Bloomberg UBS Group AG is pushing to settle a French tax fraud investigation for less than the 300 million euros ($317 million) it paid to resolve a similar issue in Germany, people familiar with the matter said. That’s significantly below the 1.1 billion-euro bond the bank posted to cover potential penalties. UBS has been in talks since late 2016 ...

  OAKLAND, Calif / AP It was the swag-bags that convinced community health organizer Julia Liou to redraw the battle plan in a fight to reduce the hazardous chemical exposures of nail-salon workers, most of them low-paid Asian immigrant women. In 2005, Liou watched at California’s state Capitol as dozens of lobbyists gave away bags of lipsticks and other beauty ...

  BOGOTA / AP In a tiny brick apartment above a lottery shop, Martha Antivar waits for a sign of life from her husband, who is languishing in a Chinese prison an ocean away. Five years ago, Oscar Hilarion, a 45-year-old taxi driver, told his wife and family in Colombia that he was going to China on a business venture ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a daunting to-do list as the real work begins on his plan to transform the world’s biggest oil exporter into an economy no longer reliant on crude. “2017 is a reality check,” said John Sfakianakis, director of economic research at the Gulf Research Center. “We’re done with the announcements. ...

  Bloomberg UK oil and gas production will continue to grow through 2018, putting it on course for the longest expansion in almost two decades, amid project startups and productivity gains, an industry lobby said. “Production has now been rising since 2015, bucking a 15-year trend of decline, and should continue to rise over the next two years,” Oil & ...

  Bloomberg Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., which develops residential, commercial and industrial construction projects in Israel, is considering expanding its operations into offshore energy exploration. The Petach Tikvah, Israel-based company is mulling a bid to drill for oil and gas in the 24 new blocks opened for exploration in the country’s economic waters, a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg. Israeli ...

  Bloomberg The oil market’s failure to break out of the tightest range in more than a decade is sapping investor interest. After hitting a record high last week, hedge funds reduced wagers that US oil prices would rise as concern grows that the market is again becoming vulnerable to a drop. Earlier bullish sentiment was based on optimism that ...

  Bloomberg Asian countries should pursue a Pacific trade pact even after the US walked away, and its standards should be incorporated into other regional deals, according to a report authored by half a dozen former trade envoys. Donald Trump withdrew from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership in one of his first acts as US president, throwing an agreement that covered ...

  Bloomberg India’s sugar production may be lower than previously forecast as mills in the main growing areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka closed earlier than usual after dry weather cut cane output. Production may total 20.3 million metric tons in year that began Oct. 1, compared with 21.3 million tons estimated in January and 23.4 million tons predicted in September, ...

  Bloomberg Russia’s No. 1 zinc miner and No. 2 copper producer plans a far-reaching expansion of its diversified minerals output, billionaire co-owner and Chief Executive Officer Andrey Kozitsyn said in an interview. Ural Mining & Metallurgical Co., which sells half the copper it mines for export under long-term deals with traders including Glencore Plc and Trafigura Group, aims to ...