The European Central Bank (ECB) appears serious about a digital euro. Barely a month after the central bank issued a major report on the topic, and opened a public consultation, President Christine Lagarde said “her hunch” is that the euro zone could have its own electronic currency within two to four years. Provided the rest of the institution’s governing council ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s two biggest airlines plan to merge, with Korean Air Lines Co acquiring Asiana Airlines Inc for 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) following an injection via its parent, Hanjin Kal Corp. The main goal of the acquisition is to stabilise South Korea’s aviation industry amid the coronavirus pandemic and improve its competitiveness, said Hanjin Group, which operates airlines ...

Bloomberg Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd acquired a 96% stake in Urban Ladder, an online furniture seller for 1.82 billion rupees ($24.4 million), expanding the company’s reach in the world’s second-most populous nation. The unit of Reliance Industries Ltd plans to invest a further 750 million rupees in the next three years, it said in a statement. It also said it ...

Bloomberg SM Investments Corp, the owner of the Philippines’ largest mall operator, is speeding up efforts to develop “omni-channel” options for shoppers as people shift to a mix of online and in-store purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group is tapping personal shoppers, ramping up delivery and pick-up services, and boosting its online presence, said Steven Tan, president of SM ...

Bloomberg Walmart Inc is selling most of Japanese retailer Seiyu to KKR & Co and Rakuten Inc in a deal that values the supermarket chain at 172.5 billion yen ($1.6 billion), as the US giant retreats from its two-decade attempt to crack Japan’s retail market. Under the agreement, private equity fund KKR will become the majority owner with a 65% ...

Bloomberg American Airlines Group Inc said it’s reducing flights from major US airports to London next month due to low demand, damping hopes that the holiday season would facilitate a recovery in travel. The airline will stop London flights from New York, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, in December. Passengers can travel to London via its partner British Airways from ...

Bloomberg Online searches for flights from Hong Kong to Singapore surged 300% within three hours of the announcement an air travel bubble would open between the two financial hubs on November 22, according to Trip.com. Searches for Singapore to Hong Kong flights jumped 200%, and volume climbed for hotels in both cities as well, the online travel services provider said. ...

Bloomberg Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the incoming Biden administration should move quickly to restore lines of communication with China that frayed during the Trump years or risk a crisis that could escalate into military conflict. “Unless there is some basis for some cooperative action, the world will slide into a catastrophe comparable to World War I,” ...

Bloomberg An attorney working for President Donald Trump’s campaign on an election lawsuit said she’s being harassed for her work, including by a lawyer from a firm representing the state of Pennsylvania. Linda Kerns, who leads her own law firm in Philadelphia, said in a court filing that an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis in Washington left her a one-minute ...

Bloomberg Ethiopia said its army advanced on the capital of the rebellious Tigray region as the conflict spread beyond the nation’s borders. The government claimed its forces captured the town of Alamata in southern Tigray over the weekend, building on the seizure of other towns in the west. The region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front said it’s also being attacked ...