Facebook says that it is banning “deepfakes,” those high-tech doctored videos and audios that are essentially indistinguishable from the real thing. That’s excellent news — an important step in the right direction. But the company didn’t go quite far enough, and important questions remain. Policing deepfakes isn’t simple. As Facebook pointed out in its announcement this week, media can be ...

Broad new horizons in key markets are opening for the world’s energy companies. Don’t expect to see a land rush any time soon. China will allow all large domestic and foreign companies to apply for oil and gas exploration licenses that were previously only open to state-owned enterprises, the country’s resources ministry said at a briefing. In India, regulators will ...

Before it results in a tragedy for all of India’s banking, regulators need to step in and end the farce called Yes Bank Ltd. The latest shenanigans make it very clear that the authorities need to stop being spectators — and act. The original cast has vanished. The co-founder who drove the country’s fifth largest private-sector bank into a ditch ...

Timing is everything in investing, a refrain the ambitious Li Shufu might want to heed. The Geely Group has held preliminary talks about a possible investment in Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc, the high-end but encumbered British carmaker of James Bond fame. Billionaire Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Racing Point Formula One team, is also among the investors looking ...

For more than 30 years, scientists have tried to inform governments and the public on the urgent threat of global warming, working hard — as scientific norms demand — to acknowledge honestly the limits to what they know. It hasn’t worked. As a recent report from the United Nations Environment Program shows, global carbon dioxide emissions have gone up, not ...

Bloomberg American equity-index futures edged lower along with European stocks as investors awaited the start of US earnings season and officials prepared to sign the China trade deal in Washington. The yuan held close to its strongest level since July. Contracts on Wall Street’s main equity benchmarks traded modestly down, after January14’s jump in technology shares sent the S&P 500 ...

Bloomberg The yen weakened past 110 per dollar for the first time in almost eight months as the imminent signing of a US-China trade deal sapped demand for haven assets. Japan’s currency fell as much as 0.2% to 110.21 as the Trump administration removed its designation of China as a currency manipulator before Wednesday’s planned signing of a phase-one agreement. ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration lifted its designation of China as a currency manipulator, saying the nation has made “enforceable commitments” not to devalue the yuan and has agreed to publish exchange-rate information. The change in the US stance was outlined in the US Treasury Department’s semiannual foreign-exchange report to Congress. The document was released two days before America and China ...

Bloomberg Michael Patra was appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), beefing up the leadership of the institution at a time of economic and banking stress. Patra takes office for a period of three years from the date of joining or until further orders, according to a statement from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. He’ll be ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG won an early release from a ban on sponsoring initial public offerings in Hong Kong, setting it up to once again broker deals in the world’s busiest market. The lifting of the ban comes after UBS “engaged and cooperated” with an independent 10-month review over its policies, procedures and practices, the Securities and Futures Commission said ...