Bloomberg A container ship owned by AP Moller-Maersk was attacked off the coast of West Africa, prompting the company to warn of a rising risk from piracy in the area. The Maersk Cadiz was boarded by “criminals” on Saturday at about 2:30 pm Nigeria time while traveling from Tema in Ghana to Kribi in Cameroon, Maersk said. Nigerian naval ships ...

Bloomberg Somalia’s government accused Kenya of arming local militia to attack its forces on the border, just days after severing diplomatic ties with its East African neighbour. The alleged steps can “undermine general security of the Horn of Africa region,” Somalia’s Ministry of Information said in a statement posted to its Twitter account. Calls and text messages to the spokeswoman ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson’s emergency virus lockdown is heaping last-minute pressure on negotiators as they race to reach a post-Brexit trade deal. Officials said the announcement has focused minds on bringing the talks to a conclusion within days. As the British prime minister was detailing the new restrictions for London and southeast England on Saturday, negotiators in Brussels were inching closer ...

Bloomberg Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called President-elect Joe Biden to congratulate him on winning the election, one of the last major world leaders to recognise the future US head of state. Obrador, who struck up a close relationship with President Donald Trump, said last month that he didn’t want to be “imprudent” and held off his congratulatory message. ...

Bloomberg Nigerian police said 84 people held hostage by gunmen were freed in the northern state of Katsina. Police responding to a distress call engaged the assailants in a gunfight and they fled, Katsina Police spokesman Gambo Isah said in an emailed statement. It comes days after more than 300 schoolboys seized from a boarding school in the same state ...

Bloomberg More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home as a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England, part of Boris Johnson’s attempt to control a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus. The measures ban household mixing in the capital and the southeast, and restrict socialising to just Christmas Day across the rest ...

Bloomberg The UK will spend as much as 11.7 billion pounds ($15.7 billion) on purchasing, manufacturing and roll-out of coronavirus vaccines, according to estimates from the public spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report the cost includes UK investment in global efforts to find a vaccine — but not the potential future expense of any multiyear ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. said its systems were exposed to the malware used in the Russia-linked hack that targeted US states and government agencies, adding that investigations so far show the malicious software wasn’t used to attack others and didn’t impact customer data or outward-facing systems. The company is a customer of SolarWinds Corp., whose software the hackers are believed to ...

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. halted some construction work at its German plant project after failing to make a security deposit with local authorities. Brandenburg’s environment ministry stopped tree removal activity and the installation of paint-shop machinery at the site until the funds are received, reports said. Tesla needs to provide a 100 million-euro ($122 million) deposit with local authorities to cover ...

Bloomberg Italy is set to keep its economic policy expansionary next year to support its coronavirus-battered economy, as agreed with European Union partners, Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said in an interview with La Stampa on Sunday. That could require widening the deficit further next year to support economic growth, but that won’t impact a planned reduction after 2021 and will ...