A bipartisan group of US senators has proposed a $908bn spending package as Jay Powell, the Fed chair, made a new appeal for lawmakers to provide more support to the economy. The proposal, led by Virginia Democrat Mark Warner and Maine Republican Susan Collins, reflects growing economic anxiety in Washington.
Families in England will be able to visit their loved ones in elderly-care homes from Wednesday, the government has announced. The Department of Health and Social Care said that starting from this week, individuals will be able to visit care homes — subject to a negative Covid-19 test result.
French president Emmanuel Macron said the government is looking at “restrictive and dissuasive” measures to prevent French people from skiing over the border in Switzerland at Christmas when its own resorts will be closed. The move highlights the lack of cross-border coordination in Europe in tackling the pandemic.
Growth in US manufacturing eased in November on the heels of the strongest month in two years, as the sector struggled to hire workers amid the pandemic. The Institute for Supply Management’s index tracking factory activity fell to 57.5 last month from 59.3 in October, a sign that the rebound continued at a slower pace.
Debenhams is on course to be liquidated in the new year with the probable loss of more than 12,000 jobs, bringing 200 years of retail history to an ignominious end and compounding the crisis on the UK high street. The Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown followed a brutal few years for high street retailers.
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, said on Tuesday the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and immunogenic” after a trial participant claimed he suffered adverse effects. SII said the claim was “malicious” because his complications “were independent of the vaccine trial”.
Europe’s second largest reinsurance company, Munich Re, is expecting a return to its pre-pandemic level of profits next year after taking a €3.4bn hit from the Covid-19 crisis this year, the company said on Tuesday. For 2020, Munich Re is expecting a 56 per cent drop in profits to €1.2bn.
Airbnb on Tuesday disclosed it could raise as much as $2.5bn in its initial public offering. The company would have a market value of $29.8bn, a feat considering its operations were moribund for part of this year after the pandemic and government travel restrictions cut into its business.