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  Bloomberg Libya was producing 685,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), up from around 600,000 a day last month, an official from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. Output has risen after a two-year blockade was lifted two weeks ago on major pipelines leading from the western fields of Sharara and El Feel. Production has been resuming gradually at ...

  Bloomberg Mexico is bracing for a series of protests as the opposition threatens a “peaceful revolution,” after the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto announced plans to raise gasoline prices by the most in two decades. Gasoline will soar as much as 20 percent in January as the nation moves away from subsidies that have burnt a hole in ...

  Bloomberg A polar blast that’s poised to sweep the US has turned natural gas into the year’s best performer among major commodities. Frigid weather will sweep the western two-thirds of the nation in the second week of January, stoking gas demand for heating, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. The deep freeze comes as output from shale basins slows, ...

  Bloomberg Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s largest automakers, forecast sales to climb 4.7 percent this year as they count on new model introductions to counter intensifying competition amid global uncertainties. Hyundai and Kia are targeting to deliver a combined 8.25 million vehicles in 2017 from 7.88 million units a year earlier, according to regulatory filings. ...

  Bloomberg South Korea banned the sale of 10 models built by Nissan Motor Co., BMW AG and Volkswagen AG’s Porsche after an investi- gation found the automakers fabricated documents related to emission tests. The three manufacturers were slapped with total fines of 7.17 billion won ($5.9 million), which apply to 4,523 vehicles, and the certifications given for these models ...

  Beijing / AP Beijing and other cities across northern and central China were shrouded in thick smog, prompting authorities to delay dozens of flights and close highways. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau extended an “orange alert” for heavy air pollution for three more days. Beijing’s smog had initially been forecast to lift by Monday. The “orange alert” is ...

  Bloomberg A private gauge indicates that India’s manufacturing sector will shrink for the first time in a year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unprecedented clampdown on cash hurts demand. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 49.6 in December, a report showed, the lowest since December 2015. A number below 50 indicates a contraction. “Shortages of money ...

  Beijing / AP State broadcaster Central China Television has rebranded its international networks and digital presence under the name China Global Television Network as part of a push to consolidate its worldwide reach. CCTV unveiled several new mobile apps under the CGTN brand, and visitors to CCTV’s non-Chinese language websites are directed to a new http://www.cgtn.com site. The broadcaster ...

  Bloomberg It’s clear the era of rapid growth for US auto sales is over. The industry entered 2017 with analysts projecting the first significant decline in eight years — a drop of 200,000 vehicles, about the equivalent of one factory’s production — to 17.3 million cars and light trucks. While top-earning consumers will continue to snap up luxury vehicles ...

  Bloomberg Tesla Motors Inc. customers in the UK may find their Christmas cash goes a little further than expected after the carmaker postponed a price increase by two weeks. The US electric-auto manufacturer’s plans to raise prices 5 percent in the UK have been put off until Jan. 15 from the original beginning-of-the-year deadline, Tesla said in an e-mailed ...