International News

Bloomberg China’s rare earths shipments fell in May as prices surged on signs of possible export controls on the minerals amid the escalating trade war with the US. Exports declined to 3,640 tons last month, down 16 percent from April and an 18 percent drop from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. Shipments, which can be volatile month-to-month, ...

Bloomberg Japan’s economy is set to contract in the current quarter following growth that was better than first estimated in the first three months of the year, according to one of the country’s top economic forecasters. Gross domestic product is likely to shrink by 0.5 percent in the second quarter, Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research, said in ...

Bloomberg The decades-old alliance of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co descended into open enmity as the two sides sparred over governance changes at the Japanese automaker, an apparent tit-for-tat following Nissan’s refusal to endorse a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa said it was “most regrettable” that Renault planned to stymie board reforms, ...

Bloomberg Alphabet Inc.’s Google agreed to buy Looker Data Sciences Inc. for $2.6 billion, expanding its offerings to help customers manage data in the cloud. The acquisition gives Google a new tool in its campaign to sell more cloud storage and software. So far, the company has struggled to compete with larger rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and late ...

Bloomberg UK manufacturing output fell the most in almost 17 years in April as the boost from Brexit stockpiling evaporated and car producers went ahead with planned shutdowns. The 3.9 percent decline, the most since June 2002, saw the economy as a whole shrink for a second straight month, Office for National Statistics figures show. Vehicle production plunged by a ...

Bloomberg The slowdown in US hiring seen in the jobs report could get even worse, as President Donald Trump’s still-escalating trade war threatens further blows to employers. The May payroll figures — which missed all economist estimates and included steep downward revisions — translated into a four-month average jobs gain of 127,000. That’s the slowest since 2012, and compares with ...

Bloomberg Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is partnering with Silicon Valley startup Aurora Innovation Inc. to develop and deploy a fleet of self-driving commercial vehicles in a bid to catch up with other automakers that have invested heavily in the technology. The two companies signed an agreement to integrate Aurora’s self-driving platform into Fiat Chrysler’s commercial vehicle lines in the US. ...

Bloomberg Europe’s troubled steel market is showing signs of bottoming out, according to the world’s No. 1 producer ArcelorMittal. While weak auto industry demand means it’s too early to call a recovery, steel prices in the European Union are starting to climb, said Geert van Poelvoorde, the company’s chief executive officer for flat products in Europe. ArcelorMittal announced output cuts ...

Bloomberg Airbnb Inc says it’s back in business in Japan, a year after stricter home-sharing regulations forced it to freeze a major portion of its listings in the country. There are 50,000 listings available in the country, with another 23,000 rooms in hotels and traditional inns known as ryokan, Airbnb said in a statement. That’s compares with 60,000 total in ...

Bloomberg China plans to create a new system to reduce threats to national security related to technology, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, as trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalate. The National Development and Reform Commission has been tasked with setting up the list system which aims to “more effectively forestall and defuse national security risks,” ...