The United Kingdom on Wednesday started the clock on two years of negotiations to withdraw from the European Union. Britain’s top envoy to European Union Tim Barrow hand-delivered a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, triggering final split. Tusk has said that he would respond with a draft negotiating guidelines within 48 hours. Leaders of remaining 27 nations ...

  Discussions about manufacturing tend to get very contentious. Many economists and commentators believe that there’s nothing inherently special about making things and that efforts to restore US manufacturing to its former glory reek of industrial policy, protectionism, mercantilism and antiquated thinking. But in their eagerness to guard against the return of these ideas, manufacturing’s detractors often overstate their case. ...

  With a promise to fly US passengers to Europe for as little as $65, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is poised to transform transatlantic travel. While terrific news for consumers, its low-cost long-haul strategy might be a little more turbulent for shareholders and lenders. Having built Norwegian from a handful of aircraft into Europe’s third-largest budget carrier, founder and CEO ...

  China appears to be thriving in the age of Trump. Faced with a protectionist U.S. administration in Washington, Communist Party leaders have improbably recast themselves as champions of globalization, free trade and openness. Recently, they’ve admonished Western policymakers to treat Chinese investors more graciously before expecting China to open its own markets further. Greater liberalization, central bank chief Zhou ...

  BUENOS AIRES / AP Let’s start at the end, with dessert at The Argentine Experience. The Buenos Aires restaurant that immerses diners in culture offers an abundance of tastes and the stories behind them. On the night my family shared a communal table with another group of US visitors, dessert included a delicacy prepared with sponge-like yacaratia wood. Alex Pels, ...

  Dubai / Reuters Saudi Aramco is paying a significant premium to the government and to its previous borrowing in its first sale of Islamic bonds, reflecting uncertainty over oil prices and an upcoming sale of the state-owned oil giant’s shares. Aramco is offering 7-year, riyal-denominated sukuk at 25 basis points (bps) over the six-month Saudi Arabian Interbank Offered Rate ...

  Bloomberg The closure of one of Australia’s biggest power plants may spark a new bout of electricity price volatility, potentially worsening the country’s energy crisis. The final two units of the 1,600-megawatt coal-fired Hazelwood plant in the state of Victoria will be shut Wednesday by owners Engie SA and Mitsui & Co. After operating for 50 years, the closure ...

  Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) expects double-digit growth in its project finance business in the Middle East in 2017, driven partly by Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reduce its dependence on oil, the bank’s co-head in the region Elyas Algaseer said. Saudi Arabia’s push to diversify its economy under its National Transformation Plan provides a big opportunity for international ...

  Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. projected its annual loss could more than double to a record 1.01 trillion yen ($9.1 billion) as its US nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The collapse of Westinghouse, once the linchpin of Toshiba’s plans to diversify away from consumer electronics, caps a disastrous run for the Japanese conglomerate as project delays crippled ...

  Bloomberg China Evergrande Group, the nation’s most indebted property developer, advanced in Hong Kong trading after announcing a plan to introduce as much as 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) from strategic investors ahead of a back-door listing on the mainland. Shares of the Guangzhou-based developer surged 8.9 percent higher to close at HK$6.95 in Hong Kong. The plan came ...