Paris / AFP The German and French central banks issued downbeat growth forecasts, as the EU Commission came under pressure to bring Paris in line over excessive deficits. The Bundesbank said the powerhouse German economy would expand by 1.7 percent this year, slowing to 1.4 percent in 2017. This was a downgrade of previous forecasts of 1.8 percent and ...

  Bloomberg Every state or municipal government will eventually face the question of whether to raise taxes. Since the era of George H.W. Bush, officials answer increasingly “No.” “It’s politically hard to make a case for tax increases, and particularly at a time when people have less money in their pockets,” said Lucy Dadayan, a senior policy analyst with the ...

  Bloomberg When shares of apartment owners fell this week on disappointing revenue projections in New York and San Francisco, it was bad news for the property companies and good news for renters. Well, some renters. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the pace of rent increases slowed in at least 90 percent of luxury ZIP codes in Atlanta, Los ...

TNS Habitat for Humanity of Owensboro-Daviess County is ramping up construction this summer and dedicating several houses to deserving families. RE/MAX Professional Realty Group in Owensboro is participating in its first ever build this year. Manager Michelle Wiesman said the company is excited to be a part of changing families’ lives in the greater Owensboro region. Realtors with RE/MAX fundraise ...

  New York / Bloomberg Inside a 1.2 million-square-foot Wal-Mart Stores Inc. distribution center near its headquarters, a buzzing sound — like a swarm of bees — comes from an aisle of shelves laden with merchandise from diapers to microwaves. Flying up and down the seemingly endless aisle is a drone with a custom-built camera that takes 30 pictures a ...

  Bloomberg Amazon boasted that its virtual assistant Alexa is capable of 1,000 “skills,” as the online retail giant bolsters defenses against rivals such as Google and Apple. The Seattle-based company said in a blog post that the programs were developed specifically for the voice-commanded Alexa software used in Amazon devices such as Echo and Fire TV. Amazon released voice-enabled ...

  Paris / Bloomberg Airbus Group SE is exploring ways of carving out extra space on its A380 superjumbos in order to boost capacity and enhance margins for operators, among them modifying the staircases that connect the double-decker jet’s two passenger floors. Feedback from existing A380 customers suggests that curved steps located toward the rear of the world’s biggest jetliner ...

  Berlin / AFP Dwarfed by huge jets all around, the mini-plane Thor was nonetheless an eye-catcher at the Berlin air show this week — the small Airbus marvel is the world’s first 3D-printed aircraft. Windowless, weighing in at just 21 kilos (46 pounds) and less than four metres (13 feet) long, the drone Thor — short for “Test of ...

San Francisco / AFP Avianca Holdings SA jumped the most on record amid reports that Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. are weighing bids for the Latin American airline. Avianca is exploring strategic options including a full or partial sale, according to people familiar with the matter. Avianca has recently begun working with a financial adviser to ...

  Dubai / AFP Domes inspired by the royal palaces of India rise from a new Bollywood theme park under construction in Dubai, part of a drive to lure millions more tourists to the emirate. It already boasts opulent shopping malls and numerous luxury resorts, but the Gulf city-state has even grander ambitions and the film industry is centre stage. ...