International News

  Bloomberg China National Chemical Corp. sought European Union approval for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta AG, one of a trio of mega-deals reshaping the global agrichemicals industry already described as “quite concentrated” by the bloc’s antitrust chief.The European Commission set an initial Oct. 28 deadline to rule on the deal, according to a website filing on Monday. ChemChina ...

  Manila / AFP Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he would seek closer economic ties with China and Russia, as the local currency and stock market extended declines following Western criticism of his deadly war on crime. The peso hit a seven-year low to the dollar on Monday and foreign investors pulled out from local shares for a ...

  Singapore / AFP A Singapore firm headed by a scion of one of Asia’s richest families has bought a 49 percent stake in Rolling Stone, with plans to diversify the iconic magazine into new business including live events and merchandising. BandLab Technologies, a music and technology start-up headed by 28-year-old Kuok Meng Ru, bought the stake for an undisclosed ...

  CANBERRA / AFP Australia’s trade minister will lead the country’s first business delegation to visit Iran in 14 years after sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program were eased. Steven Ciobo said he will leave on Tuesday for the visit that will include reopening an Australian trade office that closed in 2010. Ciobo said he will be accompanied by 20 representatives ...

  Seoul / AFP Tens of thousands of unionised workers at South Korea’s Hyundai Motor staged their first full strike on Monday for more than a decade after negotiations over a wage increase stalled. Nearly 50,000 workers at Hyundai Motor’s three plants across the country — including the main one in the southern city of Ulsan — walked off the ...

  AFP China’s coal imports from North Korea have surged in recent months, government data showed on Monday, raising questions about Beijing’s commitment to international sanctions intended to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. As the isolated country’s sole ally and main provider of trade and aid, Beijing’s participation in the UN-imposed restrictions is crucial for their success. But in August China ...

  Bloomberg Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the U.K. shouldn’t prolong the process of withdrawing from the European Union, suggesting the government will formally trigger an exit by May of next year. Though Britain voted for Brexit in June, formal talks with the 27 other EU members can’t begin until Prime Minister Theresa May activates Article 50 of the bloc’s ...

  Washington / AFP With spats over Apple and Deutsche Bank and squabbles about Airbus and Boeing, approaching elections on both sides of the Atlantic are exacerbating strains in US-European economic relations. The recent controversy over taxing the iPhone maker surely epitomizes the situation best. European authorities’ decision in late August to force the American giant Apple to pay $14.5 ...

  Kiev / AFP The scandal was complex but its outcome potentially simple — Ukraine tried to fiddle with its murky gas sector and upset its EU partners enough to freeze huge sums of financial help. The fight for control over a profitable company that transports Russia’s blue fuel to Europe also exposes the clan warfare and backstabbing that surrounds ...

  Los Angeles / AFP From real estate, to high-tech firms to entertainment giants, Chinese investments in the United States, notably California, are moving at a dizzying pace and are on course to smash records again this year. Chinese companies shelled out a record $15 billion last year in the US and that figure could more than double in 2016, ...