September, 2020

• 29 September

  Johnson apologises for getting his own Covid rules wrong

  

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson apologised after wrongly explaining his own government’s coronavirus restrictions, in a gaffe that will fuel growing criticism of his response to the pandemic. “Apologies, I misspoke today,” the UK Prime Minister said on Twitter. It was the third time in three hours that government spokespeople had failed to be clear on the new rules that are being ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Ivory Coast may delay elections to hold talks

  

  Bloomberg Ivory Coast should briefly postpone on October 31 elections to settle a dispute over the legal framework of the vote, including the legitimacy of the electoral commission and the voter roll, the International Crisis Group said. With supporters of the ruling party and the opposition heading for a confrontation, talks would “offer an opportunity to get out of the ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  US asks Zimbabwe to help put down extremists in Mozambique

  

  Bloomberg The US asked Zimbabwe to help put down an insurgency in neighbouring Mozambique that’s destabilising a region rich in natural gas, people familiar with the matter said. The request came in a phone call between US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy and Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo last week, the people said, asking not to be identified ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  US ties with Greece at all-time high, says Pompeo

  Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said relations between the US and Greece are the closest they’ve ever been after meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his home on the island of Crete. “The relationship between our two countries is at an all-time high. It’s getting stronger,” Pompeo said at a press conference on Tuesday following further talks at ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Majority of democrats plan to remain in office in HK

  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 ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Macron meets Belarusian opposition leader in Vilnius

  

  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 ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  UK set for tax hikes as bigger state seen outlasting Covid

  

  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 ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Swedish confidence indicators return to pre-pandemic levels

  

  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 ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Mortgage approvals in UK hit 13-year high in August

  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 ...

  Read More »
• 29 September

  Euro-area economic confidence improves for 5th straight month

  

  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 ...

  Read More »