International News

  Bloomberg Germany is cursed by its own economic strength. For eight years, the nation of 83 million people has been the euro area’s growth driver. Now it’s at the forefront of the currency bloc’s reflation, with price increases potentially exceeding 2 percent, and dissatisfaction with the European Central Bank has morphed into outrage. Critics and media are slamming the ...

  Bloomberg A European proposal for a tax on financial transactions is trapped in limbo: financial realities won’t let it come to life while political opportunism is preventing a quick death. The tax initiative is being kept alive largely for domestic political reasons as German Chancellor Angela Merkel bids for a fourth term and France prepares for presidential elections this ...

  CHICAGO / AP Shoppers in Chicago will soon have to pay a checkout tax of 7 cents per bag at all retailers in the city unless they bring their own bags to stores. The tax, which starts Wednesday, is the city’s latest attempt to cut down on the use of disposable bags, which are usually given for free at ...

  Bloomberg It’s a good time to be Elon Musk. Shares of the billionaire’s Tesla Motors Inc. have surged 40 percent since December 1, putting the stock within reach of a 52-week high. The acquisition of SolarCity is complete. Musk’s sprawling Gigafactory is now producing battery cells. And the clean-energy evangelist has the ear of a surprising fellow in Washington: ...

  Bloomberg Three months into a cash ban that has sucked out momentum from one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has little room to boost spending. While economists urge more investment in roads, ports and railways when the government presents its budget February 1, and maybe even direct cash transfers to boost consumption, a splurge carries ...

  Bloomberg North Korea’s 5 megawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon is showing a water plume, indicating that the plant is probably operating at the facility, a US research institute said. The facility, which had suspended operations in late 2015, is capable of producing enough plutonium to assemble one atomic bomb every year. Satellite pictures taken Jan. 22 show emissions from ...

  Bloomberg Consumers across the globe donning gloves to do the dishes may soon feel the heat from rubber being burned on China’s roads. Surging car sales in China in the last few months have more than doubled the price of a little-known chemical called butadiene. The colorless gas, used for making synthetic rubber, has soared in tandem with rising ...

  Bloomberg China home prices increased last month in the fewest cities since January last year, signaling property curbs to deflate a potential housing bubble are taking effect. New-home prices, excluding government-subsidized housing, gained last month in 46 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, compared with 55 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Prices dropped in ...

  Bloomberg Executives atop India’s mobile-phone industry foresee a consolidation that could knock Bharti Airtel Ltd. out of first place in the $26 billion market. The catalyst: free calls and industry debt that has ratcheted up to more than double revenue. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani escalated a price war in September, vowing to reorder the market and luring tens of millions ...

  Bloomberg Gold exports to China soared in the run-up to the start of the Lunar New Year, with volumes increasing in December from major suppliers Switzerland and Hong Kong. More gold was sent from Swiss refiners to the world’s top consumer than in any month since at least January 2014, according to data on the website of the Swiss ...