International News

  Bloomberg Schlumberger Ltd. will reduce activity in Venezuela after the world’s largest oil services provider failed to collect enough payments from the national oil company. The reduction will take place this month in close coordination with all customers in Venezuela to continue servicing those with available cash flow, the Houston- and Paris-based contractor said in a statement Tuesday. Venezuela, …

AP Businesses reduced their stockpiles for a second straight month in February, while sales fell for a seventh month. Business inventories dropped 0.1 percent, matching the decline in January, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday. Sales fell 0.4 percent in February after an even bigger 0.8 percent decline in January. Sales have been heading south since August. The weakness in …

  Bloomberg A record $8 billion intervention by Brazil’s central bank couldn’t keep the real from climbing to the highest level since August amid bets that president Dilma Rousseff will be impeached. The central bank sold 160,000 foreign-exchange reverse swaps in five different auctions Tuesday, moves that are equivalent to buying dollars in the futures market. It was the biggest …

  Bloomberg Amid the worst political crisis in decades, Brazil’s federal government also faces a spiraling state debt crisis that could cost it as much as $89 billion in lost revenue. Brazilian states, hit by a two-year recession that has depressed tax revenues, are seeking to apply simple rather than compound interest on debt owed to the federal government. The …

Beijing / Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is making its largest overseas investment with a $1 billion deal for control of Lazada Group SA, taking the Chinese e-commerce giant to Southeast Asia and closer to a goal of shedding its home-market reliance. China’s largest online emporium will pay $500 million for new shares in the closely held company and purchase …

HONG KONG / AP Industry data show that Chinese auto sales rose by nearly 10 percent last month, led by strong demand for SUVs that more than offset slipping passenger car sales. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday that 2.06 million sedans, SUVs and minivans were sold in March in the world’s biggest auto market. That’s 9.8 percent …

Singapore / AFP Crude prices dipped in Asia on Tuesday but held above $40 as traders awaited a summit of key oil producers next week to discuss freezing output and easing the supply glut. Analysts said prices were expected to see-saw before Sunday’s meeting in the Qatari capital Doha that will bring together both OPEC producers led by Saudi Arabia …

Beijing / Bloomberg CRRC Corp., China’s only maker of high-speed locomotives, said it’s interested in investing in more US cities after winning a $1.3 billion rail-car contract from Chicago’s transport authorities. The company is bidding for a subway project in Los Angeles and a double-deck train contract in Philadelphia, CRRC Vice-President Yu Weiping said in an interview in Manhattan, without …

Sydney / AFP It may be the smallest-denominated Australian dollar banknote, but a new design for the Aus$5 bill attracted an outsized amount of criticism when it was unveiled Tuesday, with detractors calling it “hideous” and “like vomit”. The note, which will replace its more bland predecessor from September 1, features a yellow Prickly Moses wattle flower and a colourful …

Taipei / DPA Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism announced ambitious plans to boost the number of inbound Taiwanese travellers in 2016. The goal, unveiled during an industry event in Taipei, is to attract 275,000 Taiwanese visitors by the end of the year. Taiwan is already a growing source of travellers for the Southeast Asian country, with the number of Taiwanese visitors …