AFP Japan’s exports tumbled and the country logged a surprise trade deficit in August, data showed, reviving concerns about the economy just before the Bank of Japan wraps up a closely watched meeting. Shipments overseas fell 9.6 percent from a year earlier as a strong yen clouds the country’s trade picture. That left a trade deficit of 18.7 billion …

  AFP China has removed an almost 13-year-old ban on some US beef products, its quality inspection regulator said Thursday. A ban on imports of “American bone-in beef and boneless beef for cattle under 30 months” has been lifted effective immediately, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said, according to a document posted on its official website. …

  Charlotte / AFP A second night of race-related clashes in Charlotte, North Carolina has left one protester on life support, with the renewed violence prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency. Several hundred people taunted riot police late on Wednesday amid clashes in the city center, a second night of unrest ignited by the fatal police shooting …