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  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel signalled a growing reluctance to grant any special trade relations to the U.K. once it leaves the European Union, saying that allowing exemptions to EU rules on migration would lead to a free-for-all across the bloc. Merkel’s comments to Germany’s BDI industry lobby in Berlin on Thursday are a further indication that the U.K. ...

  Frankfurt / AFP The potential implications of Brexit will not play a role in the EU’s probe of a proposed mega-merger between the London stock exchange and its Frankfurt rival, competition chief Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday. The European Commission last week announced an in-depth investigation into the LSE-Deutsche Boerse tie-up, which would create a financial behemoth linking the ...

  London / AFP Britain on Thursday approved a shale gas fracking project in the north of England, overruling a local council’s decision to prevent the controversial scheme which is also opposed by environmentalists. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid gave the green light for the drilling of up to four wells by energy group Cuadrilla at the Preston New Road site. ...

  Frankfurt / AFP German industrial firms recorded a sharp uptick in orders in August, official data showed on Thursday, outdoing analyst forecasts and reducing fears of an autumn slowdown in Europe’s biggest economy. Firms saw a 1.0-percent increase in their order books in August compared with July, correcting for price, seasonal and calendar effects, the federal statistics office Destatis ...

  Bloomberg Norway is ratcheting up withdrawals from its $890 billion sovereign wealth fund to support a recovery as it foresees a continued slump for the nation’s petroleum industry. The government is boosting oil wealth spending by 10 percent to 225.6 billion kroner ($28 billion) next year, according to the 2017 budget released in Oslo Thursday. It will withdraw 121.2 ...

  Washington / AFP Another week of low claims for unemployment insurance pointed on Thursday to a likely solid report on the US jobs market this week. The Labor Department said that initial US jobless claims, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, fell again last week to 249,000, down 5,000 from the previous week. “This marks 83 consecutive weeks ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s namesake car brand plans a four-door fastback model more expensive than its mid-sized Passat but cheaper than the Phaeton luxury sedan that it axed last year, pushing further to revive profit and rebound from its diesel-emissions scandal. The addition to VW’s line-up will be inspired by the Sport Coupe Concept GTE unveiled at the Geneva auto ...

  NEW DELHI / AP Indian police arrested 70 people and are questioning hundreds more after uncovering a massive scam to cheat thousands of Americans out of millions of dollars by posing as US tax authorities and demanding unpaid taxes, a police officer said on Thursday. According to police in Mumbai, the yearlong scam involved running fake call centers which ...

  Hanoi / AFP Vietnam and Iran pledged on Thursday to boost future trade to $2 billion, as Tehran seeks to jump-start its sputtering economy after crippling international sanctions were lifted this year. Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani, in Vietnam on a three-country swing through Southeast Asia, has come under fire from conservative critics who say the nuclear deal signed ...

  Tokyo / AFP Shares in Japanese IT giant Fujitsu soared on Thursday on news it is considering merging its struggling personal computer division with China’s Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker. A deal would mark the latest move by a Japanese firm to hive off struggling divisions to repair their finances, with Toshiba and Sony among a string of ...