By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) – The winter World Cup has added a new level of uncertainty to the Christmas trading outlook of Britain’s supermarkets: How do you persuade cash-strapped shoppers to buy yule logs and luxury biscuits at the same time as beer and pizza? Running between Nov. 20 and Dec. 18, the soccer…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down Wednesday on his faltering invasion of Ukraine with a declaration of martial law in four illegally annexed regions and preparations within Russia for draconian new restrictions and crackdowns. Putin’s drastic efforts to tighten his grip on Ukrainians and Russians follow a series of embarrassing setbacks:…
BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower on Thursday after Wall Street benchmarks fell, reversing course after two days of gains. Wall Street futures were lower while oil prices were mixed. The pullback Wednesday came as investors reviewed quarterly earnings reports and Treasury yields climbed to multiyear highs, tempting traders with higher returns on…
LONDON (AP) — British food prices rose at the fastest pace since 1980 last month, driving inflation back to a 40-year high and heaping pressure on the embattled government to balance the books without gutting help for the nation’s poorest residents. Food prices jumped 14.6% in the year through September, led by the soaring cost…
LONDON (Reuters) – Eastbound gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline from Germany to Poland rose on Wednesday while Russian supplies to Europe via Ukraine remained stable. Exit flows at the Mallnow metering point on the German border of the Yamal pipeline stood at 2,040,490 kilowatt hours (kWh) per hour between 0700 CET (0500 GMT) and…
ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian ex-premier who has a longtime friendship with Vladimir Putin, has been caught on audiotape boasting that he had recently reconnected with the Russian president and exchanged gifts of vodka, wine and “sweet” letters over his recent birthday. Italy’s LaPresse news agency published what it said were comments by…
By Summer Zhen HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hedge funds focused on emerging Asia posted their biggest monthly losses in years in September and are set for the worst year since the 2008 financial crisis, data provider HFR said. The firm’s HFRI Asia ex-Japan Index slumped 7.7% in September, the worst single month performance since March…
By Stanley Widianto and Stefanno Sulaiman JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will offer generous incentives, including a 30-year tax break, for companies investing in a $32 billion project to build a new capital city in the country called Nusantara, an official said late on Tuesday. Bambang Susantono, head of the Nusantara National Capital Authority, made the…
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top executive of South Korea’s largest mobile chat app, Kakao, stepped down on Wednesday over a widespread service outage that triggered an outpouring of complaints in a country that is heavily reliant on such technology. Namkoong Whon, who became Kakao’s co-CEO in March, said he will resign to focus…
By Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s strategy pivot has solved one problem for investors who didn’t love its foray into consumer banking. Still, Wall Street is yet to be convinced if the broader reorganization will create long term benefits. In its biggest management reshuffle in years, the…
