January, 2023

• 23 January

  UK ambulance staff stage biggest strike yet as unions join forces

  

  Bloomberg Ambulance workers walked out Monday in the biggest show of industrial action by first responders since trade unions kicked off an historic series of protests against pay levels in Britain’s National Health Service. Workers from Unison, Unite and the GMB labor groups are on strike again with the public advised to only call 999 if there’s a life-threatening situation. ...

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• 23 January

  Paris, Berlin plan high-speed train service

    Bloomberg France and Germany announced a plan to strengthen their rail links as a way to offer greener travel between the two countries. The nations “support the deployment of the high-speed train route between Paris and Berlin, as well as the night train service, both announced for 2024,” according to a joint declaration released after a meeting in Paris ...

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• 23 January

  Londoners escape worst of inflation crisis with big pay hikes

  

    Bloomberg London residents are weathering the cost-of-living crunch better than people in the rest of the UK, one research group concluded. Residents of the capital saw their real wages adjusted for inflation slip by £9 ($11.13) a week compared to a year ago during the fourth quarter of 2022, research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research indicates. ...

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• 23 January

  Berlin’s indecision over tanks for Ukraine draws rebuke

  

  Bloomberg Latvia’s top envoy criticized Germany over its indecision on whether to send Ukraine the Leopard 2 tanks, saying there are no longer any “good arguments” not to give Kyiv the heavier weapons it demands. The three Baltic nations — Latvia, along with Estonia and Lithuania — were expected to reiterate calls for Germany to send the tanks when the ...

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• 23 January

  Burkina Faso cuts French military ties in extremist fight

    Bloomberg Burkina Faso ended its military collaboration with France, the second West African nation to sever defense links that were forged to combat a decade-long insurgency in the region. The government on January 18 criticized a 2018 agreement that enabled the troops to operate in Burkina Faso, according to a letter sent by the nation’s Foreign Affairs Ministry to ...

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• 23 January

  Macron plows ahead with flagship pension reform

    Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s government formally presented its flagship pension reform at a cabinet meeting on Monday, paving the way for parliament to debate it as unions and opposition parties ready further strikes and protests against the plan. The bill, which raises the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62 and aims to erase deficits in the system ...

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• 23 January

  Biden 2020 campaign chief to stay at White House amid aide swaps

  

  Bloomberg Joe Biden’s deputy chief of staff, Jen O’Malley Dillon, has ruled out returning as campaign manager for the president’s planned 2024 reelection bid, people familiar with the matter say. O’Malley Dillon, who served as campaign manager for his 2020 effort, will stay at the White House rather than reprise the role, the people said. She’ll still be closely involved ...

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• 23 January

  Czech tycoon draws ire over Nato comments

  

  Bloomberg Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who is trailing in his bid to win the nation’s presidency this week, drew criticism for saying during a televised debate that he wouldn’t send troops to aid Nato allies. The billionaire ex-premier, who was voted out of power in 2021 and now leads the largest opposition party, backtracked after saying he wouldn’t ...

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• 23 January

  Slovakia heads toward September snap vote

    Bloomberg Slovakia took a step closer toward early general elections aimed at ending a year-long political deadlock that triggered the government’s collapse last month. The euro area country of 5.4 million people will probably hold the ballot on Sept. 30, interim Prime Minister Eduard Heger said, after negotiations with his former ruling partners in Bratislava on Sunday evening. Heger’s ...

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• 23 January

  ECB’s Knot wants at least two more half-point rate increases

  

    Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) should continue with half-point interest-rate increases at the next two meetings and the time to slow the pace of hikes is “still far away,” according to Governing Council member Klaas Knot. “We made a step down in December from 75 to 50 basis points — that will be the pace for a multiple ...

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