LONDON—Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Wimbledon as neutral athletes after the All England Club on Friday reversed its ban from last year. The players must sign declarations of neutrality and comply with “appropriate conditions,” including not expressing support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This was an incredibly difficult decision, not…

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s government announced Thursday that the territory’s population dropped for a third straight year as deaths rose during the pandemic and anti-virus measures reduced the number of arriving workers, but did not mention an exodus of residents sparked by a clampdown of the pro-democracy movement. The city’s population declined 0.9 percent to 7.3…

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s government announced Thursday that the territory’s population dropped for a third straight year as deaths rose during the pandemic and anti-virus measures reduced the number of arriving workers, but did not mention an exodus of residents sparked by a clampdown of the pro-democracy movement. The city’s population declined 0.9 percent to 7.3…

Bitcoin on Sunday dropped 1.54 percent to $19,804, slipping from the 20,000 mark after losing $310 from its previous close. The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency is down 58.9 percent from the year’s high of $48,234 on March 28. Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain network, dropped 3.2  percent to $1,422.1 on Sunday,…

SHANGHAI—Shares in Alibaba Group fell the most in a month on Friday, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese tech giant’s cloud division has been summoned by Shanghai authorities in connection with a theft of police data. An anonymous hacker had earlier this month claimed to have obtained personal information of more than…

NEW YORK—In another sign that the world of entertainment is returning to pre-pandemic normal, Broadway theaters will no longer demand audiences wear masks starting in July. The Broadway League announced Tuesday that mask-wearing will be optional next month onward, a further loosening of restrictions. In May, most Broadway theaters lifted the requirement that audience members…

The UK car industry has downgraded its forecast for the number of cars it expects to sell this year by nine percent. Around 1.72 million new cars will be registered in 2022, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This is down from the forecast of 1.89 million issued in January. The…

British car production has continued to fall, with almost 100,000 fewer vehicles built in the first three months of 2022 compared with a year ago, new figures show. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said manufacturing declined by almost a third, with the industry still affected by the global shortage of semiconductors and other…

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Schoolchildren in California, Oregon, and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of new indoor mask policies the Democratic governors of all three states announced jointly on Monday. “With declining case rates and hospitalizations across the West, California, Oregon and Washington are moving together to update their masking guidance,” the…

BERLIN—The Austrian government said Wednesday that it plans to end most of the country’s COVID-19 restrictions on March 5, though wearing masks will remain obligatory in some places. Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced the decision at a news conference in Vienna. Officials stressed that the pandemic is not yet over but a stabilization of new infections…