[ad_1] Europeans who were looking forward to Christmas and new year holidays free from burdensome Covid-19 lockdowns have been brought abruptly down to earth in the past week, with persistently high infection rates across the continent obliging governments from London to Athens to strengthen or maintain restrictions on free movement.  Belgium has extended curbs through the holidays and will allow people to invite only one adult friend — known as a “cuddle contact” — to their homes, or two if they live alone. France has cancelled a reprieve for New Year’s Eve gatherings and will impose an 8pm-6am curfew from Tuesday. Italy, which at the weekend overtook the UK to…

[ad_1] Alice Woodhouse Developing economies in Asia will shrink at a slower pace than forecast this year on improved outlooks for India and China, according to the Asian Development Bank. The ADB forecasts economies in developing Asia are expected to contract by 0.4 per cent in 2020, an improvement on the bank’s forecast in September of a 0.7 per cent year on year decline. Its Asian Development Outlook report forecasts that the Chinese economy will recover at a faster rate than previously estimated. China’s economy is set to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2020, up from the previous estimate of 1.8 per cent on recoveries for both manufacturing and…

[ad_1] President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France would maintain defence and commercial ties with Egypt despite the military-led regime’s human rights record because co-operation would help in the struggle against terrorism and contribute to regional stability.  Mr Macron was speaking after hosting Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks at the Elysée Palace in defiance of sharp criticism from international human rights groups as well as liberal and leftwing French politicians.  “I won’t condition our co-operation in defence and economic matters on these disagreements [over human rights],” Mr Macron told a joint news conference.  “It’s better to have a demanding dialogue than a boycott policy that would reduce…

[ad_1] On the virtual campaign trail, US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promised to rein in tension with Iran with an approach he argued would be instantly distinguishable from Donald Trump’s: Mr Biden’s would be the “smart way”.  The quip formed part of his argument that Mr Trump’s hardline approach — withdrawing from an Obama-era nuclear accord between Iran and global powers, piling on punitive sanctions and coming close to war — had momentously backfired, putting Tehran just “a few months” away from having enough nuclear material for a bomb. Mr Biden has said he will return to the multi-party 2015 deal that limited Iran’s nuclear programme, as long as Iran…

[ad_1] Demetri Sevastopulo Joe Biden has won the hard-fought battle for Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press, giving the Democratic nominee enough electoral votes to become the next president of the United States. Mr Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania came after President Donald Trump’s sizable election day lead was whittled away as the former vice-president scored huge margins of victory in ballots counted in the urban centres of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh over the last 48 hours. With the Pennsylvania victory, Mr Biden now has 284 electoral votes, well above the 270 needed to win the presidency. Mr Trump’s legal team has challenged the Pennsylvania count in court, however. The AP declaration…

[ad_1] Fighting has begun in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray after prime minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal troops to quell a rebellion in a move that threatens to bring Africa’s second most populous country to the brink of civil war. According to the prime minister’s office military operations began in Tigray on Wednesday afternoon. A western diplomat in Addis Ababa also said that “people have been killed” but that the death toll is “uncertain”. Mr Abiy took to social media early on Wednesday morning to say that a “red line” had been crossed, accusing the armed forces of Tigray’s regional government of attacking a federal army base and “arming and…

[ad_1] Armenia has requested urgent talks with Russia over security assistance in response to intensified fighting with Azerbaijan over control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s request at the weekend to Russian president Vladimir Putin is the first time Armenia has formally asked for help under the terms of a 1997 mutual defence and security assistance pact between the two countries, and comes as Azerbaijani troops threaten a critical Armenian-controlled town after making significant territorial gains. The war, which has killed more than 5,000 people since erupting five weeks ago, risks a wider regional conflagration, given Russia’s defence pact with Armenia and Azerbaijan’s strong backing from Turkey.…

[ad_1] Corporate bond markets are beginning to creak ahead of the US election as investors become more skittish, fearful that rising coronavirus cases and delays in Washington on further stimulus could hit the US economy. Investors have sought to walk a tightrope in recent weeks, balancing America’s uncertain political direction and what it means for the response to the pandemic against supportive monetary policy, with the Federal Reserve continuing to signal its intent to stand behind credit markets.  The premium in borrowing costs that investors demand on lowly rated corporate bonds over Treasuries — known as the spread — has recorded the largest three-day rise since the start of June,…

[ad_1] Matthew Rocco Sales of newly built homes in the US slowed for the first time in five months, retreating from a 13-year high. New home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000 single-family houses in September, the Census Bureau said on Monday. That was down 3.5 per cent from a revised 994,000-unit pace in August, which was the strongest level since December 2006. Economists had expected new home sales to top 1m last month. The US housing market has helped lead the economy’s rebound from the worst of the coronavirus-fuelled crisis in the spring, as buyers seek out roomier dwellings during the pandemic and capitalise…

[ad_1] European governments have warned of an alarming rise in the number of coronavirus infections across the continent from west to east, an autumnal second wave that threatens to overwhelm hospitals and will sharply increase the death toll in the weeks ahead.  “The situation is grave,” Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, said on Friday, a day after the country recorded a new daily record of almost 21,000 infections. His words echoed those of Jean Castex, his French counterpart, who extended a night-time curfew that will cover 46m people, or two-thirds of the population, from midnight on Friday. “The weeks ahead will be hard. Our hospital services will be put to…