Beijing/ AFP The leaders of the world’s most powerful political party gather in Beijing on Monday for a conclave that could change the course of Chinese history. In meetings at the exclusive Jingxi Hotel, safe from the public’s prying eyes, nearly 400 top members of the Chinese Communist Party will confer for four days, discussing changes to how the giant ...

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has hit the reset button on its China strategy in dramatic fashion. The world’s largest retailer is making an ambitious push into e-commerce in China and aims to deliver goods from its stores around the world to Chinese consumers within hours. Shoppers in select remote villages could even see their Wal-Mart products being delivered by ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Musafir.com, the UAE’s first premium-experience travel website, announced the inauguration of a new flagship branch at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The new Musafir.com store was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Department of Statistics and Community Development and Co-founder of Musafir.com, in the presence of Sachin Gadoya, Managing Director ...

  BOGOTA / AP Colombia’s flagship airline briefly grounded all flights to Caracas after a Venezuela air force plane flew close to a passenger jet, but the company said it was resuming service following clarifications from the two governments. An Avianca Boeing 787 on a flight from Madrid to Bogota with some 200 passengers aboard was cruising at high altitude ...

  Bloomberg McDonald’s Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook has more tricks up his sleeve than serving Egg McMuffins all day. A series of upgrades at the company’s international locations — including technological advances like self-service kiosks — boosted sales in some of the restaurant’s chains biggest markets abroad and helped third-quarter results beat analysts’ expectations. While the introduction of ...

  Bloomberg Bjorn Wahlroos, the chairman of Nordea Bank AB, confirmed he approached Dutch authorities about a possible merger with ABN Amro Group NV. While those talks didn’t lead to a combination of the two lenders, the Nordea chairman said a merger could have produced a “great bank,” during an interview with Finnish state broadcaster YLE. “It was in preliminary ...

  Bloomberg Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has shied away from publicly backing a presidential candidate this year, saying his support could harm that person’s chances. Yet in an interview that will air on CNN’s “ Fareed Zakaria GPS,” Blankfein, asked if he personally supports and admires Democrat Hillary Clinton, said that he did. “I’m ...

  Bloomberg Banks in the UK will start relocating operations out of the country by year-end, months before formal talks to leave the European Union begin, as London looks set to lose access to the EU single market, the head of the British Bankers Association said in a newspaper commentary. International banks’ “hands are quivering over the relocate button,” Anthony ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s stock market is suffering from a post-holiday hangover. The flood of Chinese money into the city before the mainland’s National Day celebrations in early October has slowed to a trickle since traders returned from the week-long break. Investors in Shanghai spent more than $8 billion on Hong Kong shares in September, the biggest monthly inflow through ...

  Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s third-biggest bank by market value, is cutting about 30 jobs in its institutional banking unit. The affected positions are based in New York, London and Asia, and are mostly in customer relationship roles, ANZ Bank spokesman Stephen Ries said in an emailed statement. “We continue to reshape our network by ...