Jakarta / AFP Indonesia is pushing to ban new palm oil operations after last year’s haze-belching forest fires were partly blamed on the industry’s expansion, but producers are warning the move could hit the economy and green groups are sceptical. President Joko Widodo in April proposed a halt on granting new land for palm oil plantations in the world’s ...

  Paris / AFP Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon against May Day protesters on Sunday while France was on high alert for more violent protests against labour reforms during the annual celebration of worker’s rights. From Moscow to Marseille, rallies were held in cities across the globe to celebrate Labour Day as the working classes battle economic ...

  Paris / AFP The orginal artwork for the last two pages of the Tintin comic book “King Ottokar’s Sceptre” sold for a total of €1.046 million ($1.2 million) at auction on Saturday in Paris. “This is only the second time a Tintin plate has exceeded a million euros,” Eric Leroy, comic book expert at French auction house Artcurial, said. ...

  Lisbon / AFP Portugal kept its much-needed access to EU financial help after an European Central Bank-approved credit agency maintained its rating of Portuguese debt at investment grade level. Toronto-based DBRS announced it had kept Portugal’s rating at “BBB” level, with a “stable” perspective. “The rating reflects Portugal’s eurozone membership, favourable public debt maturity structure, and reduced vulnerabilities, following ...

  Berlin / AFP German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he didn’t understand how Volkswagen bosses could defend their bonuses after a huge emissions-rigging scandal plunged the carmaker into global turmoil, according to an interview with Die Welt published on Sunday. The criticism comes after Volkswagen revealed this week that its top executives would be paid a total of €63.2 ...

  Madrid / AFP A wind of change is blowing on Spain’s renewables: companies and investment funds have been on a buying spree, taking advantage of the know-how and growth prospects of a sector still limping out of a crisis. In 2015 “total transactions reached €5 billion ($5.7 billion)”, says Joao Saint-Aubyn, a Madrid-based energy expert at global consultancy Roland Berger. ...

  Omaha, Neb / AP   Berkshire Hathaway’s idiosyncrasies were on display this weekend, as tens of thousands of people filled an arena to listen to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talk business for several hours at the conglomerate’s annual meeting. No other company can match the crowds who attend Berkshire’s meeting, the 51-year-tenure of its top two executives or its ...

  Bloomberg A change to drier weather in Argentina is paring the biggest monthly gain for soybeans since 2014 after floods damaged the country’s crops. Dry weather will prevail in Argentina, the world’s third-largest exporter of soybeans, through early next week, allowing harvesting to accelerate, MDA Weather Services said in a report on Saturday. The harvest is 24 percent complete, ...

  Caracas, Venezuela / AFP With their country gripped by an economic crisis, Venezuelans will lose half an hour of sleep when their clocks are moved forward to save power on President Nicolas Maduro’s order. At 2:30 am local time, the oil-dependent South American nation will shift its time ahead by 30 minutes — to four hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. ...

  New York / BLOOMBERG American International Group Inc. raised $1.25 billion selling shares of Chinese insurer PICC Property & Casualty Co. near the low end of a marketed range. The largest commercial insurer in the U.S. and Canada sold 740 million shares of PICC P&C at HK$13.08 apiece, after earlier offering them at HK$13.06 to HK$13.35, according to terms ...