International News

Bloomberg Britain’s opposition Labour party said the government is planning to cut its border force budget by 6 percent in each of the next two years, citing “whistleblowers” within the agency that it didn’t identify. The reduction would result in 88 million pounds ($124 million) of cuts during that span, Labour said on its website on Saturday. Border Force staff ...

Istanbul / AFP Six suicide attacks in eight months and a spat with Russia have added to concerns for the Turkish economy as tourists flee, taking billions of dollars in spending elsewhere, and foreign investors skirt the troubled country. Days after a suspected IS extremist blew himself up on a top shopping street in Istanbul, hotels, restaurants and retailers in ...

TOKYO / Reuters A laggard in embracing the ‘fintech’, or financial technology, revolution, Japan is set to ease investment restrictions that could free up the flow of capital in an economy sitting on an estimated $9 trillion in individuals’ cash deposits. Strict regulation, easy access to credit due to rock-bottom interest rates, and weak demand for innovative financial services from ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconn Technology Group’s flagship company, on Sunday denied media reports that the bailout of Sharp Corp. will be approved and signed on March 31, a day after Hon Hai’s board meets. Progress in talks to acquire troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp will determine whether the deal is discussed at the board meeting, ...

Bangkok / DPA Plans to strip Thais of their national identification card for failing to pay a long-standing education debt would be difficult to implement and could be a violation of their human rights violation, graduates have said. The Student Loan Fund (SLF) is considering co-ordinating with the Interior Ministry to not renew the national identification cards of debtors. A ...

SYDNEY / Reuters A tiny fruit fly is Australia’s undermining efforts to grow its $ 3 billion fruit and vegetable exports, the country despite reaching a series of free trade agreements with its largest trading partners in Asia. Australia sealed trade agreements with China, Japan and Korea last year — deals that guaranteed a significant reduction in tariffs for agriculture ...

Beijing / Reuters China’s industrial profits returned to growth in the first two months of 2016, despite weakening business conditions and slowing economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms in January and February combined rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, totalling 780.7 billion yuan ($ 119.8 billion) in the two-month period, the National ...

Tokyo / DPA Japan’s consumer spending is lagging as households prefer savings over investments, despite an upward trend in personal income due to improved employment conditions, according to a Bank of Japan survey. The total amount of financial assets possessed by individuals in cash or savings hit a record high of 902 trillion yen (US$7.98 trillion) at the end of ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg Essar Steel India Ltd., grappling with about 440 billion rupees ($6.6 billion) in debt amid an industry downturn, has drawn takeover interest from domestic rivals Tata Steel Ltd. and JSW Steel Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said. SSG Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based special situations fund manager, and some private-equity firms and international companies ...

TOKYO / DPA The Japanese government released the latest version of its Regional Economy Society Analysing System (RESAS), which enables people to access visualised flows of people, goods and money on the Internet free of charge. The system uses big data based on cell phone roaming and provides maps and charts on such subjects as the entry and departure of ...