International News

  Bloomberg Japan’s capital expenditure data for the second quarter was slightly weaker than expected while company profits slumped as businesses held tight on spending amid a strong yen and sluggish demand at home and abroad. Capital expenditure rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier ( forecast 5.5 percent). Spending excluding software increased 3.1 percent over the same period ( ...

  Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge unexpectedly rose last month to the highest level in almost two years, suggesting the economy’s stabilization remains intact and that a weakening in July was flood-related and temporary. Manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 50.4 in August from July’s 49.9 and compared to the 49.8 median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Non-manufacturing PMI ...

  Bloomberg The strength of Australia’s jobs market is being overstated by a surge in casual positions and an inability by workers to secure more hours. While the unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent in July from 6.3 percent a year earlier, 87 percent of the jobs created in that period were part-time: a definition that covers anything from 1 ...

  AFP Cyprus and Egypt signed a deal on Wednesday paving the way for detailed negotiations on a submarine pipeline to export natural gas from the Mediterranean island to its energy-starved neighbour. Cyprus has been eager to secure alternative ways to exploit its offshore reserves after proven finds so far were insufficient to make a planned liquefied natural gas plant ...

  AFP British drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle allegations that it broke US anticorruption laws in China and Russia. The Securities and Exchange Commission said that in China, employees of an AstraZeneca subsidiary offered cash and gifts to health care officials to encourage them to buy AstraZeneca drugs or reduce pending financial sanctions. In ...

  AFP Eurozone inflation and jobless data on Wednesday fell short of analyst forecasts as the economy bumps along amid speculation the European Central Bank will have to adopt more stimulus measures. The official EU statistics agency Eurostat said eurozone consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in August, the same rate as in July. Eurozone unemployment meanwhile was unchanged at 10.1 ...

  AFP The protracted battle to have Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom face video piracy charges in the United States broke new ground on Wednesday with live-streaming of his appeal against extradition. Dotcom won approval to live-stream his bid to avoid leaving New Zealand after successfully arguing that global interest required more than standard brief television clips. The case, in the ...

  AP The number of Germans without jobs dropped slightly in August in seasonally adjusted terms, leaving the unemployment rate in Europe’s largest economy unchanged at 6.1 percent. The Federal Labor Agency said on Wednesday that the number of unemployed dropped by 7,000 in August over July, slightly more than the decline of 4,000 expected by economists. In unadjusted terms, ...

  Bloomberg India is aspiring to compete with the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong for foreign entrepreneurs by offering residence in return for investment. Foreigners investing 100 million rupees ($1.5 million) over 18 months, or 250 million rupees over three years, would be eligible to live in India for 10 years, the government said in a statement in New ...

  Bloomberg India has set a one-month deadline to begin implementing steps to resolve a dispute over natural gas that migrated from Oil & Natural Corp.’s offshore block in the Bay of Bengal to the adjoining assets of Reliance Industries Ltd. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Wednesday that a government panel has endorsed findings by an outside consultant that studied ...