International News

  Beijing / AFP China’s factory activity grew at its fastest rate in more than two years in November, official data showed on Thursday, as cheap credit and improving demand helped revive industry in the world’s second-largest economy. The better-than-expected pick-up in the closely watched purchasing managers’ index (PMI) will provide fresh hope for stability after a long-running slowdown in ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration sought to refute concerns that the clampdown on cash would strip India of its status as the world’s fastest-growing big economy. Gross domestic product, which grew a slower-than-estimated 7.3 percent in July to September, will slump to 6.5 percent over the next quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of ...

  Bloomberg The US shale industry, gutted by 2 1/2 years of bankruptcies, writedowns, credit downgrades and layoffs, is poised to step back from the brink, thanks to an old enemy: OPEC. Abandoning a policy that sought to starve shale explorers and other high-cost drillers into submission, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries relented on Wednesday and agreed to curb ...

  Bloomberg Canada’s economy just posted its best quarterly growth in two years. Third-quarter growth of 3.5 percent (at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate) topped the consensus estimate by one tick, and in doing so helped vindicate Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and his vision for the future of the Canadian economy, which continues to grapple with the impact ...

  Bloomberg Deep dealmaking wrapped in a holiday bow brought US carbuyers back into showrooms in late November, saving a month whose first half was dominated by a nasty political campaign. “Fifty percent of the people were convinced the world was going to end no matter what happened” with the presidential election, said Sean Sellers, general manager of Charles Gabus ...

  Bloomberg Nestle SA says it found a way to reduce the amount of sugar in chocolate by as much as 40 percent, a discovery that may give the KitKat maker an edge as food producers face increasing pressure from governments, health advocates and shoppers to make products healthier. The world’s largest food company has developed a process to alter ...

  Chiba / AFP The sun is setting on Japan’s clean-energy boom, despite projects like a massive floating solar farm near Tokyo, as the government cuts subsidies and bets on nuclear and coal-fired power, critics say. Workers at the floating power station, one of the world’s biggest, have just finished laying about 50,000 interconnected panels on a vast dam reservoir. ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s factory output ticked up in October, expanding for the third month in a row, government data showed on Wednesday. Industrial production grew 0.1 percent on-month, following a 0.6 percent increase in September. “Activity is now well above the lows reached earlier this year, but there is still a long way to go to reach the ...

  Jakarta / AFP Multinational companies are selling consumer products containing palm oil from Indonesian plantations where workers suffer rights abuses, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday, listing problems including child labour and exposure to toxic chemicals. The edible vegetable oil is a key ingredient in many everyday goods, from biscuits to shampoo and make-up, and growing demand has led to ...

  Seoul / AFP South Korea is to ban sales of some cars made by Porsche, BMW and Nissan, and fine the companies over $5 million as a probe into emissions documentation widens. Seoul began investigating environmentalcertification on imported cars after Volkswagen last year admitted to installing emissions cheating software in some 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide. The so-called defeat ...