Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ North Korea struck back at US President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy it, with Kim Jong Un warning of the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” and his foreign minister suggesting that could include testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho spoke to reporters in New York, where he is attending …

Bloomberg The Spanish government is tightening its control over the regional police in Catalonia after evidence emerged that the Catalans’ 17,000-strong force may not be fully committed to helping quash an illegal independence referendum planned for October 1. Prosecutors on Saturday ordered a unit of the central government’s Interior Ministry to coordinate the operations of the Civil Guard, the National …

Bloomberg UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he is “extremely concerned” by reports that Iran tested a missile, saying the action was inconsistent with United Nations resolutions. He urged the nation to halt “such provocative acts.” Johnson made comments on his Twitter account, after Press TV reported that Iran had successfully test-fired a new ballistic missile. The missile was unveiled …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is weighing replacing his ban on travellers entering the US from six predominantly Muslim nations with a set of more specific and tailored restrictions based, in part, on how much information countries share with the US. The Department of Homeland Security has sent Trump recommendations for entry restrictions and additional visa requirements based on shortcomings in …

Bloomberg Britain and the European Union are set to resume Brexit negotiations next week after UK Prime Minister Theresa May broke the stalemate in the hope that the real arguments can now begin. In a major speech that drew guarded praise from Brussels, May signalled for the first time that she’ll be ready to discuss the amount of money the …

Bloomberg Turkish Airlines said it intends to purchase 40 of Boeing Co.’s 787-9 Dreamliners, a long-awaited deal that signals the carrier’s rebound following a terrorist attack on its Istanbul hub last year. When finalised, the order would be valued at almost $11 billion before the customary discounts for large aircraft purchases. The pact, unveiled during a brief signing ceremony in …

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG and EasyJet Plc were selected as the preferred bidders for the main assets of insolvent Air Berlin Plc, handing both airlines a rare chance to rapidly expand in Europe’s biggest economy. The creditors’ committee will continue talks with the two carriers until October 12 with the aim of selling Air Berlin’s transport assets, the company said …

Bloomberg UK retail sales rose in August at their fastest pace in four months, providing further evidence of a tentative pickup in consumer spending. The quantity of goods sold in stores and online increased 1 percent from July, as did sales excluding auto fuel, the Office for National Statistics said. The increase far exceeded the median forecast of economists and …

Bloomberg It’s mere weeks to the festival of Diwali, the season of lavish, reckless consumption, and in a cavernous warehouse minutes from the Hyderabad airport, hundreds of workers are furiously sorting mountains of everyday items. There are sunglasses and shaving creams, sewing machines, vegetable slicers and microwave ovens, all lined up by Amazon.com Inc. to sate the shopping frenzy that’s …

Bloomberg Russia signaled that it would be willing to prolong the production cuts it agreed with OPEC beyond the first quarter of next year if needed, while also making clear its commitment to the deal wasn’t open ended. It was too early to talk about the specific details of extending the oil-output pact at a meeting with fellow producers in …