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  Bloomberg Canada consumer optimism ended 2016 with a small weekly increase, finishing above where it started the year on rising expectations for the country’s growth prospects. The sluggish economy, hampered by disappointing exports was a focal point for policymakers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first full year in power. Trudeau expanded transfer payments and cut middle-income taxes, while Bank ...

  Bloomberg American manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in two years, reflecting firmer output and the biggest pickup in orders growth since August 2009. The Institute for Supply Management said that its index increased to 54.7, the fourth straight advance, from 53.2 a month earlier. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 53.8. Readings above ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is planning to invest $1 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s giant new technology fund, adding its name to a growing list of interested parties and giving the iPhone maker a new avenue to tap up-and-coming technologies. Qualcomm Inc. also said it will participate in the fund, but the terms and the amount of its investment are ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG must face claims it misled US investors after installing so-called defeat devices in diesel vehicles used to cheat emissions tests. A San Francisco federal judge also rejected a request to dismiss shareholder claims against former VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn, who said investors in VW’s American depositary receipts couldn’t prove he knew the extent of the company’s ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Senior US intelligence officials face questions at a Senate hearing that will be dominated by the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia meddled in the presidential election to help Donald Trump win. The Armed Services Committee’s cyber threats hearing on Thursday comes a day before the president-elect is to be briefed by the CIA and FBI directors ...

  QUANTICO / AP A Marine Corps staff sergeant accused of cruelty and mistreatment following an investigation of hazing at the Parris Island training center is facing a preliminary hearing. The staff sergeant is one of four Marines facing military judicial proceedings this week related to the hazing investigation. The Marine Corps launched a probe after the March 18 death of ...

  STOCKHOLM / AP A spokesman for one of Sweden’s three nuclear power plants says they will have armed guards outside the facilities starting next month in a decision made by the country’s nuclear watchdog. Anders Osterberg of the Oskarshamn power station says “the elevated level” was based on a general security assessment, not a specific threat. Osterberg said Thursday in ...

  ATHENS / AP Greek police on Thursday recaptured a convicted far-left militant wanted for more than four years after she absconded during her trial on domestic terrorism charges. Pola Roupa, 48, was arrested during an early morning raid in Athens, police said, while a 25-year-old Greek woman suspected of aiding and sheltering Roupa was also taken into custody. Roupa was ...

  Washington / AFP Under mounting pressure to free convicts as a last act, President Barack Obama is planning at least one more batch of pardons and commutations before leaving office in two weeks, but don’t expect many famous offenders to make the list. The list of bold names appealing to Obama for compassion in his final weeks includes accused leaker ...

  Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will consider joint naval exercises with Russia, his spokesman said on Thursday, months after he decided to reduce military drills with the US. At a briefing in the presidential palace, spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte saw this week’s visit by two Russian warships to Manila would enhance friendship between the navies. Duterte, who in ...