Bloomberg China has started an overhaul of its salt industry, easing a monopoly that has existed in some form for more than 2,000 years and predates the Great Wall. New regulations went into effect at the start of this year. Under a plan published by China’s State Council last year, government regulators will allow private companies to enter the ...

  Bloomberg The pace of German inflation more than doubled in December, driven by a surge in oil that is set to mask continued weakness in underlying price pressures in the months ahead. Consumer prices rose 1.7 percent from a year ago, recording the biggest jump on record, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by ...

    Bloomberg UK manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in 2 and a 1/2 years in December, helped by the pound’s deprec- iation since the vote to leave the European Union. After dipping sharply in the wake of the Brexit referendum — dropping below the key 50 level in July — the IHS Markit Purchasing Managers Index has since ...

  Bloomberg The outlook for Britain’s labour market is “fairly bleak” amid the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and low levels of productivity, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Slower growth, lower real wages and increasing precariousness in the workforce will be the major challenges for the UK government and businesses over the next 12 months, the CIPD said. ...

  Bloomberg Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a unique social experiment which is hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment. Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA, which is responsible for the country’s social benefits, said Monday ...

  Bloomberg Britain risks losing 40 billion euros ($42 billion) of direct funding from European Union once it leaves bloc, according to UK parliamentary analysis. The European Structural and Investment Funds, which help develop the most deprived regions, and the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund that supports the Common Agricultural Policy are set to provide the U.K. with 17.2 billion euros ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in the Middle East gained on Tuesday, with those most exposed to international funds outperforming as global equities and crude oil prices firmed on their first full-scale trading day of 2017. Cairo’s main index closed 1.1 percent higher with gainers outnumbering losers 25 to two. Foreign traders were net buyers, exchange data showed, a ...

  LONDON / AP Global stocks advanced on Tuesday, with US markets set to ring in 2017 with gains, after upbeat Chinese and British manufacturing data bolstered investor sentiment. The dollar and oil prices started the new year as they closed out the last — pushing higher. KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent to 7,194.02 and France’s CAC ...

  Bloomberg Car electronics supplier Delphi Automotive Plc went coast-to-coast in 2015 in a self-driving Audi Q5 sport-utility vehicle to prove the autonomous automobile had arrived. Now, Delphi is shifting from stunts to selling. In Las Vegas this week at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, the company will give test rides to hundreds of potential customers in ...

  Relaxnews A pick of some of the biggest games coming to PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One in January and February 2017, including the survival horror franchise that could have rediscovered its form, a face-off between three of the greatest warrior races of all time, a sequel for a girl who can manipulate gravity, and a defiantly retro ...