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  Seoul / AFP South Korea on Thursday cut its key interest rate to a record low 1.25 percent in a surprise move to address concerns over the impact of corporate restructuring on the sluggish economy. The Bank of Korea’s 0.25 percentage point reduction was the first in 12 months but there had been little hint of such a move, ...

  New Delhi / Bloomberg India will introduce competitive auctions for wind farms this year in a bid to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal for 60 gigawatts of capacity by 2022. Varsha Joshi, joint secretary at the new and renewable energy ministry, said the auctions for 1 gigawatt of capacity will start in two months and have a minimum ...

  Tokyo / AFP Conservation activists on Thursday showed undercover video they say suggests that a “huge loophole” in Japanese law enforcement is hindering efforts to rein in illegal ivory trading. Experts say most illegal ivory heads for China, where it is seen as a status symbol. By some estimates the country accounts for as much as 70 percent of ...

  An overwhelming majority of respondents in a recent Pew Research poll, 70 percent, believe that Britain leaving the EU would be bad for Europe. It’s not that hard, however, to make the opposite case — that Brexit would open up opportunities that would drive the bloc’s popularity back up in the remaining member states. Will Britain Leave the EU? ...

  Adam Minter The story first turned up in mid-May: Foxconn, Apple’s favorite manufacturer, was replacing 60,000 of its workers with robots. Everyone from the BBC to Apple fan sites soon reported the ground-shifting news. There was just one problem: It was mostly false. Last weekend, a Foxconn spokesperson told Chinese media that the company hadn’t laid off anyone, much ...

  J. Randy Forbes SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS With tensions rising in the South China Sea, the United States’ alliance with the Philippines may be approaching one of its most important moments in its 65-year history. Over the past few years, the world has watched as China has steadily worked to achieve de facto control of the islands and waters ...

  JEDDAH / Reuters Saudi Arabia will offer foreign and local property developers partnership deals in a vast housing construction programme that aims to build 1.5 million homes over the next seven or eight years, the housing minister said. “We are preparing five or six types of partnership between the ministry and the developer,” Majed al-Hogail told a news conference ...

  Bloomberg Partners Group Holding AG of Switzerland is in exclusive talks to buy French real estate management business Foncia from Eurazeo SA and Bridgepoint, the sellers said in a statement on Thursday. Foncia, which has refocused on real estate services since Eurazeo and Bridgepoint bought it from French bank BPCE SA in 2011, had revenue of €696 million ($793 ...

  Bloomberg RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, Canada’s largest REIT by market value, is teaming up with Tricon Capital Group Inc. and Diamond Corp. to develop a combined retail and residential project in Toronto’s midtown core, according to people familiar with the deal. The joint venture agreed to buy the real estate — a row of high-end boutiques and a ...

WASHINGTON One of the mysteries of Campaign 2016 is why the Iran nuclear deal has vanished as an issue. But a new book reveals some startling details about how the diplomacy with Tehran began in secret, long before reformers took power there, and the crucial role played by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The diplomatic narrative is laid out ...