International News

  Quito / AFP The International Monetary Fund said it approved a $364 million emergency loan to Ecuador after the country was hard-hit by an earthquake in April. The money will help the country steady its finances while it addresses the huge losses from the quake, which killed some 700 people. “The April 16 earthquake that hit Ecuador caused significant ...

  Bloomberg Currency traders are going back to basics, set to watch the performance of the U.S. economy more closely than political events to discern the dollar’s direction. A gauge of the greenback posted a weekly gain as a report showed the U.S. June jobs growth exceeded forecasts by more than 100,000, raising the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest-rate ...

  Bloomberg As Kazakhstan’s leader celebrated his 76th birthday this week, the social bargain that’s underpinned his more than quarter-century in charge is crumbling. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s plans to retool his nation for an era of low-cost crude are meeting resistance from protesters opposed to land reforms and, more recently, from religious radicals. The struggle to implement his overhaul is ...

  Bloomberg India’s steel consumption dropped in June for the first time in at least 15 months, as curbs on imports raised prices in the domestic market. Demand fell 4.3 percent to 6.8 million metric tons from a year ago, the first drop since at least April 2015, when the Steel Ministry began to publish monthly data. Steel output in ...

  Bloomberg Takata Corp., the scandal-stricken air-bag maker that’s seeking investors, is reaching out to as many as 20 possible buyers in an effort to narrow down a list of suitors, according to people familiar with the matter. Takata is working on restructuring the company and is open to a sale to a private equity partner, a parts supplier or ...

  AFP India is considering a proposal to increase the limit on foreign direct investment in local newspapers and magazines, two government officials said. The Finance Ministry recommended raising the cap to 49 percent from 26 percent, bringing it on par with that on news television channels, the officials said, asking not to be identified citing rules for speaking with ...

  Bloomberg Telefonica SA, facing roadblocks in the planned sales of its assets following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, is paring a stake in China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. to raise as much as US$367 million. The sale of 361.8 million shares began today and the stock is being offered at HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 apiece, according to terms ...

  London / AFP Britain’s shock EU withdrawal could cause an economic crisis, a top banker warned on Thursday, adding it was “far from certain” London would secure its exit demands in Brussels. “This is a political crisis that has the potential to create an economic one,” said John McFarlane, chairman of Barclays bank and head of finance lobbyists TheCityUK. ...

  Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is working on targets to cut pollution on Germany’s roads that may effectively force carmakers to switch most of their sales to electric vehicles by the end of the next decade. Merkel’s chancellery is reviewing a draft of her coalition’s Climate Protection Plan 2050, which would require fossil-fuel emissions cuts of 45% for cars ...

  Bloomberg German unemployment extended its decline in June, signaling economic growth remained robust before Britons unexpectedly voted to exit the European Union. The number of people out of work fell by a seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 2.69 million, data from the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg showed on Thursday. German companies shrugged off the risk of the U.K. quitting ...