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Bloomberg South Africa’s government revived a so-called Energy War Room to tackle the nation’s electricity crisis, as it brought forward the date when the incoming chief executive officer of the state power utility will start work. The team, to be headed by Deputy President David Mabuza, will seek to avoid a repeat of a nine-day blackout earlier this month that ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) agreed on a landmark green-finance regulation, advancing the bloc’s push to embed environmental goals in standards for banks, money managers and insurers. EU lawmakers approved an accord on the list of sustainable activities, following agreement by the bloc’s member states earlier in the day. Policymakers had to overcome last-minute divisions over the kinds of technologies ...

Bloomberg The UK labour market and manufacturing sector displayed further signs of nervousness around the now-postponed October 31 deadline to leave the European Union and in the run-up to last week’s general election. Vacancies fell below 800,000 for the first time in two years and wages grew at their slowest annual pace since 2018, the Office for National Statistics said. ...

Bloomberg European car sales rose 4.5% in November, the third straight monthly gain for automakers that have been battered all year by economic woes, trade wars and a broader industry slowdown. The monthly rise wasn’t enough to turn the year around so far, with cumulative sales since January still down 0.3%, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Four of the ...

Brits haven’t felt very much like shopping this year, and understandably so. There’s been political gridlock and upheaval, the repeated threat of a hard Brexit and an election in December for the first time since 1923. No wonder despite strong employment, and wage growth outpacing inflation, UK consumers have been acting as if they’re in a recession. As a result, ...

A core function of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) — founded in 1995 to govern the rules of trade between 164 countries — ground to a halt. The reason for that was US President Donald Trump, who has never really had much time for multilateral institutions. The WTO has been on his hit-list for some time as an entity that ...

Even China’s IPO-mad retail investors are souring on the country’s banks. Postal Savings Bank of China Co. began trading with a whimper in Shanghai, after a 32.7 billion yuan share sale that was nation’s largest since 2010. The stock rose as much as 2.7% in the trading, a fraction of the 44% limit that most newly listed shares hit on ...

For weeks, drifting clouds from bushfires around Australia’s east coast have settled on Sydney. Thick smoke has rendered the Sydney Harbour Bridge invisible. Ambulance calls for breathing problems have risen 30% on typical seasonal levels. Beaches are black from settling embers. You’d think that Australia’s political class would be under pressure to come up with solutions to the disaster spreading ...

After almost two years of tariffs, counter-tariffs, meetings, bad-tempered tweets, and backroom maneuverings, we may finally be on the brink of the first part of a hoped-for trade deal between the US and China. It wasn’t worth it. President Donald Trump has signed off on an agreement to de-escalate his conflict with Beijing. Discussions will focus on the US reducing ...

As food delivery companies gobble up their competitors around the world with mounting haste, the firms’ customers risk being left with scant choice when it comes to ordering nosh online. Regulators need to take notice. Last week, Germany’s Delivery Hero SE agreed to buy Woowa Brothers Corp. in a deal valuing the South Korean company at $4 billion. The acquisition ...