News

  Beijing / AFP China’s undead army of zombie corporations will not qualify for debt-for-equity swaps, the government said, as Beijing tries to curb the risks of ballooning corporate debt. New guidelines posted on the website of the State Council, China’s cabinet, sought to offer some clarity to long-discussed but hazy plans to reduce debt by letting lenders swap bad ...

  Bloomberg Jera Co., a venture between two of Japan’s biggest power utilities, agreed to acquire EDF Trading Ltd.’s coal-trading business as part of a push to lower fuel costs and expand its overseas business. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co. venture signed a non-binding agreement to buy all of EDF Trading Australia Pty, ...

  BLOOMBERG Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean SUV maker, is exploring a joint venture in China with Shaanxi Automobile Group Co. to produce vehicles in the world’s largest auto market. Ssangyong signed a letter of intent with Xi’an-based Shaanxi Auto to study a possible joint venture and local production plant, the Pyeongtaek, South Korea-based automaker said in a statement. ...

  Bloomberg Takata Corp. fell the most in three weeks in Tokyo trading after it was said to be considering bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The air-bag maker said no decision has been made. Takata dropped 7.5 percent to 347 yen, while the benchmark Topix Index advanced 0.4 percent. The Tokyo-based company, whose defective air-bag inflators triggered the biggest recall ...

  Bloomberg Britain risks losing access to the European Union’s development bank when it leaves the bloc, adding to the economic harm caused by Brexit, according to Werner Hoyer, the bank’s president. The European Investment Bank lent Britain a record 7.8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in 2015, part of a U.K. loan book of almost 50 billion euros. Projects funded ...

  Milton Keynes / AFP Driverless vehicles carrying passengers took to Britain’s streets for the first time on Tuesday in a landmark trial which could pave the way for their introduction across the country. The compact two-seater cars trundled along a pedestrianised zone in Milton Keynes, north of London, in a trial by Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) which plans to ...

  The Hague / AFP Dutch authorities said on Tuesday they have suspended plans to sue the US makers of Pokemon Go after the company deleted its virtual pets from a protected beach in The Hague. The so-called Pokestops and Pokegyms, which attract Pokemon and allow players to buy accessories to capture, treat and train the virtual monsters, “have been ...

  Frankfurt / AFP Sentiment among investors in Germany sharply improved this month from its post-Brexit doldrums, data showed on Tuesday, but analysts warned against overconfidence. The ZEW economic institute’s headline investor confidence index hit 6.2 points in October, an increase of 5.7 points over September and beating the 4.0 points analysts surveyed by Factset had predicted. Sentiment had hovered ...

  Geneva / AFP The UN health agency on Tuesday urged countries to start taxing sugary beverages as they fight against an obesity epidemic, pointing to evidence that price hikes can dramatically reduce consumption. The World Health Organization’s recommendations on sweetened beverages came as the world seeks to bring down whopping obesity rates, with one in three adults overweight. “There ...

  The US government reiterated its request that construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota be paused, while authorities consider the impacts of its route on a Native American tribe. The Dakota Access Pipeline has been the subject of a months-long protest, in which Native Americans and their supporters have camped out in the state’s prairie lands to block ...