AFP The United Nations has urged Bangladesh to halt construction of a huge coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, warning of a serious threat to the delicate ecosystem of the world’s largest mangrove forest. The UN’s culture and science agency UNESCO said there was a high chance pollution from the plant would “irreversibly damage” the Sundarbans, which straddles the ...

  Bloomberg Liberty House Group is among bidders to have submitted an offer for the steel and iron ore assets of Australia’s Arrium Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the process. The London-based steelmaker and metals trader made a non-binding proposal, the people said, requesting anonymity as the details are private. Liberty House faces competition, including from private equity ...

  AFP Canadian food exporters at a major trade fair in Paris fear a last minute dispute will spoil a free trade deal between Canada and the European Union. Having taken years to negotiate, some producers voiced impatience for the deal to now be finally sealed; others simply fail to see why anyone would reject it. Barring a few sensitive ...

  Bloomberg Long is the new deep. Just ask SM Energy Co., which on Tuesday spent $1.6 billion to expand its acreage in America’s most prodigious oil patch, the Permian Basin. The unique geologic makeup of the Permian, consisting of multiple layers of oil- and gas-trapping shale that span hundreds of miles, is well suited for a technique that’s allowing ...

  Bloomberg Abbott Laboratories posted a surprise third-quarter net loss after the value of its stake in EpiPen maker Mylan NV slumped as the stock dropped in recent months. Abbott became Mylan’s biggest shareholder last year after selling its generic drugs unit in Europe and developed markets to the drugmaker, and still holds a 13 percent stake. As Mylan became ...

  Bloomberg The world’s largest publicly listed oil company says ample production from US shale regions will keep prices subdued for years to come, disagreeing with others in the industry who have warned about a looming shortage. Rex Tillerson, chief executive officer at Exxon Mobil Corp., presented an upbeat view of how technology will allow companies to pump more, preventing ...

Las Vegas / AFP Democrat Hillary Clinton and rival Donald Trump wade into their last presidential debate on Wednesday with the Republican candidate spiraling downward in the polls amid allegations of sexual misconduct and wild charges of a “rigged” US election. With less than three weeks to go before Americans cast ballots November 8, polls showed Clinton widening her lead ...

  The Hague / AFP Police forces from 52 countries arrested over 300 people and swooped on red-light districts to bust several trafficking gangs in a week-long, round-the-clock operation, Europol said on Wednesday. The action led by the European police agency focused “on disrupting the most dangerous criminal networks currently active” including those dealing in illegal immigration, people and drug ...

  Berlin / AFP Four German police officers were wounded, some of them seriously, when a member of the far-right “Citizens of the Reich” group opened fire during a raid Wednesday, authorities said. The 49-year-old alleged gunman belonging to the so-called Reichsbuerger movement was also slightly injured in the exchange of gunfire in the Bavarian town of Georgensmuend and taken ...

  Manila / AFP Visiting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had praise for China on Wednesday, setting aside a maritime dispute as the combative leader reconfigures his country’s diplomatic alliances. The Asian giant was “good”, he said. “It has never invaded a piece of my country all these generations,” Duterte added in an apparent comparison to the Philippines’ former colonial ruler the ...