WASHINGTON / AP The US industrial production dropped sharply in November, mainly because power plants reduced output due to unusually warm weather. The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that output at America’s factories, mines and utilities fell 0.4 percent last month. It was another sign that American industry is struggling even as the overall US economy looks healthy. The Federal ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Stock markets in the Gulf retreated on Wednesday in shrinking trading volumes as investors turned cautious ahead of the US interest rate hike and guidance from the US central bank expected late in the day. Petrochemical shares, which have been dragging Saudi Arabia’s main index lower over the last two sessions, fell further. The main index ...

  Bloomberg Caution pervaded markets before the Federal Reserve’s expected interest-rate hike later on Wednesday, with European stocks slipping from an 11-month high and government bonds advancing. Crude retreated on industry data showing US stockpiles increased. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated before the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day meeting, as investors awaited clues on the likely path of rates ...

  Bloomberg Line Corp. is planning to shake up its staff and business to build on the 20-plus percent share gain since the messaging company pulled off the tech world’s biggest public offering of the year. Chief Executive Officer Takeshi Idezawa is tapping top lieutenants Jun Masuda and Joongho Shin to lead the hunt for fresh growth ideas. Their new ...

Bloomberg Nowcast Inc., a Japanese financial research and technology startup, has developed a product that estimates economic growth in real time by using satellite images of night-time lights. Based on algorithms that examine changes in the intensity of illumination, as well as a range of published statistics including industrial production and trade, the Tokyo-based company can accurately forecast changes in ...

  Bloomberg South Korea’s youth unemployment rate rose to a record high in November, following political protests that paralyzed the government and led parliament to vote to impeach the president. The unadjusted jobless rate for people aged 25 to 29 rose to 8.2 percent in November, up from 8 percent in October and 7.4 percent a year earlier, Statistics Korea ...

Bloomberg Industrywide demand for passenger vehicles in India will be depressed for a few months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unprecedented cash clampdown, according to senior executives at Tata Motors Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. The cash crunch, following the withdrawal of high-denomination banknotes, has hurt consumer sentiment and is expected to continue through March, Mayank Pareek, president of passenger ...

  Bloomberg China will raise the sales tax on small cars to 7.5 percent, curbing an incentive that has propped up the auto industry, which is heading for its 26th consecutive annual expansion, according to people familiar with the matter. The tax rate is less than the 10 percent originally scheduled to take effect from January. However, it is an ...

  Cleveland / AFP At a photography studio in Cleveland, instructor Nicole Follen is trying to convince her students to step back in time and technology —to the age of the humble Polaroid. She wants the students to create something they can touch and feel —perhaps even something that – gasp —isn’t perfect. So, she guides her class in how ...

  Relaxnews It’s the one safe zone where people are exempt from having to listen in on personal phone calls and family dramas. But a loophole in air travel regulations could allow fliers to place in-flight phone calls as long as travelers are notified of the service before their ticket purchase. In a bid to pre-emptively address concerns about voice ...