The newly discovered planet Proxima b is about to change the focus of astronomy for decades to come —and maybe longer, if it reveals signs of life. The planet, some 25 trillion miles away from our own, is like a twin to Earth, but one separated at birth and living a very different kind of life. The discovery, which ...

  For a few decades, economists used to imagine how the world works, write down a theory describing their idea, and call it a day. If some statisticians came along and found some support for the theory, well, great! But usually they didn’t, and that was fine too. As one old joke put it, if an idea worked in practice, ...

  Bloomberg Stock markets across the world dipped on Monday as investors tried to second-guess the US Federal Reserve on the timing of its next interest rate hike. Tokyo, however, was the exception with stocks there soaring on a weaker yen. In a much-scrutinized speech, Fed chief Janet Yellen on Friday hinted at a US interest rate rise by the ...

  Bloomberg Gulf stocks moved little in early, thin trade on Monday as a fresh slide in oil prices and a retreat in Asian share markets kept buyers away. Dubai’s index was flat as stocks mainly traded by local investors were the top movers. Insurer Takaful Emarat Insurance gained 3.4 percent but Ajman Bank fell 1.3 percent. In Abu Dhabi, ...

Bloomberg The ruble weakened for a second day as speculation the dollar will strengthen under tighter Federal Reserve policy dimmed its carry-trade appeal and it came under the influence of weaker oil prices. Russia’s currency weakened 0.3 percent to 65.065 against the dollar by 11:54 a.m. in Moscow. The Micex index of major stocks dropped 0.8 percent after closing at ...

  Bloomberg Alarmed by a collapse in private investment in China and a surge in state spending? Calm down, say three analysts, who argue that data problems are exaggerating the trend. Investment numbers this year aren’t completely comparable with 2015 because they include firms that recently migrated from the private to the state sector, says Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow ...

  Bloomberg Wage growth is the key to escaping deflation and realizing the promise of Abenomics, according to regional economy minister Kozo Yamamoto, a recent appointee to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet. “If you consistently raise wages every year, people will start to consume and invest,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Aug. 26. Yamamoto stressed the ...

  Bloomberg Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s biggest refiner that’s also boosting its liquefied natural gas business, is lifting purchases of the fuel to take advantage of a price plunge amid a glut. The state-run company plans to buy two LNG shipments per month in the spot market for six months from October, according to Debasis Sen, director of planning ...

  Bloomberg Japan’s biggest-trading house has had its fill of commodities. After posting the first annual loss in its post-World War II history amid the collapse in commodity prices, Mitsubishi Corp. is shifting away from raw materials to make sure it never happens again. That process is going to take at least three years, according to Chief Financial Officer Kazuyuki ...

  Bloomberg In a giant warehouse near Lake Ziway in central Ethiopia, hundreds of women in aprons work at yellow workbenches under the flags of Dutch soccer clubs PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, sorting bunches of multicolored roses. Within two days the stems, shipped in perforated cardboard tubes from Dutch-owned AQ Roses’ flower farm, will be on sale at florists across ...