Portugal is to end its practice of issuing "golden visas" to rich foreign investors, one of several measures announced by Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Thursday to tackle the lack of affordable housing.. The measures announced by the socialist government Thursday are designed to increase the amount of available housing.
Bitcoin hit an eight-month high to surge past $25,000 on Thursday as the volatile cryptocurrency rises despite pressure from US regulators.. A more optimistic outlook for the world economy is propping up the markets, including cryptocurrencies, with Paris and London stock exchanges hitting all-time highs on Thursday.
Swiss food giant Nestle and liquor group Pernod Ricard, owner of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey, announced fresh price hikes on Thursday due to inflation even as consumers across the world face a cost-of-living crunch.. "Inflation surged to unprecedented levels, cost-of-living pressures intensified and the effects of geopolitical tensions were felt around the world," he added, referring to the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Britain's biggest domestic energy supplier Centrica on Thursday posted rocketing annual profit, sparking fury as Britons face soaring household electricity and gas bills that have fuelled a cost-of-living crisis.. Britain's Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is temporarily subsidising electricity and gas bills this winter.
Turnout was sharply down on Thursday for new strikes in France against a bitterly opposed pension reform being debated in parliament, with union heads hoping for a bigger showdown to come.. A petition opposing the reforms has gathered over one million signatures.
Wholesale prices in the United States picked up more than expected in January, according to Labor Department data released Thursday, bumped up by goods costs and fueled by higher gasoline prices.. A rise in prices for goods led the January advance, said the Labor Department, adding that a significant factor was gasoline prices.
French food company Lactalis said Thursday it had been charged over a five-year-old global scandal in which dozens of babies fell sick from salmonella-contaminated powdered formula milk.. Several babies were diagnosed with salmonella poisoning at the end of 2017 in France after being given milk products, mostly Lactalis-owned Milumel and Picot brands, delivered by the Craon factory, in the northwest.
China was Germany's biggest trading partner in 2022 for the seventh year in a row, figures published Thursday showed, as policymakers worry about economic over-reliance on Beijing.. Fears have been growing in Germany about an over-reliance on China against the backdrop of tensions between the West and Beijing over its ties with Russia and human rights issues.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday defended a currency swap that sparked protests and cash shortages, but ordered old, small denomination 200 naira notes to remain in circulation in a bid to ease scarcities.. Nigeria has been struggling with a shortage in physical cash since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began to swap old bills of the local naira currency for new, re-designed ones, leading to a shortfall in banknotes.
Dozens of angry demonstrators attacked several banks in Beirut on Thursday after the Lebanese pound hit a record low, AFP journalists said, amid a deepening economic crisis.. On Thursday, around 50 protesters smashed the facades of four banks and burned car tyres in the central Beirut neighbourhood of Badaro, AFP journalists at the scene reported.
