International News

  Bloomberg Tesla Motor Inc. and Panasonic Corp. will begin production of solar cells and modules next year at a plant in Buffalo, New York. Production will begin in the summer, with the factory’s output capacity expanding to 1 gigawatt by 2019, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. Panasonic will invest more than 30 billion yen ($256 million) ...

  Lima / AFP It powers everything we do, yet remains one of our biggest mysteries. But thanks to an unusual Peruvian museum dedicated entirely to the brain, visitors can get up close and personal with the most complex organ in the human body. The “brain library” at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Hospital in Lima has a massive collection ...

  WOODSTOCK, Vt / AP A small community skating rink that was once in danger of folding is working on a long-term plan to eliminate its biggest single expense — its energy bill — by becoming what its leaders believe would be the country’s first with no costs for electricity or heating fuel. The plan includes upgrading the existing equipment ...

  BEIJING / AP Chinese authorities are clamping down on streaming video over social media amid a proliferation of online-only television content and live-streaming. The State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television is requiring social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo to obtain licenses to broadcast video or audio, while also demanding that content distributed over social media ...

  Bloomberg Australian real estate loans are bucking a slump in the syndicated lending market and have nearly quadrupled in 2016 from last year, buoyed by continuing demand for residential and commercial assets. Asian banks are taking notice. Fifteen syndicated loan deals for constructions, land development and property acquisitions worth $3.37 billion were signed so far this year, the highest ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s economy recorded its biggest monthly jobs gain this year, led by full-time employment, while a higher participation rate also signaled a healthier labor market. Employment jumped 39,100 from October, more than double economists’ forecast for a 17,500 gain October jobs gain was upwardly revised to 15,200 from 9,800. Jobless rate rose to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent; ...

  Bloomberg If you think air pollution in China has been bad, just look at Mongolia. Levels of particulate matter in the air have risen to almost 80 times the recommended safety level set by the World Health Organization — and five times worse than Beijing during the past week’s bout with the worst smog of the year. Mongolian power ...

  DENVER / AP A budget ski resort in western Colorado came up with an eye-popping offer — a $700 lift ticket, the most expensive in the nation. Only this lift ticket comes with a sweet bonus: a pair of handcrafted skis made from Colorado wood. Gimmicky? Sure. But Sunlight Mountain Resort says that in an era of increasing ski-industry ...

  MINNEAPOLIS / AP Minnesota’s first-in-the nation ban on soaps containing the once ubiquitous germ-killer triclosan takes effect Jan. 1, but the people who spearheaded the law say it’s already having its desired effect on a national level. The federal government caught up to Minnesota’s 2014 decision with its own ban that takes effect in September 2017. Major manufacturers have ...

  HOUSTON / AP Houston’s first underground drinking water reservoir — a decades-old collection of more than 200 concrete columns inside a cavernous space near downtown — had been unused for years and was set for demolition when a nonprofit group reimagined it as something new: a public space. The 87,500-square-foot-space, dubbed the “Cistern” and reminiscent of ancient European water ...