,000 jobs when the government’s furlough program to support wages ends. Hotels and restaurants are saddled with back taxes of 93 million ($132 million) that will become an unsustainable burden if the government fails to drop all lockdown rules as planned on June 21, said Kate Nicholls of business lobby group ...

Bloomberg German manufacturers unexpectedly saw demand decline in April, signaling that supply shortages and higher prices are undercutting the country’s economic recovery. Orders fall 0.2%, missing a median estimate for a 0.5% gain. The Economy Ministry said weakness was driven in particular by lower domestic demand. Foreign orders were up 2.7% from the previous month. Manufacturing has been a stronghold ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s economy unexpectedly contracted in April, as weaker consumer spending dampened the largest Nordic economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic. Gross domestic product (GD)P) shrinks 1.4% from the previous month, according to preliminary data from Statistics Sweden. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected a 0.3% expansion. Sweden has enjoyed a rebound driven by manufacturing and exports, and its economy expanded by ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc said it will let all employees work remotely even after the pandemic if their jobs can be done out of an office, but may reduce their pay if they move to a less-expensive area. Starting June 15, any Facebook employee can request to work from home, the Menlo Park, California-based company said in a statement. If those ...

Bloomberg Plans for the biggest corporate spending boom in more than a decade could be the next driver for stock markets trading at record highs. Last year’s prudence among companies is giving way to jubilant investment across a swath of industries, driven by economic reopenings, low interest rates and government support. Such a signal of confidence in the future is ...

Bloomberg This time, it may be more than just another false dawn for European bank stocks. The worst performers among Europe’s equity markets in past decade have had occasional hot streaks, but with this year’s re-emergence of inflation promising an end to an era of near-zero interest rates, the sector is among the biggest gainers in 2021. The Stoxx 600 ...