February, 2022

• 11 February

  Japan’s ANA calls for relaxed ‘border rules’

  

    Bloomberg The head of Japan’s biggest airline has urged the government to ease its strict border controls, which have effectively shut the nation to foreigners, saying they are hurting the economy and the aviation industry. “There are various problems happening with the situation that foreigners can’t enter Japan,” Yuji Hirako, the president of All Nippon Airways Co. said in ...

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• 11 February

  Starbucks illegally fired seven activists

  

    Bloomberg The union organizing Starbucks Corp. employees filed a federal complaint accusing it of illegally firing activist employees, marking a new and more contentious chapter in the efforts to expand labor representation among the company’s workers. In a filing with the National Labor Relations Board, the union, Workers United, said Starbucks violated federal law by firing seven employees at ...

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• 11 February

  Billionaire’s startup Indian airline will use stock options to lure staff

  

    Bloomberg Akasa, a new Indian airline backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, plans to offer stock options to attract staff, using a lure more often deployed by technology startups in its bid to gain a foothold in one of the world’s most competitive air-travel markets. The carrier, which is preparing to start flying in late May, is taking the unusual ...

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• 11 February

  British furniture chain Dunelm raises prices

    Bloomberg Dunelm Group Plc, a UK home-furnishings company, is raising prices to protect profits from higher shipping and raw-material costs, adding to the string of bad inflation news for British shoppers. Consumers are already bracing for faster inflation after the Bank of England warned that it could top 7% this year. Tesco Plc Chairman John Allan said this week ...

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• 11 February

  Russia starts military drills in Belarus as Nato watches

  

    Bloomberg Russia and Belarus began their largest joint military drills in years Thursday, watched closely by the US and Europe amid tensions over neighboring Ukraine. Thousands of troops backed by tanks, fighter aircraft and advanced S-400 missile-defense systems are involved in the “Allied Resolve 2022” exercises in Belarus that run to February 20. They include drills near the border ...

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• 11 February

  Squeezed Lithuania urges world to stand up against China, Russia

  

    Bloomberg Lithuania’s top diplomat called on the world to stand up to China and Russia’s alleged human rights violations during a visit to Australia, while acknowledging there would be a “cost” to taking such actions. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the National Press Club in Canberra that countries need to cut their trade and energy dependency on what he ...

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• 11 February

  Kim Jong-un set to follow missile barrage with military parade

  

    Bloomberg North Korea is stepping up preparations for military parade that could come as soon as next week, ratcheting up tensions after a January barrage of missile tests forced Kim Jong Un’s nuclear arsenal back on the Biden administration’s agenda. Commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s parade training ground taken last weekend showed several hundred personnel in formation, likely ...

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• 11 February

  Graft row: Bulgaria leader confronts prosecutors

  

    Bloomberg Bulgaria’s new prime minister criticized the nation’s prosecutors for dragging their feet on tackling graft, advancing a pledge to fight the problem in the European Union’s most corrupt member state. Premier Kiril Petkov, who won November elections promising “zero tolerance for corruption,” provided a list of 19 people he said “are potentially involved in wrongful activities” along with ...

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• 11 February

  London police chief says she has ‘no intention’ of quitting

    Bloomberg Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said she has no intention of quitting after London Mayor Sadiq Khan put her on notice following a series of scandals in the capital’s force. “I have absolutely no intention of going,” Dick told BBC London radio on Thursday. “I am — and have been for the last five years — leading a ...

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• 11 February

  Australia ends QE with murky future for $465 billion of assets

  

    Bloomberg Australia concluded its quantitative easing (QE) program, leaving the Reserve Bank with more than 40% of government bonds on issue and raising questions about what it will do with the pile of assets. The RBA on Thursday conducted its final A$1.6 billion purchase of securities under a program that tripled its balance sheet to about A$650 billion ($465 ...

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