International News

  AFP Formula One entered a new era as US billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media agreed a takeover that values the motorsport at $8 billion and raises questions over the role of its colourful, long-time mastermind, Bernie Ecclestone. In a deal that ends years of speculation over F1’s future, Liberty said it had struck an agreement to buy out Formula ...

  AFP Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced plans to spin off its non-core software assets, to be merged with British software group Micro Focus. The deal creates an entity valued at $8.8 billion which will be “one of the world’s largest pure-play enterprise software companies,” according to HPE. “With today’s announcement, we are taking another important step in achieving the vision ...

  AFP New Zealand’s two largest media companies signed a merger agreement, although the planned deal still needs approval from the country’s competition watchdog to proceed. NZME and Fairfax Media NZ said they would reach a combined audience of 3.7 million, more than 80 percent of New Zealand’s 4.5 million population. “The merger will present opportunities for NZME to significantly ...

  AFP US computer maker Dell said it completed the acquisition of data storage firm EMC, creating the largest privately held technology group with a range of computing services. The completion creates a new firm called Dell Technologies and finalizes a record $67 billion deal for EMC, which will help the struggling PC maker accelerate its efforts in cloud and ...

  AFP The Washington Post announced it was rolling out a “lightning-fast” mobile news site that would provide near-instant load times for both articles and advertising. The Post, purchased in 2013 by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said in a statement was combining its own technology with Progressive Web Apps and the Google-led Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technologies “to create a ...

  AFP ITT Educational Services Inc said it would shut its flagship ITT Technical Institutes, following a U.S. Department of Education order, affecting thousands of students and employees. ITT’s move is the latest blow to the over $20 billion U.S. for-profit education industry, which has come under fire from the government in the past couple of years for its poor ...

  Bloomberg Steel exports from China slumped last month to the lowest level since February, offering some respite to world leaders just days after they expressed concern over a growing glut of the metal. Shipments from the biggest producer dropped to 9 million metric tons from 10.3 million in July and 9.7 million tons a year earlier, according to China’s ...

  Bloomberg China’s crude oil imports increased to the highest in four months, while coal shipments jumped to the most since December 2014 as domestic production of both fuels declines. The world’s biggest energy user imported 32.85 million metric tons of crude in August, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Thursday. That’s about 7.77 million ...

  Bloomberg Japan’s economy expanded more than the government initially reported for the second quarter, helped by an upward revision in capital spending, private inventories and public investment. Key Points Gross domestic product expanded by an annualized 0.7 percent in the three months ended June 30, more than the initial reading of 0.2 percent, according to revised data from the ...

  Bloomberg Chinese investors hold just 0.38 percent of Australia’s agricultural land, Treasurer Scott Morrison said, citing a report which he said will allay concern among voters that the Asian nation is buying up farmland on a massive scale. A total of 13.6 percent of agricultural land is held by international investors, with 52 percent of that owned by U.K. ...