International News

Bloomberg Student housing in Europe and Australian infrastructure are luring global funds out of their comfort zone, as a South Korean manager of local government employee savings joins peers around the world getting creative overseas in search of better returns. Institutional investors from Seoul to New York are increasingly on the prowl for alternative assets, as low interest rates at ...

Bloomberg Australia is sending a naval vessel to help Vanuatu in its efforts to evacuate 11,000 residents from Ambae Island as a volcano there threatens to erupt. The HMAS Choules left Australia on Saturday morning and is expected to arrive in the middle of next week, the Australian government said . The Choules is carrying specialists, supplies and a landing ...

Bloomberg Meituan Dianping, China’s largest group-buying and restaurant reviews service, is said to be close to finalising a deal to raise at least $3 billion from investors including Capital Group, according to people familiar with the matter. The company backed by WeChat-operator Tencent Holdings Ltd. is said to be targeting at least $3 billion at a $28 billion valuation, the ...

Bloomberg General Electric Co. said if Indian officials walk away from a multibillion-dollar locomotive contract, the move would damage efforts to create jobs and chill foreign investment. Altering the deal would “undermine one of the most promising infrastructure projects in the country,” GE said. India may also be on the hook for “substantial fees associated with this project,” the company ...

Bloomberg The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has issued an order allowing women to drive, ending a long-standing policy. It’s also a royal opportunity for global automakers eager to make further inroads into the Middle East’s biggest economy. Saudi Arabia’s move to open up its auto market to about half of its 32 million total population will have a profound impact ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and Jack Ma’s Ant Financial unit will form a joint venture to offer a digital wallet service in Hong Kong. The wallet will come under the AlipayHK brand which was already launched in May, CK Hutchison said. The mobile app will allow users to make in-store payments in 4,000 retail outlets and ...

Bloomberg Nike Inc.’s US business continued to sputter last quarter, putting more pressure on its operations in Asia and Latin America to pick up the slack. The world’s biggest sportswear maker relied on strong overseas growth—especially in China—to overcome a weakening US business and help it post first-quarter profit that topped estimates. The company also cited a move to streamline ...

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg Alstom SA’s merger with the train-making arm of Siemens AG will mark the end of a bitter rivalry as the European rail industry’s biggest adversaries unite in an effort to fend off the challenge from China and Japan. The ill-tempered contest between Alstom and Siemens has been a feature of the sector for decades and reached boiling point in ...

Bloomberg A federal agency that regulates apples wants to make regulations on Apple Inc. a little easier. The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees new drugs, medical devices and much of the US food supply, said that it had selected nine major tech companies for a pilot programme that may let them avoid some regulations that have tied up developers ...

Bloomberg Uber is testing out a new conciliatory tone in London, where officials said they wouldn’t renew the ride-hailing service’s operating license. It’s going to have ample opportunity to see if that approach will work in the US. San Francisco’s city attorney is investigating whether Uber Technologies Inc. is a public nuisance. In New York, officials are mulling ways to ...