International News

Bloomberg India is planning to enhance its meteorological forecasting capability to more accurately predict severe weather in a localised manner. The Ministry of Earth Sciences will send a proposal to the government for spending $308 million in five years to install more radars, supercomputers and special observatories, said M. Rajeevan, secretary of the ministry. The modernisation programme will help the ...

Bloomberg Palm oil imports by India, the world’s biggest buyer, climbed for an eighth straight month in September as lower international prices prompted traders and refiners to buy more to meet festival demand. Imports advanced 20.4 percent to 931,637 metric tons in September from a year earlier, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said. Total vegetable oil purchases, including sunflower ...

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg The US Supreme Court agreed to decide whether law enforcement officials conducting a criminal investigation can demand data held overseas by Microsoft Corp. and other tech companies in a high-stakes clash over digital privacy. The justices will review a federal appeals ruling that the Trump administration says has become a major obstacle in criminal probes. Already, Google and Yahoo, ...

Bloomberg The UK needs to clarify its Brexit plans to avoid undermining consumer confidence as talks on leaving the European Union run into roadblocks, according to one of Japan’s biggest food companies. Yakult Honsha Co., which sells 190,000 bottles of its probiotic, yogurt-like drink in the UK daily, intends to stay in the country regardless of the outcome of the ...

Bloomberg UK inflation climbed to its highest rate in more than five years in September, boosted by the cost of food and transport. Consumer prices rose 3 percent from a year earlier, the fastest pace since April 2012 and up from 2.9 percent in August, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday in London. The increase intensifies the squeeze ...

Bloomberg European car sales fell in September for only the second monthly drop this year as concerns about Brexit among UK consumers more than offset gains in France, Italy and Spain. Registrations declined 2 percent from a year earlier to 1.47 million vehicles, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said in a statement. Figures were dragged down by ...

Bloomberg A Johnson & Johnson unit was accused of injuring hundreds of patients by selling “defective” hip implants, according to lawyers suing the company on the first day of a London trial. Some of DePuy International Ltd.’s Pinnacle hip replacement parts cause metal particles to be released into the body, causing a range of health problems, lawyers for the 341 ...

Bloomberg Daimler AG is firming up plans for its biggest corporate overhaul in a decade, granting its car and truck operations more independence in a move that could pave the way for spinoffs and other deals as the automaker confronts the disruptive shift to self-driving electric vehicles. Under the plan, the German automotive giant would break up its conglomerate structure ...

Bloomberg The US Supreme Court accepted a case that could roil the credit-card business, agreeing to consider reviving government allegations that American Express Co. thwarts competition by prohibiting merchants from steering customers to cards with lower fees. A federal appeals court had thrown out the lawsuit, saying the US government and 11 states failed to prove that the American Express ...

Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Brexit negotiations are heading for a catastrophic breakdown unless the European Union signals this week that it will allow talks to move on to trade, according to a person familiar with the UK government’s position. Without a clear sign that negotiations will progress to trade and transition arrangements by December at this week’s summit of European leaders, the ...