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  Bloomberg India’s biggest tractor maker said it will extend assistance to farmers affected by the banknote crisis to tide them over the planting season. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. will help farmers with servicing for their tractors, buying of seeds and give some leeway on loans and advances, Managing Director Pawan Goenka said in an interview last week. “While loss ...

  AFP Foreigners in Australia on working holidays face paying a 15 percent levy on every dollar they earn after the government on Monday compromised on a controversial “backpacker tax”, dumping plans for a higher rate. Canberra had initially sought a revenue-raising 32.5 percent tax for seasonal workers from January 1 under a proposal first flagged in the 2015 budget, ...

  Bloomberg Brexit is going to cause the British economy to slow less than originally thought, according to the OECD. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revised up its UK growth forecasts to 2 percent from 1.8 percent this year, and to 1.2 percent from 1 percent in 2017, according to its November Economic Outlook. An inflation-induced pinch ...

  London / AFP India’s Tata Steel said on Monday that it has agreed to start exclusive talks for the sale of its speciality steel assets to metal processing firm Liberty House. The unit, which has activities mostly in Britain but also in China, employs 1,700 people and produces specialised steel for the aerospace and automotive industries, as well as ...

  London / AFP Riders for the British food courier service Deliveroo are taking legal action on Monday to demand workers’ rights in a new challenge to the so-called gig economy. In a test case that follows a court victory by Uber cab drivers, the application is being made by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain on behalf of ...

  Chernobyl / AFP The world’s largest metal moveable structure will be unveiled on Tuesday over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s doomed fourth reactor in Ukraine to ensure the safety of future generations across Europe. The giant arch — nearly as long as two football pitches and taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty — will edge into place over ...

  FRANKFURT / AP Volkswagen is coming out with a new model that will add to its offerings of larger cars in the United States, where its market share has lagged the competition. The German company released a sketch on Monday of the Arteon, a four-door with a sloping roofline. It is to be unveiled at the Geneva auto show ...

  Reuters Strength in second-tier stocks favoured by local retail investors boosted Saudi Arabia’s stock market on Monday, while foreign buying helped Egypt partially rebound from a drop on Sunday and most other Middle East bourses fell. Saudi Arabia’s index climbed 0.9 percent to 6,904 points, rising above major technical resistance on its April peak of 6,876 points. A second ...

AP Uncertainty over whether OPEC countries will back an oil production cut at their meeting this week, as intended, weighed on global stock markets on Monday. Worries over next week’s constitutional referendum in Italy also kept investors at bay. KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.7 percent to 10,630 while the CAC 40 in France fell 0.5 ...

  Bloomberg Two years ago, Oppo and Vivo couldn’t crack the top five in China’s smartphone market. Now they outrank everyone after elbowing Apple aside, thanks to people like Cheng Xiaoning. Cheng runs a thriving electronics store in the rural town of Miaoxia, tapping into her WeChat social media account to promote the brands that pay the biggest commission, and ...