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WARSAW / Reuters Central European manufacturing continued to grow in March as a jump in Polish factory activity managed to offset slower growth from Germany, the region’s main trade partner. The former communist countries of the European Union’s eastern wing rely on demand and investment from richer western Europe, which over the past two decades has lifted their living standards. ...

Bloomberg Russia’s oil output set a post-Soviet high in March as the success of a proposed crude production freeze between OPEC members and other major producers appeared to be in doubt. Russian production of crude and a light oil called condensate climbed 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier to 10.912 million barrels a day, according to the Energy ...

Bloomberg The U.K.’s steel crisis — worsened by Tata Steel Ltd.’s decision to sell its plant in Port Talbot, South Wales — has been exacerbated by three green taxes that the government implemented to boost clean energy, according to the manufacturers’s association EEF. The three levies are the Carbon Price Floor, Renewables Obligation and Feed-In Tariff policies. Each works differently. ...

Bloomberg Benchmark Treasuries logged their best week since January even as data pointed to U.S. job-market strength. The rally shows traders are betting the Federal Reserve is focusing more on the struggling global economy than on data back home, according to Aaron Kohli of BMO Capital Markets. Treasuries are off to their best annual start since 2008 as slowing economies ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s state-controlled oil company is offering employees a voluntary dismissal plan as part of an effort to deepen spending cuts to withstand the worst oil market in a generation. Petrobras expects 12,000 employees to quit under the program at a cost of 4.4 billion reais ($1.2 billion), it said in a statement. The staff reductions will save the company ...

Bloomberg The Argentine government is asking China to revise a nuclear reactor accord signed by the previous administration as it seeks uranium providers from the U.S. ahead of resuming output, two people with knowledge of the situation said. China is open to amending dam and nuclear energy contracts that it signed with the previous Argentine government administration, La Nacion reported. ...

Bloomberg Mexico plans to cut spending next year in order to meet its zero deficit target as manufacturing exports slowed and lower oil prices weighed on revenue. After slashing 2016 spending by 132 billion pesos ($7.6 billion), Mexico estimates a 175 billion-peso reduction in outlays next year compared to this year’s budget, the Finance Ministry said in a report to ...

Caracas / Reuters Venezuela will reduce power generation if the key Guri dam, which supplies around half of the blackout-hit country’s electricity, falls below a minimum level that is fast approaching, an official said. A severe drought, coupled with what critics say is a lack of investment and maintenance in energy infrastructure, has hit the South American nation which depends ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s most sustainable urban developments, will undergo significant expansion over the next five years driven by its emergence as a hub for R&D and the commercialisation of clean technologies. “Around 35 percent of the planned built-up area will be completed over the next five years — up from ...

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business The United Arab Emirates is one of the largest consumers of international and domestic brands across the region. The country is also considered a safe haven within the Middle East, with well-developed infrastructure and a tax-free environment. Gauging the immense scope in the industry, Saudi Arabia’s leading packaging company Goody is all set to collaborate ...