International News

Bloomberg Quebec’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest on record last month while Alberta’s surged to a two-decade high, underlining the swing in Canada’s economic momentum through the recovery from an energy crash. Joblessness in the mostly French-speaking province fell to 6.2 percent in November from 6.8 percent in October, and in Alberta it climbed to 9 percent. The national ...

  DETROIT / AP Toyota plans to reveal a new version of America’s top-selling sedan next month at a time when US buyers are moving away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. The Japanese automaker said that it would show off the 2018 Camry at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January. It is likely to arrive in showrooms ...

  Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to move all government purchases, from paper clips to power plant turbines, to an Amazon-like online marketplace that could eventually be worth a fifth of the country’s $2 trillion economy. Modi’s government, which on Nov. 8 announced a sudden decision to replace 86 percent of India’s cash in a bid to cut ...

  Bloomberg China’s National Silicon Industry Group, a state-backed semiconductor investment fund, is interested in acquiring a majority stake in German silicon-wafer maker Siltronic AG, the latest potential Chinese takeover that could face political opposition, according to people familiar with the matter. The group, known as NSIG, has contacted Wacker Chemie AG about potentially acquiring the Munich-based chemical maker’s 58 ...

  Manila / AFP The Philippines has asked Bangladesh to share details of its investigation into an $81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh central bank after the proceeds ended up in Manila, the finance department said. The money was shifted electronically from the Bangladesh central bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve to a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial ...

  Bloomberg It’s only a matter of time before Australia loses its AAA credit rating as the nation’s budget falls further into deficit, according to John Hewson, a former Liberal Party leader and central bank economist. “The fact that we are going to lose the triple-A credit rating is a foregone conclusion, it’s just a question of timing,” Hewson, who ...

  Bloomberg Just how much foreign money is contributing to rising property prices is a staple of dinner party conversations around the globe. Australians now have a near-official answer, and it’s less than most would think. The Australian Treasury estimates that foreign demand for real estate increased prices in Sydney and Melbourne by no more than A$122 ($90) a quarter ...

  Bloomberg US and Brazilian authorities are set to impose $2.5 billion in foreign-corruption penalties on Odebrecht SA, Latin America’s biggest construction company, and an affiliate for violating anti-bribery laws, people familiar with the discussions said. Prosecutors say Odebrecht and the affiliate, Braskem SA, paid officials at Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the state-run oil producer known as Petrobras, to win contracts. ...

  Bloomberg The Canadian government’s approval of two major oil export pipelines may mean the death knell for a third. For more than two years, TransCanada Corp.’s proposed 1.1 million barrel-a-day Energy East pipeline, designed to run from Alberta to New Brunswick, has been mired in regulatory hearings and opposition from environmentalists. Now, the hurdles it faces may be even ...

  Washington / AFP The USA unemployment rate in November fell to its lowest level since August 2007 as the economy continued to add new jobs, all but guaranteeing an interest rate hike this month. The jobless rate fell an unusually large three-tenths to a surprising 4.6 percent, the Labor Department reported. A solid 178,000 net new positions were created, ...