International News

Bloomberg Canada’s labor market continued surprising in May, with a greater-than-expected 54,500 jobs gain that also finally came with signs of a pick-up in wages. The employment gain — the third biggest one-month increase in the past five years — was driven by the addition of 77,000 new full-time jobs, which offset falling part-time employment. Economists had forecast a 15,000 ...

Bloomberg Thai regulators plan to impose financial penalties on Facebook Inc. and other compa- nies with video-sharing platforms if they fail to swiftly remove what they deem to be illegal content. The new framework would give authorities the power to immediately demand the removal of offensive material without waiting for a court order, Colonel Natee Sukonrat, vice chairman of the ...

Bloomberg Chinese bike-rental startup Ofo is aiming to raise new funds at a valuation of about $3 billion, people familiar with the deal say, further inflaming an already pitched competition for capital by startups backed by the country’s largest technology firms. The company is seeking roughly $500 million, one of the people said, asking not to be named discussing an ...

Bloomberg India is scaling back expectations for power demand growth as it struggles to electrify millions of homes despite a glut in generation capacity. The world’s second-most populous nation is building more power plants than it can utilize as state-level distributors struggle to connect 50 million households, according to Ravindra Kumar Verma, head of the Central Electricity Authority, the power ...

Bloomberg Jack Ma’s net worth surged $2.8 billion overnight as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. forecast sales growth that topped every analyst’s estimate, despite China’s decelerating economy. Ma, 52, is now the richest person in Asia and 14th wealthiest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth has climbed $8.5 billion this year to $41.8 billion. The ...

Bloomberg As European Union officials count the days before their annual vacation, Google’s lawyers and lobbyists are hunkering down in Brussels, preparing for what may be a record EU antitrust fine. A penalty in the shopping-search probe could come within weeks and many expect it to exceed a $1.2 billion fine on Intel Corp. in 2009. That would be another ...

Bloomberg Tight cobalt supplies will keep boosting the price of one of this year’s hottest commodities, according to Eurasian Resources Group S.a.r.l., which is developing an almost $1 billion project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt jumped 71 percent this year on surging demand for the metal used in batteries for electric cars made by firms such as Tesla ...

Bloomberg The number of fresh listings on Nasdaq Inc.’s alternative First North market in Stockholm has more than doubled this year, driven by health-care companies such as Promore Pharma, the latest from that industry to plan an initial public offering. Stockholm’s First North market saw 27 new listings, including 20 IPOs, between early January and May 22, according to data ...

Bloomberg Indian citizens cannot be forced to enroll for a 12-digit unique identity number to be able file tax returns, the country’s top court said in a ruling that may be a hurdle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to move transactions online. The Supreme Court partially stayed a law that made the Aadhaar card mandatory for filing returns or ...

Bloomberg China’s producer price gains moderated following further easing in commodity prices, signaling weaker overall inflation pressure in the pipeline. Producer price index rose 5.5 percent in May from a year earlier, compared with an estimated 5.6 percent in a Bloomberg survey and 6.4 percent increase in April. Consumer price index climbed 1.5 percent, versus a prior gain of 1.2 ...