Bloomberg The US is considering a range of options, from expanded economic sanctions to military operations, as it reaches out to allies in confronting North Korea’s latest provocations, according to a senior Trump administration official. North Korea’s ballistic missile test early Saturday was in “open defiance” of the international community, and the risk to the U.S. will not be ...

  Bloomberg Venezuelans prepared for demonstrations to mark International Workers’ Day after clashes last month left dozens dead and pushed Pope Francis to renew his call for a negotiated solution to the crisis embroiling the South American country. The opposition will rally from 26 points across Caracas on a hot, rainy day in a march being promoted on social media ...

  Bloomberg Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron kick off the final week of the French presidential campaign with major rallies in Paris after weekend sparring on subjects ranging from the euro to the environment. With a week to go in the campaign, Le Pen appeared to step back from her single most distinct policy, saying on Saturday that there ...

  Bloomberg The relentless drilling ramp-up in America’s top shale plays is making investors more skeptical that an oil price rebound is on the horizon. After increasing their bets on rising West Texas Intermediate crude for three straight weeks, money managers slashed the wagers by 21 percent, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Producers in Texas are leading ...

  DHAHRAN / Reuters State oil giant Saudi Aramco plans to launch its overhauled Muajjiz oil terminal on the Red Sea next year, lifting its total loading and export capacity to as much as 15 million barrels per day, Saudi officials said. Located on the Red Sea, Muajjiz had been used as an export terminal for Iraqi crude through the ...

  Bloomberg Libya’s crude production rebounded to more than 700,000 barrels a day as OPEC member’s biggest oil field and another deposit in its western region resumed pumping after a halt. The Sharara field is currently producing 216,400 barrels a day, while the El Feel, or Elephant, deposit is pumping 26,500 and is expected to boost output further, Jadalla Alaokali, ...

  Bloomberg Baidu Inc. will boost spending on content for its video streaming and news aggregation services as it tries to nurse its core internet search business back to health. The strategy is designed to attract new users as China’s biggest search provider enters a critical period after sales in 2016 grew at the slowest pace on record. The company ...

  Bloomberg Chinese investment in Australia surged 11.7 percent last year to A$15.4 billion ($11.5 billion) amid booming demand for agricultural assets and infrastructure, according to a report released on Monday. A record 103 deals were signed with Chinese companies in 2016, with 76 percent of those reached with private firms, KPMG and the University of Sydney said in the ...

  Bloomberg Two things happened last week that were a reminder of just how vital real estate has become to Canada’s economy. Statistics Canada released gross domestic product data that showed February was a banner month for sectors linked to housing. The real estate industry, residential construction, financial and legal services generated a combined 0.5 percent increase in output, the ...

  Bloomberg UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd warned Facebook Inc,. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and Twitter Inc. to improve monitoring of extremist and hate content after a panel of lawmakers urged her to consider making the hosting of such material a crime. A report from Parliament’s cross-party Home Affairs Committee, published on Monday, said the companies are “shamefully far” from having ...