International News

  Bloomberg Coming off its best Christmas in years, the US toy industry is wagering that the Pokemon Go craze will command a lot of space on kids’ wish lists. Pokemon-branded video games from Nintendo Co. and a plush Pikachu character that wiggles its ears from Tomy Co. highlight the Toy Insider’s Hot 20 list, an industry publication’s best guess ...

  Bloomberg More than 1.1 million US workers would lose their jobs because of tougher fuel-economy regulations coming next decade if prices at the gasoline pump remain low in America, a new study found. With low fuel prices, consumers won’t get the payback they are expecting from expensive fuel-saving technology as automakers strive to reach a US mandate to achieve ...

  London / AFP Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are pledging to spend more than $3 billion over the next decade to work on curing diseases. “Can we work together to cure, prevent or manage all disease within our children’s lifetime?” Chan said Wednesday onstage at an event in San Francisco for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “Mark and ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG offered no hint of concessions after a meeting with European Union regulators over demands the company provide compensation to the bloc’s consumers hit by the diesel emissions scandal. VW will carry out an “EU-wide action plan” to inform customers and repair the vehicles, EU Justice and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Vera Jourova said after meeting with Francisco ...

  Bloomberg The largest US gasoline pipeline returned to service by the end of the day Wednesday, easing almost two weeks of curtailed shipments that drove up pump prices and caused hundreds of stations to run out of fuel in the East and Southeast. Once Colonial Pipeline Co. restarts its main line, many shipments will be rerouted to southern locations ...

  Manila / AFP President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on crime is threatening the Philippines’ economy and endangering its democratic institutions, international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s warned on Wednesday. S&P maintained its stable outlook for the Philippines, but highlighted a range of “weaknesses” under the new Duterte administration that also included his foreign policy and national security statements. ...

  Bloomberg India is considering expanding the basket of steel products that attracts an anti-dumping tax to stem inflows of cheaper supplies into the world’s third-biggest producer. The steel ministry is likely to levy anti-dumping taxes on some of the 66 products that are currently covered by the minimum import price rule before it expires on Oct. 4, Steel Secretary ...

  Beijing / AFP Chemical accidents have killed nearly 200 people in China so far this year, environmental group Greenpeace said Wednesday, calling on Beijing to overhaul the “appallingly under-regulated” industry. Industrial accidents are common in China, where work safety regulations are often flouted. In the first eight months of the year, China saw 232 chemical accidents which killed 199 ...

  Beijing / AP Liu Jingtang was a Samsung loyalist. The Shanghai technology consultant traded up steadily through its smartphones to the new Note 7. But Liu’s devotion was shaken by the Korean tech giant’s confusing response to its latest product safety scare. Liu, 32, said Samsung Electronics quickly confirmed his Note 7 wasn’t covered by a recall announced last ...

  Frankfurt / AFP Volkswagen investors have filed 1,400 lawsuits seeking 8.2 billion euros in compensation from the car giant over its emissions cheating scandal, a German court said Wednesday, adding to a long list of legal woes for the embattled firm. Investors say the automaker failed to disclose details of the case in a timely way, leading them to ...