A mass corporate switch in Europe to holding virtual annual shareholder meetings or AGMs has picked up pace this year, raising concern among investors that some companies will try to ditch the physical version permanently.

From wellness workshops to dinner with a celebrity chef and flights to nowhere, Asia’s big international airlines are working hard to keep their most lucrative customers engaged as the pandemic-related travel halt stretches beyond 18 months. 

Under pressure from businesses and public sectors facing a worker shortage that policymakers fear will fuel inflation, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to unveil plans this week to reopen the country’s borders.

Risks don’t come much longer term than climate change, so you might expect sovereign wealth funds to be all over it, as investment giants with decades in their sights. 

Oil prices fell more than 3 per cent on Monday, extending last week’s steep losses on the back of a rising US dollar and concerns that new coronavirus-related restrictions in Asia, especially China, could halt a global recovery in fuel demand.

Europe’s banks are stashing cash to pay bumper bonuses to top performers, amid a deal frenzy driven by pent up demand from the Covid-19 pandemic and rebounding bank profits.

The European Central Bank must tighten monetary policy if it needs to counter inflationary pressures and cannot be put off from doing so by the financing costs of euro zone states, ECB policymaker Jens Weidmann told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. 

Energy prices for millions of Britons are expected to rocket from October after the energy regulator said it would increase its cap on the most widely used tariffs by about 12-13 per cent, due to soaring global gas prices.

World stocks eased from the previous session’s record highs while the dollar reached its highest in eight days on Thursday, after hawkish remarks from a senior US Federal Reserve official. 

Activity in Britain’s construction industry grew last month at its weakest pace since February due to shortages of building materials and contractors, adding to signs of post-Covid bottlenecks in the economy.

Oil prices declined towards $70 a barrel on Thursday as more countries imposed fresh movement restrictions to counter a surge in Covid-19 cases, though Middle East tensions offered support. 

British private-sector growth slowed sharply last month due to supply-chain bottlenecks and high worker absences prompted by Covid-19 isolation requirements, a closely watched survey indicated on Wednesday. 

Euro zone business activity raced ahead last month, expanding at its fastest pace in 15 years, as the lifting of more coronavirus restrictions and an accelerated vaccine drive injected life into the bloc’s dominant service industry, a survey showed. 

Oil prices  edged higher on Wednesday, supported by a fall in US inventories and  Mideast geopolitical tensions, but the increasing spread of the  coronavirus Delta variant in top consuming countries capped gains.

BP boosted its dividend and share buybacks after beating expectations with a $2.8 billion second-quarter profit powered by higher oil prices and recovering demand.

Financial firms including British insurer Prudential, lenders Citi and HSBC and BlackRock Real Assets are devising plans to speed the closure of Asia’s coal-fired power plants in order to lower the biggest source of carbon emissions, five people with knowledge of the initiative said.

The boss of London’s Heathrow Airport told Britain on Monday to rebuild confidence in travel by making it easier to go abroad, as speculation grew that the government was poised to slap yet more new rules on arrivals.

Britain’s factories reported a further slowing of growth in July - although it was still one of the fastest paces on record - as they struggled with staff shortages and supply chain problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey showed on Monday. 

New Zealand’s housing crisis is having a “punishing impact” on marginalised communities and leaving many people homeless, the human rights commission said on Monday as it launched an inquiry into the country’s red-hot property market. 

Square Inc, the payments firm of Twitter Inc co-founder Jack Dorsey, will purchase buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion, creating a global transactions giant in the biggest buyout of an Australian firm.