International News

  Bloomberg Rallies in the pound are proving tough to sustain as recent opinion polls puncture investor confidence that the U.K. will choose to remain in the European Union in the June 23 referendum. Sterling rose versus the dollar on Thursday after dropping the previous two days as surveys released this week signaled the ‘Leave’ camp pulling ahead of the ...

  Netherlands / AFP US delivery giant FedEx now owns over 98 percent of Dutch rival TNT, the two companies announced on Thursday as they move to complete a key $4.4 billion tie-up after winning EU approval. The deal unveiled in April 2015 came two years after the European Commission, the European Union’s powerful executive arm, had torpedoed a bid ...

  Bloomberg Swedbank AB, which is doing more corporate bond issues in the Nordic region this year than any other bank, says the share of Swedish companies’ debt market funding will more than double as higher capital requirements make bank loans more expensive. About 15 percent of corporate funding in the Nordic region now comes from the capital markets, Elisabeth ...

  Switzerland / AFP Carole, a scientist from Zurich, recently received a dream message on her phone: she will receive 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,500, €2,300) a month for the next year, no strings attached. The 30-year-old ethnologist, whose last name has not been revealed, could be the first of many in Switzerland to receive such monthly cheques in the mail. ...

  Seoul / AFP Tens of thousands of North Koreans, brandishing red flags and chanting slogans, paraded in Pyongyang to celebrate the start of the Stalinist regime’s latest five-year economic plan, state media reported on Thursday. The “mass mobilization” took place on Wednesday in the sprawling Kim Il Sung square in the North Korean capital. It marked the beginning of a ...

  Vienna / AFP Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine said on Thursday it had pulled off a slight increase in full-year profits despite a “negative” international economic climate that has hampered steel and oil prices. Investors cheered the results which beat analysts’ forecasts. Shares in Voestalpine, which specialises in steel used in the rail, automobile, aviation, home appliances and oil and gas ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan has temporarily suspended live cattle imports from Australia after “some” cows were found to have a gastrointestinal disease, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday. The infected animals arrived in Japan by air and tested positive for Johne’s disease, also known as paratuberculosis, while in quarantine, a ministry official said. Tokyo imposed a temporary ban on ...

  New Delhi / Tribune News Service Indian companies’ earnings growth is recovering and they are all set to post a double-digit profit growth for the fiscal years to come, after seeing flattish to weak growth for a few years now, according to analysts. To be sure, this growth comes on a low base. Kotak Insititutional Equities, an arm of ...

  Beijing / Bloomberg China sent shares of renewable-energy companies higher by forcing grid operators to buy wind and solar power in regions where network congestion has idled plants. Grid companies will have to buy sufficient power that ensures wind farms across nine regions including Xinjiang and Gansu can operate at least 1,800 hours a year, according to a statement ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s prime minister said on Wednesday that he will delay a consumption tax hike that threatened the fragile economy, but analysts said the move highlighted his failure to spark growth. Shinzo Abe announced his decision to members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in televised remarks ahead of a press briefing expected around 6:00 pm ...