April, 2021

• 21 April

  Joe Biden calls on lawmakers to honour Floyd with ‘reform bill’

  

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was “a giant step forward in the march towards justice in America,” and called on lawmakers to ensure the legacy of George Floyd wasn’t his murder, but lasting law-enforcement reform. “No one should be above the law and today’s verdict sends that message, but it’s not ...

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• 21 April

  Hungary agrees to tweak laws as EU frustration intensifies with Orban

  

  Bloomberg Hungary’s government submitted legislation to tweak laws that underpinned its attacks against foreign-funded universities and civil society groups that the European Union’s top court struck down for violating the bloc’s rules. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has waged campaigns against dissenting voices during a decade of consolidating power, including against academia and non-governmental organisations. EU leaders in December adopted tougher ...

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• 21 April

  German Greens get early edge to succeed Merkel

  Bloomberg Germany’s Greens are in position to make history, surging past Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc in the race to replace the four-term chancellor after September’s election. The party that’s vowing to increase spending and tighten controls on the finance industry — which finished a distant sixth in the last national vote in 2017 — held a seven percentage-point lead in ...

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• 21 April

  Toronto orders workplaces shut to ‘slam brakes’ on outbreaks

  

  Bloomberg Toronto health authorities will order workplaces across Canada’s biggest city to close if they have more than five confirmed cases of Covid-19. The decision overrides less stringent provincial orders, and follows a similar move by Peel Region, a western suburb. It comes as the city struggles to contain a surge in variant cases that threatens to collapse the local ...

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• 21 April

  Canada M&A triples to $184b as railroad bidding heats up

  

  Bloomberg Canadian dealmaking is extending its boom, as a bidding war between two railway operators contributes to a tripling in mergers and acquisitions volumes. Companies from Canada have been involved in $184 billion of transactions this year, including agreed deals and more preliminary proposals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s up 198% on the same point in 2020 and ...

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• 21 April

  US faces security ‘crisis’ on chips: Commerce secretary

  Bloomberg The US faces a national security “crisis” due to its lack of semiconductor production, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senators in a hearing on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan. “It is not an exaggeration to say at the moment that we have a crisis in our supply chain,” Raimondo said Tuesday, calling the production deficiencies “a national security risk ...

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• 21 April

  Italy targets mid-May opening for tourism in bid to save sector

  

  Bloomberg Italy is aiming to open the country to tourists in mid-May, pledging a range of measures to protect visitors from the coronavirus as it scrambles to rescue a sector devastated by lockdowns and restrictions on movement. As part of the race to get the industry back on its feet, the Rome-based government will introduce so-called vaccine passports earlier than ...

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• 21 April

  ‘Brazil needs more caution on inflation’

  Bloomberg Brazilian policy makers should have been more cautious when cutting interest rates last year and now need to stress they will raise them as needed to bring inflation to target, according to former central bank President Ilan Goldfajn. Rather than committing to a “partial adjustment” of monetary stimulus, the bank needs to show it’s ready to do whatever is ...

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• 21 April

  UK plans deeper carbon cuts to spur climate change fight

  

  Bloomberg Prime Minster Boris Johnson’s government will set a goal to cut UK carbon pollution by 78% by 2035, deepening an already ambitious target as he seeks to spur global momentum in the fight against climate change and boost relations with US President Joe Biden. The government will adopt the target — a cut relative to 1990 levels — in ...

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• 21 April

  European stocks climb on earnings; US futures mixed

  

  Bloomberg European stocks got a boost from upbeat corporate results that helped allay concern about the rising toll of the virus. The dollar extended a rebound. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 0.7%, with energy and tech firms leading gains in almost every industry sector. S&P 500 contracts erased losses following a retreat in the US benchmark all week. Nasdaq ...

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