We’re all pinning our hopes on vaccines to free us to meet friends and family, travel and return to something like our normal lives. Oil market forecasters, too, are finally getting a little more optimistic about the recovery in demand that should accompany that return. But a closer look shows we’re just not there yet. In their latest monthly reports, ...

Bloomberg The Czech government alleged Russia was involved in a deadly blast at a munitions site in 2014 and said it’s expelling 18 embassy staffers, signaling that the country is joining growing international pressure to rein in President Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s unexpected announcement coincides with concern in the US and Europe about Russia’s military buildup on the ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said he plans to announce a higher refugee cap for this year, following a swift backlash from allies over a decision to keep the low ceiling set by his predecessor. Biden signed an order intended to accelerate processing of refugees while keeping former President Donald Trump’s 15,000-person cap in place. That backtracked on the administration’s plan ...

Bloomberg Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s condition has worsened sharply after 2 1/2 weeks of a hunger strike and he may die within days, his supporters said. “Alexey is dying now. Given his condition, it’s a matter of days,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Facebook. Anastasia Vasilieva, who heads the Alliance of Doctors union that is backed by ...

Bloomberg The UK economy is building momentum, with real-time indicators suggesting consumers have started to splurge some of the cash they’ve saved now that the government has loosened lockdown rules. Restaurant bookings and job postings surged to the highest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, while road traffic and the number of people traveling to workplaces grew in recent ...

Bloomberg Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss will drop out of a group that was bidding for Tribune Publishing Co., according to people familiar with the situation, dealing a setback to a $681 million takeover attempt. Wyss had teamed up with Choice Hotels International Inc. Chairman Stewart Bainum Jr. on the $18.50-a-share offer, which topped a rival bid from hedge fund Alden ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s government wants to spend $104 billion on building and maintaining highways and railroads over the coming 12 years as part of the Nordic nation’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The proposal adds 176.5 billion kronor to previous vision, making it the country’s biggest ever framework plan for such spending, Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth told journalists. It ...

Bloomberg US consumer sentiment improved in April following another round of fiscal stimulus and as job growth accelerated. At the same time, inflation expectations surged to the highest in nine years. The University of Michigan’s preliminary sentiment index rises to 86.5 from 84.9 in March, data showed. While the figure was softer than the 89 forecast in Bloomberg’s survey of ...

Bloomberg Canada issued new rules to bring down wireless costs, forcing large carriers including BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. resell access to their networks to smaller players. The decision by the telecommunications regulator makes it easier for regional telecommunications providers such as Quebecor Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. to compete on wireless plans with the sector’s three dominant companies ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s biggest online platform for property classifieds, Hemnet Group AB, is targeting a valuation of as much as $1.4 billion when it launches an initial public offering in Stockholm later this month. The IPO price range is expected to be 95 to 115 kronor per ordinary share, equating to a market value for all the listed ordinary shares of ...