International News

  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 ...

  London / AFP India’s Tata Steel on Wednesday completed the part-sale of its European assets, safeguarding 4,800 jobs, but thousands more are threatened with no buyer found for the rest of the business. Tata Steel UK announced completion of the sale of its European piping business to Greybull Capital, a British-based family investment firm for an undisclosed sum. The ...

  Beijing / bloomberg Upstart smartphone maker Xiaomi has bought nearly 1,500 patents from US technology giant Microsoft, the companies and reports said, as part of a “global partnership” that will help the Chinese firm expand outside its home market. The patents cover wireless communications, video, cloud and multi-media technologies, Bloomberg News quoted a Xiaomi spokeswoman as saying. “This will ...

  Jakarta / Tribune News Service Farmers in the Pelalawan village of Pelalawan, Pangkalan Kerinci, used to employ the slash and burn method when it came to clearing their land for farmland or rice fields. That approach triggered massive fires as the soil in the village was combustible, especially with peatland at a depth of around 3-9 meters. In a ...

  Paris / AFP The world risks getting caught in a low-growth trap, denting the future of generations to come, unless governments step up spending quickly, the OECD warned on Wednesday. Tepid worldwide recovery since the global economic crisis in 2008 “has precipitated a self-fulfilling low-growth trap” said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s chief economist Catherine Mann said ...

  Berlin / AFP Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands would be the first of Britain’s EU partners to bear the brunt if voters back an exit from the European Union, the OECD said on Wednesday. Britain itself could be buffeted by financial market turbulence akin to that seen at the height of the eurozone crisis in 2011 and 2012, the ...