Last week, China announced that it had mastered the art of making ballpoint pens. Don’t laugh: It was a years-long effort that cost millions of dollars and required the leadership of a state-run corporate colossus. It was front-page news, widely discussed on talk shows and celebrated on social media. And it was no one-off stunt. China hopes such government-mandated …

  Bloomberg European stocks pared their decline on Tuesday after UK Prime Minister Theresa May laid out her intentions on Brexit while supporting a strong European Union. The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.1 percent at 12:37 p.m. in London, recovering from a 0.7 percent slide earlier, still held lower by declines in mining and automaker stocks. May ruled out …

  DUBAI / Reuters Qatar’s stock market rose to a multi-month high on Tuesday in the heaviest volume since late November, buoyed by the banking sector, while firmer oil prices supported the rest of the Gulf and foreign investors bought up Egyptian shares. Qatari Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan jumped 4.0 percent to 40.45 riyals after its board recommended a …