Business News

Under pressure from its European peers for years to spend more, Germany has finally served up a bumper stimulus package financed with new debt, but Berlin's rediscovered love to splurge is causing fresh unease among its neighbours.

Senior British politicians criticised HSBC and Standard Chartered on Thursday after the banks backed China's national security law for Hong Kong, in conflict with the British government's opposition to the proposed legislation.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday it plans to begin early human trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea later in June and partnered with non-profit organization International Vaccine Institute.

China will ease coronavirus restrictions to allow more foreign carriers to fly to the mainland, shortly after Washington vowed to bar Chinese airlines from flying to the United States due to Beijing's curbs on U.S. airlines.

Employees at Tata Steel's Dutch plant in IJmuiden on Thursday voted to go on strike over planned job cuts and the plant's further integration with Tata's British operations, labour union FNV said.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc on Thursday said it partnered with non-profit organization International Vaccine Institute to begin an early trial of the U.S. biotech's experimental COVID-19 vaccine on humans later this month.

General Motors Co is developing an electric van aimed at business users, joining a growing list of carmakers planning EVs for the same segment which includes customers such as Amazon.com Inc and United Parcel Service Inc, five people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

* Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote http://tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9Hv (Adds comment and Reuters poll)

* Legislation orders schools be taught China's national anthem

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits likely dropped below 2 million last week for the first time since mid-March, but remains astonishingly high as companies adjust to an environment that has been significantly changed by COVID-19.

As oil and gas companies began shutting offshore production before the first tropical storm of the season in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, experts said restarting wells and refineries will take longer and prove more costly this year because of COVID-19.

The boss of British Airways said its parent company IAG was burning through 178 million pounds ($223 million) a week and could not guarantee its survival, prompting him to urge unions to engage over 12,000 job cuts.

German agrochemicals group Bayer AG has been blocked from selling its dicamba-based weed killer in the United States after an appeals court rejected a federal regulator's permit for the product.

German agrochemicals group Bayer AG has been blocked from selling its dicamba-based weed killer in the United States after an appeals court rejected a federal regulator's permit for the product.

Central European currencies fell on Thursday, with the crown and zloty leading regional losses, as investors focused on the European Central Bank's policy meeting, which is expected to approve more aid to the coronavirus-hit euro zone. The economic crisis caused by the new virus pandemic had hammered currencies in the region, which is the main trading partner of the euro zone, but a new risk-on mood has partly helped them to recoup a significant part of the

-- Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy

Fifteen U.S. airlines were granted final government approval on Wednesday to temporarily halt service to 75 domestic airports as travel demand has been crushed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The rapid rally in world markets finally paused for breath on Thursday, as traders waited to hear how much more stimulus the European Central Bank plans to shovel out to address the coronavirus slump.

South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, they said on Thursday, in the investigation of a 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud in a suspected bid to aid his succession plans.

LVMH 's board met this week to discuss the fallout from the coronavirus crisis on its $16.2 billion purchase of U.S. jeweller Tiffany , the luxury goods group said on Thursday, opening the door to a possible attempt to review the deal terms.