Bloomberg The European Commission on Monday insisted talks on a huge US free trade deal were on track, rejecting German claims that irreconcilable differences had left the deal dead in the water. “The ball is rolling right now. The Commission is making steady progress,” Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said when asked about comments by German vice chancellor and economy ...

  Bloomberg Mylan NV, the drugmaker under fire for pricing its EpiPen emergency allergy shots at $600, said it will introduce a generic version in coming weeks that will halve the price. The generic EpiPen will be identical to the branded product, including device functionality and drug formulation, and cost $300 per two-pack carton, Mylan said in a statement on ...

  Bloomberg Italian manufacturing confidence in August fell to the lowest since early last year, as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi struggles with a stagnant economy compounded by the massive destruction from last week’s deadly earthquake. Consumer confidence also fell. The business manufacturing gauge dropped to 101.1 in August, the lowest since Feb. 2015, from 102.9 the previous month. The median ...

  AFP Internet mogul Kim Dotcom launched his appeal on Monday against extradition to face video piracy charges in the United States, arguing for his case in New Zealand to be live-streamed to ensure a fair hearing. The German national and founder of the Megaupload file-sharing service, who has permanent residency in New Zealand, faces up to 20 years in ...

  Bloomberg US consumers spent at a solid pace in July while the key PCE index of inflation slowed, the Commerce Department reported on Monday. Consumer spending rose by 0.3 percent from June, with the gain underpinned mainly by automobile purchases while spending on non-durable goods and services declined. That followed an 0.4 percent gain in June, suggesting the consumer ...

  AFP The start this week of the first regularly scheduled commercial flights from the United States augurs the likely demise of Cuba’s “mules” — suppliers of last resort for scarce consumer goods on the island. For more than half a century, commercial air travel between Cuba and the United States was all but non-existent, a victim of frosty Cold ...

  Beirut / AFP An IS group militant rammed his explosives-laden car into an army recruitment centre in Aden on Monday, killing 60 people in the deadliest extremist attack to hit the city in over a year. Yemen’s army, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, is training young recruits to join its nationwide war against Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies, as ...

  Maputo / AFP A South African hotelier said on Monday he had picked up a piece of aircraft wreckage off the Mozambican coast in the latest possible find of debris from the missing MH370 flight. Mozambique’s aviation authorities in Maputo said they had been informed of the discovery, but were yet to receive the item. Australia, which is leading ...

  Kashmir / AFP Authorities lifted a curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir after 52 days of lockdown amid deadly violence, but street clashes broke out again on Monday between protesters and security forces. Restrictions were lifted throughout most of the tense Kashmir Valley including the main city of Sringar “following improvement in the situation”, police said in a statement late Sunday. ...

  Sirte /AFP Libya’s pro-government forces on Monday cornered IS group extremist in their last holdouts in the city of Sirte, after heavy fighting that left dozens dead and wounded. The battle for IS’s North African stronghold was launched more than three months ago by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord. Those forces have been backed by ...