International News

  Bloomberg The new way foreign worker visas are doled out in the US is poised to benefit some of the biggest technology companies, like Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc., while punishing outsourcing firms that developed a disproportionate dependence on the program. The administration is increasing scrutiny on H-1B visa applications for low-level computer programmers, focusing enforcement on ...

  Bloomberg Uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s domestic policies and weak European currencies buoyed outbound dealmaking by US companies during the first quarter of the year. US acquirers spent more than $70 billion on European targets in the three months to March 31, more than double the amount they dropped in the same period a year earlier and the most ...

  Bloomberg Seattle’s first-in-the-nation law allowing drivers-for-hire to unionize was blocked by a federal judge, giving a boost to ride-hailing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. US District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle on Tuesday granted a request by the US Chamber of Commerce to put the city’s ordinance on hold before it goes into effect. The ...

  Bloomberg Ford Fusion: down 37 percent. Chevrolet Malibu: down 36 percent. Toyota Prius: down 29 percent. As those grim numbers suggest, the US auto industry was blindsided last month by just how fast sedans have fallen out of favor with Americans now embracing roomier sport utility vehicles. Family-friendly crossovers may be more profitable, but the quick shift is causing ...

  Bloomberg Switzerland’s financial regulator said it’s still probing UBS Group AG and three other private banks in relation to alleged corruption and money laundering at the Malaysian government fund known as 1MDB. “There are still a handful of cases related to 1MDB that have not been concluded,” Mark Branson, chief executive officer of the regulator Finma, told reporters in ...

  Bloomberg US President Donald Trump rescinded a rule requiring internet service providers to seek subscribers’ permission before using their web browsing history for marketing, handing broadband providers a victory and giving Democrats a campaign issue. Trump signed a resolution, which passed Congress with only Republican votes, to repeal the privacy rule adopted last year by Democrats at the Federal ...

  Bloomberg SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is holding talks to buy WS Atkins Plc of the UK for 2.08 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) as Canada’s biggest engineering and construction company looks to expand its global reach with a record acquisition. The Montreal-based builder made a tentative offer of 2,080 pence a share, “a level that the board would be prepared to ...

  Bloomberg The world will have a better idea by the end of this week, but probably no definitive answer, on whether the US economy’s boom in “soft” data is being reflected in the “hard” stuff. This week’s economic data include trade figures and factory orders, culminating in a payrolls report forecast to show 175,000 jobs added by US employers ...

  Bloomberg Peabody Energy Corp., America’s biggest coal miner, is back. After almost a year in bankruptcy, the St. Louis-based giant will trade yet again on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Clarksons Platou Securities Inc. estimated a market capitalization of $3.97 billion for the company, which at its height was valued at almost $24 billion. Its return to ...

  Bloomberg It didn’t take long for news that China would set up an economic zone near Beijing to touch off an investor frenzy. Within 24 hours of Saturday’s announcement that the government would create the Xiongan area in Hebei province — in the same spirit that Shenzhen and Shanghai’s Pudong was built — hordes of prospective buyers had thronged ...