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  Bloomberg Ant Financial, the financial technology company controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, stepped up its international expansion by buying US money-transfer service MoneyGram International Inc. The $880 million transaction, Ant’s second US deal, will connect MoneyGram’s network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Ant’s customers. Ant, which was once part of Alibaba, is seeking to expand abroad ...

  LONDON / AP British consumers spurred faster-than-expected economic growth in the last three months of 2016, but experts warn a slowdown may be on the way as the country’s plans to leave the European Union curtail spending and investment. The economy grew 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, according to figures released by the ...

  Bloomberg A German consumer group sued Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp in a Berlin court over clauses that allow the messaging service to collect and transfer user data between the platforms. The suit is challenging the privacy terms WhatsApp changed in August, which allow for transferring some data to Facebook’s social network, VZBV said in a statement on Monday. Each consumer ...

  Bloomberg US consumer purchases climbed in December by the most in three months as incomes picked up, signaling a strong hand-off into 2017. The 0.5 percent advance in consumption, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, followed a 0.2 percent advance in the prior month, a Commerce Department report showed on Monday. The December increase matched the ...

  BOSTON / AP Where are the trees? More important, where aren’t the trees? A lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is helping some of the world’s cities answer both questions in an attempt to make them more pleasant places to live and work. In an effort to enhance the critical role trees play in urban environments — providing ...

  Cuxhaven / DPA “Ten minutes of playtime for the captain!” announces Commander Markus Venker over the ship-wide loudspeaker system. Actually, it’s a warning for the crew to hold on very tight. Then Venker, captain of the newest and most modern ship in the German Navy, shows what his big baby can do in clear weather but rough seas off ...

  Bloomberg OPEC appears to have persuaded investors that it’s making good on promised production cuts. Money managers are the most optimistic on West Texas Intermediate oil prices in at least a decade as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers reduce crude output. Saudi Arabia has said more than 80 percent of the targeted reduction of 1.8 ...

  Bloomberg In the increasingly competitive world of Japan’s energy market, there may be safety in numbers. Gas sellers from the nation’s smaller utilities to even its biggest oil refiner are considering clubbing together to get cheaper fuel from their suppliers and help them undercut competitors in the 2.4 trillion yen ($21 billion) retail gas market, which the country is ...

    Bloomberg Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, is considering as much as $5 billion of investments in renewable energy firms as part of plans to diversify from crude production, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Banks including HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group AG have been invited to pitch for ...

  Bloomberg Lukoil PJSC is seeking opportunities for growth in the Middle East as Iran opens more of its oil fields to international partners, according to the Russian energy company’s regional head. The Moscow-based company plans to add output from the region to existing operations in Iraq and Egypt as long as it finds projects with production costs as low ...