Reuters Vodafone has agreed a partnership with Iranian internet firm HiWeb to help modernise its network, the companies said on Tuesday, making the British company the latest Western firm to enter Iran after sanctions were lifted. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile phone company, said the agreement to help modernise HiWEB’s network and IT infrastructure would also benefit its multinational ...

  Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is planning a 210 billion-rupee ($3.1 billion) package of state aid for India’s solar panel manufacturing industry, according to two officials. The so-called Prayas initiative, short for for “ Pradhan Mantri Yojana for Augmenting Solar Manufacturing,” a central-government plan designed to lift India’s installed photovoltaic capacity as well as to create an export ...

  Montreal / AFP Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is considering options for its shipbuilding business to reduce costs as persistently weak demand for vessels prompts companies in the industry to take measures to reorganize their operations and form partnerships. The company is considering a capital tieup with three Japanese shipbuilders — Namura Shipbuilding Co. as well as closely held Imabari ...

  Bloomberg India’s oil product demand contracted for the first time in almost two years amid strong monsoon rains and unrest in some provinces. Fuel use during September in the world’s fastest growing consumer fell to 14.6 million tons last month, down 2 percent from a year earlier, according to the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell. That’s the ...

  Bloomberg With the world’s second-largest economy stable for now, you’ll need to look under the hood to see where the real action is when China releases its third-quarter economic report card on Wednesday. Gross domestic product probably expanded 6.7 percent from a year earlier in the three months through September, the same pace as the previous two quarters and ...

  Bloomberg Palm oil inventories in Indonesia probably rose to a four-month high as supplies in the world’s largest producer neared a seasonal peak. Stockpiles climbed 12 percent to 1.9 million metric tons in September from 1.695 million tons in August, the highest since May, according to the median of seven estimates from analysts, refiners and plantation executives compiled by ...

  AFP The European Union gave Belgium until a leaders’ summit on Friday to approve a troubled free trade pact with Canada which has been blocked by its small French-speaking region of Wallonia. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said a planned visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sign the deal next week would not go ahead unless the ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Higher energy costs fueled U.S. consumer prices in September, but overall inflation remained in check as it has for the past several years. The Labor Department said Tuesday that consumer prices increased 0.3 percent last month. Much of that rise stemmed from energy, housing and prescription drugs. Energy costs surged 2.9 percent in September as oil ...

  Bloomberg American International Group Inc. agreed to sell commercial and consumer units in nations including Argentina and Turkey to Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. for $240 million as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock narrows his company’s focus. Fairfax will also acquire renewal rights on the portfolio of business written by AIG’s Central and Eastern European operations in countries ...

  Bloomberg Walt Disney Co. decided not to pursue a bid for Twitter Inc. partly out of concern that bullying and other uncivil forms of communication on the social media site might soil the company’s wholesome family image, according to people familiar with management’s thinking. The producer of family fare like “Finding Dory” had gone so far as to hire ...