Headlines

The northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang is considering buying a stake in Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., giving it exposure to a local joint venture with BMW AG, Bloomberg News reported. The municipal government is discussing a potential acquisition of a 30% stake in Brilliance China held by state-backed Brilliance Automotive Group Holdings Co., which is in a court-led restructuring process, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is confidential.

British health minister Steve Barclay said on Friday that he intends to pursue legal action against the Royal College of Nursing's upcoming strike action, Reuters reported. "Following a request from NHS Employers I have regretfully provided notice of my intent to pursue legal action to ask the courts to declare the Royal College of Nursing's upcoming strike action planned for 30 April to 2 May to be unlawful," he said. "Bullying nurses and dragging us through the highest courts would not be a good look for government," the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said in a response to his statement.

Food prices have risen dramatically across Europe in recent months, jumping 19.6% in March from a year earlier and becoming the main driver of inflation as energy costs have fallen. But in Hungary, food prices have surged more than 45% over the year, according to EU statistics office Eurostat, far surpassing the next highest figure of just over 29% in Slovakia, the Associated Press reported.

The European Union is set to propose a ban on many goods from transiting through Russia as the bloc attempts to tighten the screws on the enforcement of sanctions imposed over the past year, Bloomberg News reported. he transit ban would extend to numerous technologies and other goods, including several types of vehicles, but not all items would be barred from traveling via Russia en route to third countries. The ban would be part of a new package of sanctions that’s being prepared by the European Commission. Moscow has been able to get around restrictions on several sanctioned technologies.

Poland is close to overcoming inflation pressures and has done so without overreacting in a way that could have damaged the economy for years, said ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Bloomberg News reported. Polish policy has been aimed at protecting the nation’s labor market, Kaczynski said in Janow Lubelski in the nation’s east on Saturday. An overresponse to the sudden price increases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 could have suppressed the nation’s growth for as long as six years, he added.

Zimbabwe plans to keep its local currency as legal tender, even as the US dollar is now the unit of choice for most transactions in the economy, Bloomberg News reported. The extensive use of US dollars doesn’t concern authorities, who instead see it as a way to access foreign currency, according to Mthuli Ncube, the southern African nation’s finance minister. The country is ineligible to access lines of credit from multilateral financial institutions because it owes more $14 billion.

Boy George is reportedly facing bankruptcy after a £1.75million damages claim brought by a former Culture Club bandmate, the Mirror reported. The "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! 2022" star, 61, reached an out-of-court settlement with ex-drummer Jon Moss in March this year after being sued for a loss of earnings. Mr Moss, 65, had previously brought legal action against Boy George (real name George O'Dowd), guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Michael Craig, after allegedly being 'expelled' by their manager in September 2018 after 37 years playing together.

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc and its subsidiaries in the United States filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Earlier this month, Virgin Orbit filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the satellite launch company struggled to secure long-term funding following a failed launch in January.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has started settlement talks with its creditors to repay debts and remove the last hurdle in completing a merger with the Sony Group that would create a $10 billion media giant, Bloomberg News reported. The Indian television network has offered IDBI Bank Ltd., one of the creditors that moved insolvency court, to repay a loan of about 1.49 billion rupees ($18.1 million) in tranches, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. Zee’s founders are in separate discussions with Axis Bank Ltd.

The European Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly backed the European Union's first set of rules to regulate cryptoasset markets, Reuters reported. Parliament voted by 517 in favour and 38 against to approve the world's first comprehensive set of regulations for issuing and trading cryptoassets such as bitcoin. "This regulation brings a competitive advantage for the EU," said Stefan Berger, the lawmaker who steered the rules through parliament. "The European crypto-asset industry has regulatory clarity that does not exist in countries like the U.S.," Berger said.