Bloomberg Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was questioned by prosecutors looking into allegations political funds were improperly used to subsidise parties for voters, Kyodo News reported, in a case casting a shadow over the current premier. Abe submitted to voluntary questioning by prosecutors, Kyodo cited sources close to the matter as saying. The Kyodo report added prosecutors are seeking ...

Bloomberg UK government borrowing climbed to a record 240.9 billion pounds ($323 billion) in the first eight months of the fiscal year, reflecting the damage inflicted on an economy now at risk of falling back into the recession. In November alone, spending exceeded tax revenue by 31.6 billion pounds ($42.45 billion) amid the escalating cost of supporting firms and households ...

Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. will halt production in the UK and France due to transport delays caused by a mutant strain of coronavirus spreading in the UK and that’s led several countries to close their borders with the nation. The border closures have “disrupted the transportation of parts,” Toyota spokeswoman Shino Yamada said in an emailed statement. Countries globally have ...

Bloomberg Swedish overall confidence levels ended a seven-month climb in December, as the Nordic region’s largest economy tightened curbs to battle a severe surge in Covid-19 infections. The overall economic tendency survey fell to 95.6, from a revised 97.2 in November, with the drop “largely a result of firms being less positive about the current situation,” the National Institute of ...

Bloomberg Small advertisers that rely on Facebook to spread marketing messages are up in arms over the social network’s automated ad systems, complaining that inflexible account blocking tools and a lack of customer assistance are hurting business. One digital marketer, Chris Raines, was setting up an advertising campaign on Facebook when his account abruptly stopped working. Raines uses his account ...

Bloomberg Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, said it’s investigating whether it was a victim of the SolarWinds Corp. hack that has roiled the US government and private sector. “We are still actively investigating, but we currently see no evidence or indication that our systems were affected,” the company said in an emailed statement. Separately, rival US chipmaker Nvidia Corp. ...

Bloomberg The $900 billion stimulus package agreed to by US lawmakers over the weekend could keep the economy from contracting again, but pandemic-related risks remain if activity doesn’t start to bounce back next year. The fiscal relief package includes $600 one-time checks to individuals, more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and an extension of unemployment benefits through March, ...

Bloomberg In a year that saw a pandemic upend financial markets and economies around the globe, US companies and their largest shareholders raised a record $435 billion with stock sales. That’s far above the previous high of $279 billion set in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The windfall shows how issuers have dramatically turned to capital markets amid ...

Bloomberg Stocks rebounded in Europe after their biggest drop in almost two months as Brexit talks continued and the US Senate passed a spending bill. The Stoxx 600 Index was 0.6% higher at the open as cyclicals staged a comeback following an outbreak of a new variant of the virus and a slew of lockdowns and travel curbs to contain ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced on Monday the signing of an exploration concession agreement, awarding the exploration rights for Abu Dhabi’s Offshore Block 3 to a consortium led by Eni Abu Dhabi BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy’s multinational energy company, and PTTEP MENA Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Exploration and ...