Washington / AFP Eight members of one family, including a teenager, were shot dead in rural Ohio, just before gunmen killed five people in Georgia. In Ohio, seven bodies were found at three houses close to eachother and an eighth was later found at a separate site, Sheriff Charles Reader told reporters. The victims were “all adults except for …

  Juba/ AFP South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar eas expected to miss an international deadline on Saturday to return to the capital to take up the post of vice president, the government said, with his arrival now expected next week. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to return to Juba “without delay”, while the US, Britain and Norway—key …

  Johannesburg / AFP The firebrand head of South Africa’s radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, has warned he could seek to remove the government “through the barrel of a gun.” “We are not scared of the army. We are not scared to fight. We will fight,” he told the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera network in an interview to be broadcast …

  Bloomberg Boeing Co. is pitching some of the largest US airlines on a potential upgrade of its smallest 737 Max as it battles Airbus Group SE and Bombardier Inc. for lucrative single-aisle jet orders, people familiar with the matter said. The US planemaker is studying a potential redesign that would lengthen the frame and range for the 737 Max …

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc.’s first-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ estimates as tumbling oil prices handed the carrier a break on fuel costs. Adjusted earnings fell to $1.23 a share, the airline said in a statement. That topped the $1.18 average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales declined 4.8 percent to $8.2 billion, matching analysts’ expectations. The Chicago-based carrier …

  JOHANNESBURG / Reuters South Africa’s Steinhoff has increased its stake in Darty to 20.4 percent, it announced after a frantic bidding war with French rival Fnac for Europe’s third-largest electric goods retailer. Five new offers in less than 24 hours lifted Darty shares by more than 23 percent this week to their highest since the end of 2010 and …

  NEW YORK / Reuters The US aviation regulator has ordered an urgent fix for General Electric engines on upto 150 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, a step to avoid engine failure in icy conditions. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was requiring modifications to prevent fan blades from rubbing against the engine casing, which can cause “damage and a possible …

  Bloomberg Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is seeking US backing for an expansion of its UK-based long-haul operations that would allow the discount carrier to offer services such as South Africa to New York via London. A successful outcome following an application to the US Department of Transportation could lead Norwegian Air to exercise an option to buy 10 more …

  Bloomberg The U.S. consumer might be the engine of global growth — just not the roaring V12 it used to be. From the fourth quarter of 2003 through 2006, amid the real estate bubble, personal consumption expenditures grew at an average annual clip of 3.5 percent. Since the S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 20-City Home Price Index bottomed out in March 2012, …

  Bloomberg It’s a good time to be a tenant in Singapore. Rentals across the city-state’s home, office and retail properties dropped in the quarter ended March as an oversupply and weak demand dragged down prices sought by landlords. Singapore’s home rental index dropped 1.3 percent in the three months ended March 31 from the previous quarter, data from the …