Bloomberg Businessweek-Europe Edition December 9, 2019

President Trump escalated U.S. trade tensions with other nations. First he slapped levies on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina in retaliation for what he called currency manipulation. Then he threatened duties on wine from France in response to a French technology tax. Russia began shipping natural gas to northern China through a 1,900-mile pipeline. With Beijing trying to move away from coal, Chinese gas consumption is surging. For President Vladimir Putin, the supply contract marks a welcome pivot to the fast-growing economies of Asia as relations deteriorate with the West. With about a week until general elections in the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn traded barbs over who’s to blame for the prison release of a convicted terrorist who went on a knife attack in central…

Boris Johnson erupted with rage. It was the spring of 2008, and he was fighting to win his first major election to become London mayor. Backstage at a television debate, the Labour Party’s Ken Livingstone, the incumbent Johnson needed to beat, had questioned Johnson’s ancestry, suggesting his Turkish great-grandfather who was murdered by a mob in the 1920s had collaborated with the British. Johnson saw red. According to Livingstone, he threatened to punch his lights out. Another person familiar with the matter said Johnson tried to strangle the Labour mayor. Anger isn’t a facet of Johnson’s character that many people are familiar with. He made his name as a lighthearted journalist and TV personality who won fans for his performances as a lovably shambolic buffoon. The self-deprecating, boyish, and occasionally gaffe-prone…

At 99 years old, Kikue Fukuhara knows a thing or two about selling makeup to old people: She’s been talking about lotions, lipstick, and foundation for six decades. Fukuhara works for Pola Orbis Holdings Inc., one of Japan’s top cosmetics companies, and was recently recognized by Guinness as the world’s oldest beauty adviser. Her strategy: testing the merchandise on her own skin. “For makeup, there’s no day that I slack off out of 365 days,” she says. “It’s always important to keep up personal appearances.” Selling lotions and cosmetics to women in their 50s, 60s, and older is a golden opportunity for global beauty companies. The market for aging-related products and services is set to jump 58%, to almost $80 billion, in the next five years, according to Research & Markets.…

Chanel’s watch and jewelry boutique on the Place Vendôme in Paris sits directly across from the Ritz hotel where Coco Chanel once lived. Its three arched windows displaying ceramic timepieces, floral brooches, and gold quilted-pattern rings look out on the shops of such Swiss stalwarts as Rolex, Breguet, and Patek Philippe. The French house is sending a message to its noble neighbors: The company synonymous with woven chain-link handbags, tweed blazers, and No. 5 fragrance is determined to become a bigger force in the rarefied world of fine timepieces. But pushing even one of the most coveted names in female fashion into a category still populated predominantly by men won’t be easy. Other fashion brands such as Dior and Hermès have tried to make headway in the tradition-bound industry, with limited…

Across British industry, Brexit remains a dirty word—unless you’re a customs agent. These middlemen, who make sure goods don’t get held up at border crossings, might be just about the only businesspeople cheering for the divorce. For a quarter-century, companies across the European Union have enjoyed frictionless trade, including no customs checks. As the U.K. prepares to leave the EU, businesses face endless paperwork to keep everything from car parts to furniture moving between Britain and its largest trading partner. “We’re all rubbing our hands together,” says George Baker, the founder of a logistics company along England’s eastern seaboard. George Baker Shipping Ltd., which has annual sales of £20 million ($26.2 million), expects a fivefold increase in customs work after Brexit. It plans to expand its 84-person operation by about 30%, he…

Tucked near the elevators on the 22nd floor of a 520-foot tower at Amazon.com Inc.’s headquarters in downtown Seattle, Anthony Liguori’s lab is a work in progress. His team moved in this summer, but during a visit last month, tables pushed up against the wall were covered in keyboards and computer accessories still in their packaging. A metal frame hanging from the ceiling awaited to route plugs and fiber connections to 10 experimental server racks that have yet to arrive. This is where Liguori’s team is putting the finishing touches on Outposts, Amazon’s big new move against the likes of IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Dell Technologies as well as cloud rival Microsoft. On Dec. 3, Amazon rocked the $205 billion market for data center systems by joining it. After more…