International News

Bloomberg For US politicians, China’s potential to dominate sensitive cutting-edge technologies poses one of the biggest geopolitical threats of the next few decades. President Xi Jinping is similarly worried the US will block China’s rise, and this week will unveil plans for greater self-sufficiency. At an annual session of China’s legislature, top Communist Party leaders will approve a five-year policy ...

Bloomberg Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s second-largest wireless carrier by subscribers, will spend $2.6 billion acquiring new airwaves in an ongoing spectrum auction in India. The carrier, led by billionaire Sunil Mittal, acquired airwaves worth 186.99 billion rupees ($2.55 billion), according to a statement from the company on Tuesday. It added 355.45 megahertz to its spectrum portfolio and can now reach ...

Bloomberg Factories in Taiwan faced the longest delays on record in securing raw materials and components in February as they worked overtime to keep up with surging demand from clients overseas. Manufacturers cited low stock levels at suppliers, a shortage of freight containers and delayed shipping schedules as main reasons for the biggest delays since records began nearly 17 years ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong is exploring allowing listing of special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), jumping into a market that has sparked a frenzy of US dealmaking. The government has asked the Hong Kong exchange and the city’s financial regulator to look into having SPACs list, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan. The aim is to allow the new fundraising arrangements, while ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a decade in February, even as the Lunar New Holiday across Asia cut demand and spurred a slowdown in China. A report from IHS Markit showed a purchasing managers’ index for Korean manufacturing jumped to 55.3 last month, rising further above the 50-threshold that separates expansion and contraction to ...

Bloomberg India is set to miss its goal for sugar exports this year because of a late start to shipments and logistical challenges, potentially providing further fuel to the sweetener’s blistering rally. The world’s second-biggest producer, grappling with massive stockpiles, will ship almost 20% less than the government’s target and a forecast from a top industry group, according to the ...

Bloomberg The US merchandise-trade deficit widened in January as imports climbed to a record high, signalling a continuing recovery in demand from American consumers. The deficit grew to $83.7 billion from $83.2 billion in December, according to Commerce Department data. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had called for an $83 billion shortfall in January. Imports rise 1.1% to $218.9 billion, ...

Bloomberg The UK is set to create a 5 billion-pound ($7 billion) grant program to help businesses that have been hard hit by the pandemic. The ‘Restart’ program will mostly apply to retail, hospitality and leisure — the industries that have been impacted most by the series of lockdowns imposed in the last year. The plan will be announced on ...

Bloomberg Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund, the world’s biggest, is handicapped in chasing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment goals by the political process, according to Global SWF. The lengthy decision-making that determines which asset classes Norway’s investing behemoth can buy puts it at a disadvantage compared with smaller money managers, “in particular” regarding ESG, according to Diego Lopez, ...

Bloomberg Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will slash its manufacturing capacity by 25% over five years and write off investment in products it’s decided to scrap under new Chief Executive Officer Thierry Bollore. The British carmaker will take a non-cash charge of about 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in the quarter ending in March related to higher previous spending and projects ...