Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to return to lead the UK’s daily televised coronavirus briefing on Thursday, with his government weighing options for easing a nationwide lockdown that officials warned will not be lifted any time soon. Johnson, who returned to work this week after being incapacitated by the disease and treated with oxygen in the hospital, was ...

Bloomberg When his state on Brazil’s northern coast needed ventilators to handle a surge in coronavirus victims, Maranhao Governor Flavio Dino imported 190 units from China through an unusual route. The cargo made a stop in Ethiopia before arriving in Sao Paulo, where it skipped customs and was flown straight to Sao Luis do Maranhao, the state’s capital. Dino had ...

Bloomberg Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the country’s surging coronavirus epidemic may help him walk away unscathed from a host of political and economic problems that hounded his government just months ago. His approval rating on April 21 was 83%, up from 76% on January 7, according to Morning Consult, a US-based survey and research firm. A separate ...

Bloomberg German officials signalled there won’t be a significant further easing of restrictions on public life for at least another week as data showed coronavirus infections in Europe’s biggest economy rose the most in four days. Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to consult with state premiers on Thursday on whether to lift more of the curbs imposed to stop the ...

In speeches during the 1960 presidential campaign, John Kennedy addressed Americans’ anxiety about national lassitude at the end of eight years under Dwight Eisenhower by mildly saying: “I believe we can do better.” Joe Biden, responding to national embarrassment about the least presidential president, can campaign on a modest theme: “Is this really the best we can do?” This question ...

Eventually the lockdowns will ease and public life will become somewhat safer, even though a vaccine will still be a ways off. At that point a species that has been in hibernation will begin to emerge: namely, the tourist. I have visited about 100 countries over the past few decades, and when this outbreak subsides I am looking forward to ...

Barclays Plc’s traders are helping Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley just when he needs them most. Buttressed by a surge in revenue that dwarfed even its bigger Wall Street peers, Barclays was able to take a big charge for the inevitable buildup of bad loans during the worst economic contraction in living memory, and still post a decent profit. Staley’s ...

The Federal Reserve has done much to support markets, stabilise financial conditions and backstop key areas of the US debt and credit markets. But challenges remain. One big one is to get its Main Street Lending Program up and working well. As the Fed describes it, this program “is intended to facilitate lending to small and medium sized businesses” by ...

It took a moment of carelessness for plague to strike the French port city of Marseilles in 1720, despite an edifice of strict health measures. A boat carrying silks from the Ottoman Empire was allowed to skip the usual 40 days’ quarantine to unload its cargo, unleashing an epidemic that wiped out almost half the city’s population and which didn’t ...

Small Indian companies getting decimated by the world’s harshest coronavirus lockdown finally see a ray of hope. Details are still sketchy, but the Indian government plans to backstop banks if they increase overdraft limits by 20%, providing $39 billion of new working capital to smaller enterprises, Bloomberg News has reported. A state-sponsored fund will absorb losses. Seeing how the US ...