NEW YORK / AP The tech industry brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its leading companies are no trailblazers. Despite loudly touted efforts to hire more blacks, Latinos and women, especially in technical and leadership positions, diversity numbers at the largest tech companies are barely budging. In ...

  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz / AP Olga Korbut walks around the man-made lake in anonymity, despite the bright red warmup jacket with “Olga” in sparkly letters on her left shoulder. Korbut likes it here, this little suburban slice of nature, a place where she can get her body moving, listen to the birds, stroll alongside the dog walkers. Korbut stops at ...

  Bloomberg OPEC has never taken supply cuts so seriously, and hedge funds are loving it. Investor optimism that West Texas Intermediate oil prices will rise reached an all-time high as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries delivered on pledges to reduce production. The International Energy Agency said the group has achieved a record 90 percent initial compliance with an ...

Bloomberg Lower oil prices and the scrapping of fuel subsidies have allowed India’s biggest energy companies to slash borrowings to the lowest in at least eight years. Total debt at Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s largest refiner, stood at 419 billion rupees ($6.2 billion) at the end of September, down from 863 billion rupees in March 2014, according to the ...

  Bloomberg Record low Indian solar tariffs tendered at a groundbreaking auction may catalyze green investments and help tip the balance of new power to renewables and away from fossil fuels. Solar power in India fell to a record 3.30 rupees (5 US cents) a kilowatt-hour on February 10 after a World Bank-backed auction helped the central Madhya Pradesh state ...

  Bloomberg Crude is greasing the wheels of one of the world’s best-performing exotic currencies. Kazakhstan’s tenge, which has racked up the biggest advance among its thinly-traded counterparts the past six months, is poised for more gains as demand increases following the rally in the price of oil, the former Soviet republic’s No. 1 export, according to BMI Research. Bank ...

  Bloomberg For investors considering financing Tanzania’s proposed 27.6 trillion-shilling ($12.3 billion) borrowing program, the government’s handling of its power utility’s debt problems may give pause for thought. Last month, President John Magufuli fired the Tanzania Electric Supply Co.’s chief executive officer and vetoed its decision to raise electricity prices, ignoring International Monetary Fund advice that higher tariffs may help ...

  Bloomberg Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat outlined a set of targeted measures in his budget speech to help the struggling offshore and energy services industry and spur construction. The government will bring forward S$700 million ($493 million) worth of infrastructure spending and defer levies on foreign workers in the marine and process sectors for another year, Heng told ...

  Bloomberg Makeblock Co., a Chinese maker of DIY robotics parts, is seeking to raise funding at a $200 million valuation as the Sequoia Capital-backed startup expands into classrooms and hobbyist’s workshops globally, people familiar with the matter said. The Shenzhen-based company us seeking to raise about 200 million yuan ($29 million) in a series B round, the people said, ...

  Bloomberg Douyu, the live-streaming service backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. that’s been compared to Amazon’s Twitch, is in talks to raise a billion yuan ($145 million) in funds at a valuation of about $1.2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The three-year-old company, whose name means “fighting fish,” needs capital to expand beyond games-streaming and fend ...