Relaxnews The first ever genuine Star Wars drones are official and despite not going on sale until the fall and currently not being available to US fans even to reserve, the buzz they’re creating can be heard in a galaxy far, far away. Built by Propel and called ‘Battle Quads’ rather than drones, the range will launch with a ...

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co.’s revenue growth accelerated in the first half as upgraded smartphones and network gear helped China’s largest vendor of telecommunications equipment counter deteriorating demand. The world’s third-largest smartphone brand grew revenue 40 percent to 245.5 billion yuan ($37 billion) in the first six months, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement. That’s up from the 30 ...

  Bloomberg Indian Railways plans to rack up debt to help fund an unprecedented modernization plan. Some 2.5 trillion rupees ($37 billion) of debt is required in the five years through 2020, according to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. That’s more than triple the 692 billion rupees of outstanding Indian Railway Finance Corp. bonds. The network is also exploring non-fare revenue ...

  AFP GAIL India Ltd. is seeking to defer a 20-year contract to buy liquefied natural gas from Gazprom PJSC until the Russian company’s Shtokman project begins production, officials at the South Asian country’s biggest gas transporter said. New Delhi-based GAIL signed a contract in 2012 to buy 2.5 million metric tons a year of LNG from Gazprom starting in ...

  AFP Japan on Monday posted its first half-year trade surplus since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, after the accident sent energy import bills soaring and led to a string of deficits. The world’s third largest economy logged a January-June surplus of 1.8 trillion yen ($17 billion), against a 1.69 trillion yen deficit in the same period last year, the ...

  AFP An Australian couple are raffling their tropical island resort and say they hope whoever holds the winning US$49 ticket loves warm weather. Doug and Sally Beitz moved to the remote Micronesian island of Kosrae in the 1990s, but now want to return to Australia to enjoy being grandparents. Instead of selling their 16-room Kosrae Nautilus Resort to a ...

AFP Ramped-up international sanctions on North Korea have inadvertently disrupted the already challenging work of aid agencies there, those in the field say, with risk-averse banks refusing to transfer funds needed to keep operations running. Aid shipments have also been held up or blocked indefinitely at Chinese customs in confusion over what is covered by the significantly upgraded UN sanctions ...

  On July 26, 1991, Manmohan Singh — then Finance Minister, and later Prime Minister for 10 years — rose in Parliament to deliver an address that would transform India. That speech, outlining the first budget of a just-elected government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, launched India’s journey of economic reform, dismantling many decades-old socialist-style controls on the private ...

  Albert R. Hunt Hillary Clinton has been a national political figure for a quarter-century, longer than any presidential candidate. Yet contradictions and conflicting portraits of her persist. She is smart, well-versed in domestic and foreign-policy issues, revels in working things out and commands strong loyalty. She also is overly suspicious, insular, often nontransparent and disposed to cutting corners. She ...

  Christopher Balding When the Chinese appliance maker Midea Group announced a bid for the German robotics manufacturer Kuka AG this spring, it seemed like something of an omen. Kuka makes robots that specialize in assembling goods on a factory floor — exactly the kind of work that has lifted millions of Chinese out of poverty. After opening up to ...