When Ieng Ty first stepped onto Otres beach in southern Cambodia, it was empty. He stood for a while, looking over translucent green waters to the hazy blue sky. Behind him, scrubby trees swayed in the firm breeze. An upsetting memory surfaced and, for a second, the surf sounded like the raspy breath of those people he’d seen starve in …

BEIJING/ Bloomberg China’s industrial production and retail sales both slowed in the first two months of the year, highlighting the pressure leaders will face to meet this year’s annual growth target even as the central bank governor said major stimulus wasn’t needed. Industrial output rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier in January and February, the National Bureau of Statistics …

Bloomberg Nestle SA recalled 12 types of products under the DiGiorno, Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s brands in the US because they may contain small pieces of glass, a setback for brands that the Swiss food company has been trying to revitalise. No injuries have been reported, according to the Vevey, Switzerland-based company, which announced the recall of a “limited” number …

Bloomberg Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. rallied the most since 2014 after its first-quarter forecast topped analysts’ estimates, helped by growing demand for beauty products. Earnings will be $1.25 to $1.30 a share in the period, the Bolingbrook, Illinois-based company said in a statement. Analysts’ had estimated $1.22 on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company, which …

Bloomberg South Korea’s Lotte Group is among suitors that submitted bids for French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA’s Vietnam grocery business, which could fetch as much as $800 million, people with knowledge of the matter said. Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s TCC Holding Co. and Central Group, controlled by Thailand’s Chirathivat family, also submitted first-round offers by the March 10 deadline, the people …

Bloomberg A leak discovered on a Buckeye Pipe Line Company LP pipe that is the primary source of jet fuel for John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport hasn’t affected operations at the hub, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “JFK has enough jet fuel for three days, so the airport is equipped to respond to …

LONDON / Bloomberg Britain’s banks have criticised the UK Treasury’s plan to pare back the scope of the bank levy to lenders’ domestic businesses only, warning international operations could still be subject to taxation after the changes. Under the government’s current proposal, funds raised at a UK holding company level and then passed down to an international subsidiary would continue …

BAKU / Bloomberg The once-in-a-generation crash in oil prices sent the Azeri economy staggering into a crisis and the central bank is running out of options to stop the unraveling. Every seventh lender is now shut, the currency is testing new lows and by one measure Azerbaijan’s international reserves are as thin as Ukraine’s. The central bank has little to …

Beijing / AFP China’s bank loans plunged in February from January, the central bank said, despite government efforts to encourage lending to keep the world’s second-largest economy from slowing. New loans extended by banks slid to 726.6 billion yuan ($112 billion), the People’s Bank of China said, a massive drop from January’s record 2.51 trillion yuan lending surge. The figure …

BLOOMBERG Gazprom PJSC, the natural-gas export monopoly, has hired banks to organise a sale of Swiss-franc debt in what could be the first Eurobond deal out of Russia this year. Europe’s biggest gas supplier picked Deutsche Bank AG, Gazprombank JSC and UBS Group AG as joint lead managers and Renaissance Capital as a co-manager for investor update meetings in Geneva …