Italy’s political tensions with the European Union and the accompanying financial jitters are beginning to take a toll on the Italian economy, the latest data suggest. Italy’s unemployment rate ticked up to 10.1% in September from 9.8% the previous month, the country’s statistics agency said Wednesday, reversing a downward trend throughout this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. And on Tuesday, the statistics agency said gross domestic product was unchanged in the third quarter from the second, the worst showing in almost four years, while business confidence fell in October.

Credit Suisse reported a mixed set of third-quarter results, with revenue and net income missing expectations after a sharp fall in trading income, taking the shine off an almost 70 per cent surge in overall pre-tax profits, the Financial Times reported. The global markets division made an unexpected pre-tax loss of SFr96m ($96m) in the period after fixed-income revenues plunged 20 per cent, worse than the 15 per cent declines seen at Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas recently.

Italy’s political tensions with the European Union and the accompanying financial jitters are beginning to take a toll on the Italian economy, the latest data suggest. Italy’s unemployment rate ticked up to 10.1% in September from 9.8% the previous month, the country’s statistics agency said Wednesday, reversing a downward trend throughout this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. And on Tuesday, the statistics agency said gross domestic product was unchanged in the third quarter from the second, the worst showing in almost four years, while business confidence fell in October.

The EU is a bully. The EU is inflexible and unjust. Our proud nation must no longer submit to the diktats of Brussels and its accomplices. These complaints of Brexiters in the UK resemble the indignation of some Greeks about their nation’s treatment during the eurozone’s sovereign debt and financial sector crises, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. The British government and people, still unable to settle on a definition of Brexit, can learn from Greece’s long, painful struggle. Some lessons offer grounds for hope.

Iceland is living up to its reputation as a land of fire and ice. Burnt fingers and cold shouldering are risks for bondholders in Icelandair. The ratio of debt to earnings has risen, and with it the risk of default on more than $200m of borrowings. With the flow of tourists that powered the airline’s growth slowing down, it is time for Iceland’s oldest airline to scale back its ambitions, the Financial Times reported. What apter way to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the financial crisis than with debt restructuring talks? Three Icelandic banks collapsed back then.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV is considering the sale of properties within French furniture chain Conforama, the latest move by the embattled retailer to shore up its balance sheet, according to people familiar with the matter. The value of the portfolio is about 800 million euros ($907 million), said the people, who asked not to be named as the information isn’t public, Bloomberg News reported. The properties are held outside European real-estate subsidiary Hemisphere, which is disposing of assets as part of a debt-restructuring deal, they said.

Crawshaw Group Plc became the latest British retailer to be hit by tough trading conditions, as it announced plans on Wednesday to appoint administrators to seek buyers after failed discussions with investors to raise capital, Reuters reported. The Rotherham-based butcher, which said that it does not have sufficient cash to restructure, has requested its trading on LSE’s junior market to be suspended. Crawshaw shares have lost 82.2 percent in value so far this year. Administrators are a form of creditor protection in the United Kingdom.

European Union diplomats agreed on Wednesday to soften draft rules on the money banks should set aside to cover potential losses on new loans, in a move aimed at helping countries such as Italy that have huge piles of bad debt, Reuters reported. A decade on from the 2008 financial crisis, bad loans are still curbing many euro zone banks’ ability to lend and so support economic growth.

Sports Direct International Plc, the sportswear group controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, said on Wednesday it had paid 8 million pounds ($10.2 million) to buy Evans Cycles after it fell into administration, Reuters reported. Sports Direct, which plans to keep half of Evans’ 62 stores open, also said about 2 million pounds of the acquisition price was used to fund Evans Cycles’ October payroll. The company has added to an already lengthy list of British investments by buying Evans Cycles on Tuesday.

Eurozone growth slowed sharply in the third quarter as new emissions tests hit German car production and the Italian economy stagnated amid a stand-off with Brussels over its national budget, the Financial Times reported. Gross domestic product for the bloc increased 0.2 per cent from the end of June, confounding expectations of economists polled by Reuters that the single currency area would maintain the 0.4 per cent pace of economic growth experienced during the second quarter of the year.