International News

BERLIN / Reuters Volkswagen will give labour leaders a management board seat as part of a broad agreement to win approval for Herbert Diess as the German carmaker’s new chief executive, sources said on Wednesday. Europe’s largest automotive group is poised to replace group chief executive Matthias Mueller this week with Diess, a cost-cutter hired in 2015 from BMW as ...

Bloomberg China’s massive build programme to recreate trade routes stretching from Asia to Africa and Europe is gaining momentum. Since President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road project was announced about five years ago, it gave impetus to billions of dollars of Chinese investment — some of which were already in the pipeline for several years — to build railways, ...

Bloomberg Ant Financial is in talks to raise at least $10 billion in a funding round that could value the Chinese internet giant controlled by Alibaba-founder Jack Ma at $150 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte wants to be the lead investor in the financing for China’s largest internet financial services ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated pledges to open sectors from banking to auto manufacturing in a speech that also warned against returning to a “Cold War mentality” amid trade disputes with US counterpart Donald Trump. Xi pledged a “new phase of opening up” in his keynote address on Tuesday to the Boao Forum for Asia, China’s answer to Davos. ...

Bloomberg As China plans for tariffs against US soybeans, Canada’s farmers are gearing up to exploit an opening for demand by doubling down on oilseeds. Growers will probably swap out lentils, peas and cereal crops in favour of canola amid higher prices and the US-China tensions, said David Reimann, a market analyst at Cargill Ltd. Plantings could reach 24 million ...

Bloomberg Gold imports by India, the largest market after China, fell by almost half last month, according to a person familiar with the information, even as jewellers prepare for “decent” sales during an auspicious Hindu day. Shipments plunged 47 percent to 64.2 metric tons in March from 121 tons a year earlier, the person said, asking not to be identified ...

Bloomberg While there’s still skepticism that India’s state-run banks will get back into the nation’s sovereign bond market, overseas investors are keen to buy more of the notes after the central bank granted them greater access. India’s high yields and relatively stable currency have spurred Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management to buy more rupee securities, said Tatsuya Higuchi, executive chief ...

Bloomberg More than a year after Christie’s decided to end its annual sales of fine art in India, rival Sotheby’s is entering the market as it seeks to tap the increasing affluence in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Sotheby’s first Indian auction will be held in Mumbai in December with one of modern master Tyeb Mehta’s most important works “Durga ...

Bloomberg With the federal budget deficit expanding and congressional elections seven months away, the Trump administration plans to ask Congress for cuts in domestic programs that were part of a bipartisan $1.3 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump signed last month. The White House doesn’t want to touch extra funding for the military, border security and combating the opioids ...

Bloomberg Czech consumer prices grew much less in March than the central bank expected, deepening a dilemma for rate setters who’ve pledged to continue tightening policy but differ on how quickly interest rates need to rise. The annual inflation rate declined for a fifth month, to 1.7 percent, moving further below the central bank’s target and missing its 2.3 percent ...