Bloomberg A majority of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers plan to remain in office after China’s decision to extend their terms without a planned election. Sixteen of 23 sitting opposition lawmakers will keep their seats on Hong Kong’s 70-member Legislative Council, pan-democrat politicians said. The announcement came after a week-long survey of democracy supporters revealed a split among the opposition’s supporters ...

Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron met the leader of the opposition in Belarus and promised to help mediate an end to the country’s political crisis, as he seeks to persuade European Union chiefs he’s serious about confronting Russia. The meeting in Vilnius on Tuesday was the first between a leader of a Group of Seven nation and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled across ...

Bloomberg The UK could be facing a long-term increase in the size of the state as well as a substantial tax increase as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The influential research group said on Tuesday it is “highly plausible” that government spending is around 45% of gross domestic product by the middle ...

Bloomberg Swedish confidence indicators rise for a fifth consecutive month in September, to levels not seen since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The overall economic tendency survey rise to 94.5, from a revised 87.6 in August, the National Institute of Economic Research said on Tuesday. That is the highest level since February, before the pandemic sent sentiment plunging to ...

Bloomberg UK mortgage approvals hit a 13-year high in August as the housing market extended its tax-cut fuelled mini boom. Lenders signed 84,700 home-loan agreements, the most since October 2007, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. Demand for unsecured credit slowed from July. The surge in approvals reflects homebuyers seeking to tie up deals after Chancellor Rishi Sunak waived ...

Bloomberg Economic confidence in the euro area continued to improve in September, albeit at a slower pace as resurgent virus infections cast uncertainty over the outlook. A European Commission sentiment index rises for a fifth month to 91.1, exceeding economists’ median estimate. Yet confidence remains more than 30% below its pre-crisis level and evidence is building that the steep rebound ...

Bloomberg Argentina’s economic recovery lost steam in July after the government re-imposed stricter quarantine measures in a failed bid to contain the pandemic. Economic activity rise 1.1% in July from a month earlier, after two months of stronger gains as the economy rebounded from a historic drop in April. Activity falls 13.2% from a year earlier, worse than economists’ expectation ...

Bloomberg Germany may join other European nations in limiting the number of people at private and public gatherings in areas with high coronavirus infection rates, as officials across the continent labor to reverse a recent uptick in cases. Chancellor Angela Merkel will recommend restricting private meetings to 25 people and public gatherings to 50 people when she holds talks with ...

Bloomberg The end-of-month rebound in global equities faded as investors assessed a scaled-back fiscal stimulus proposal in the US against the rising toll of the coronavirus pandemic. European share declines were led by banks and other cyclical stocks. The pound added to gains amid speculation that successful Brexit trade talks could help shield Britain from a messy rupture with the ...

Bloomberg A meteoric rally in an Australian penny stock is fast unravelling after confounding not just market watchers but also the company’s CEO. BrainChip Holdings Ltd., an artificial intelligence-focused startup whose flagship product is yet to be made widely available for commercial use, saw its 2020 gains propel to 1,500% earlier this month. While concerns about overheating have seen the ...