LONDON A perceived lack of ambition in the European Central Bank’s latest stimulus efforts left financial markets with a niggling worry on Thursday that even ‘Super Mario’ Draghi might not be able to drag euro zone inflation back up to target. A bare minimum 0... More »
LAHORE, Pakistan A Pakistani attorney said on Thursday he has filed a court petition seeking the return of the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond Britain forced India to hand over in colonial times. Once the largest known diamond in the world, the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor i... More »
SINGAPORE When “Bathing in the Shower” by the late Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan went under the hammer at Sotheby’s autumn auction in Hong Kong in October this year, the oil painting of three female bathers was sold for HK$9.7 million ($1.3 million). That p... More »
HONG KONG The theft of toy maker VTech Holdings Ltd’s database highlights a growing problem with basic cyber security measures at small, non-financial companies that handle electronic customer data, industry watchers said on Monday. The hacked data at VTech in... More »
PARIS U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping pledged on Monday to work together to drive forward a climate change agreement at international talks in Paris. Ahead of a bilateral meeting with Xi, Obama said the leadership of the two coun... More »
PARIS World leaders will launch an ambitious attempt on Monday to hold back the earth’s rising temperatures, urging each other to find common cause in two weeks of bargaining meant to steer the global economy away from dependence on fossil fuels. They arrive a... More »
BANGKOK Thailand’s army detained two leaders of an opposition group on Monday who were planning to visit a public park dedicated to the monarchy that has been at the center of a corruption scandal involving the military government. The allegations relating to ... More »
HONG KONG/SINGAPORE Almost a year after students ended pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong, they face an online battle against what Western security experts say are China-sponsored hackers using techniques rarely seen elsewhere. Hackers have expanded th... More »
TOKYO An award-winning Japanese manga artist, whose retellings of traditional ghost stories and depictions of the horrors of World War Two helped propel anime to global popularity, died on Monday at the age of 93. Shigeru Mizuki, a beloved household name in Ja... More »
TOKYO An extended selloff in Chinese stocks pulled down Asian markets on Monday, while the yuan bounced on suspected intervention by Beijing hours ahead of an IMF decision on whether to promote it to a basket of global reserve currencies. MSCI’s broadest index... More »
TOKYO/SYDNEY The dollar edged up to a fresh 8-1/2-month high against a basket of global currencies on Monday, while the prospect of further stimulus this week by the European Central Bank kept the euro on the defensive. The dollar index added about 0.1 percent... More »
TOKYO Japan’s industrial output rose for a second straight month in October and retail sales grew much faster than expected – a tentative sign of the economy’s recovery from a recession. The latest indicator should ease concern among policymakers after data la... More »
SHANGHAI China stocks opened slightly lower on Monday after falling more than 5 percent on Friday triggered by concerns over a widening probe by regulators into brokerages. The CSI300 index fell 0.1 percent, to 3,554.89 at market open, while the Shanghai Compo... More »
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK When the International Monetary Fund agrees on Monday to add the Chinese yuan to its reserves basket in the biggest shake-up in more than three decades, the IMF can afford itself a congratulatory nod. By acknowledging the yuan as a major glob... More »
NAGOYA, Japan Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda warned on Monday that a slowdown in emerging economies, if prolonged, may hurt Japanese business confidence and discourage firms from increasing capital expenditure. “The BOJ will respond without hesitation ... More »
BERLIN Hamburg’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics collapsed on Sunday after the majority of the city’s residents voted against the multi-billion euro project in a referendum, killing off the candidacy and leaving officials in shock. Hamburg’s withdrawal reshuffle... More »
GUANGZHOU, China Automakers are betting that Chinese families will embrace the mini-van, hoping the larger, unsexy sibling of the bestselling SUV will become the next big thing just as Beijing relaxes the one-child policy. Mini-vans, or multi-purpose vehicles ... More »
BAGHDAD Two senior U.S. senators called on Sunday for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000 and send an equal number of troops to Syria as part of a multinational ground force to counter Islamic State in both countries. Republican... More »
SHANGHAI China, already a global powerhouse in high-tech areas from solar panels to bullet trains, is turning its industrial might to the challenge of making more of its own drugs for a vast and aging population. Given the 10 years or more it typically takes t... More »
SINGAPORE Adam Lambert may have been a hit on American Idol but rival petitions in Singapore have gathered thousands of online votes in a lively debate over whether he is too sexy to be allowed to perform at the city-state’s largest New Year’s eve concert. The... More »
YEKATERINBURG, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday inaugurated a museum dedicated to Boris Yeltsin, the former president whose legacy, many former Yeltsin associates say, Putin has spent the past 15 years dismantling. When an ailing and unpopu... More »
WASHINGTON Geckos boast one of the most impressive talents of any animal: the ability to scamper up a smooth wall or across a ceiling with ease. How do they do it? Well, it is all in the genes. Scientists on Tuesday said they have sequenced the genome of the g... More »
WASHINGTON Scientists aiming to take the bite out of malaria have produced a strain of mosquitoes carrying genes that block its transmission, with the idea that they could breed with other members of their species in the wild and produce offspring that cannot ... More »
LOS ANGELES Asian automakers are opening up a new front in the contest to define the future of cars in California, fielding a flock of cars powered by hydrogen in a bid to woo green car buyers from Tesla Motors Inc, the battery electric vehicle leader. Toyota,... More »
Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) secured formal board approval on Sunday for its acquisition of Botox maker Allergan Plc (AGN.N) for more than $150 billion, a deal that will create the world’s biggest drug maker, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, the l... More »
SEOUL Crude futures plunged on Monday, with U.S. oil dropping more than 3 percent on a firmer U.S. dollar and festering worries over a global supply surplus. The fall was part of a wider decline in commodities that has also been stoked by worries over falterin... More »
YANGON Hopes faded on Monday that any of 100 people still missing would be found alive two days after a landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar smashed into a makeshift settlement, burying mine workers as they slept. Rescue workers had recovered 104 bod... More »
HONG KONG Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement got a boost on Monday with about eight candidates involved in crippling protests last year winning office at district-level elections, while some veterans from both sides of the political divide suffered defeat. The... More »
SYDNEY The euro sagged to a seven-month trough on Monday as the prospect of more policy easing in Europe benefited the U.S. dollar, while activity in Asian shares was crimped by a holiday in Japan. The strength of the dollar also combined with worries about Ch... More »
TOKYO Japan’s government plans to raise the minimum wage and introduce other steps to revitalise the economy, but the draft of stimulus measures seen by Reuters on Monday appeared to break no new ground on reforms that analysts say are needed to end decades of... More »
SINGAPORE The euro languished near a seven-month low against the dollar on Monday, weighed down by expectations that the European Central Bank will ramp up its monetary stimulus next month. Most major banks have stuck firmly to the view that the euro will fall... More »
LONDON Nicole Kidman won the best actress award for her performance as a DNA researcher in the play “Photograph 51” at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards on Sunday. James McAvoy won best actor for a revival of “The Ruling Class” while Imelda Staunton t... More »
TAIPEI A Taiwan NGO that promotes engagement with China has called off its push for a referendum on whether to set up a free trade zone allowing unfettered Chinese investment, its founder said, amid growing anti-China sentiment on an island Beijing considers i... More »
COGNAC, France France’s centuries-old cognac houses are raising their bets on the U.S. market with new products and campaigns to broaden the drink’s appeal beyond its African American stronghold. The big four producers — LVMH Moet Hennessy (LVMH.PA), Remy Coin... More »
KUALA LUMPUR From Turkey to the Philippines to Malaysia, it’s been an overseas trip for U.S. President Barack Obama that often veered off-script. By now, Obama was supposed to have showcased the long-promised benefits of his strategic shift toward Asia as he n... More »
BEIJING/HONG KONG Google, part of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), aims to launch the China version of its Google Play smartphone app store next year, according to people familiar with the matter, its first major foray in the market since ending localized product suppo... More »
MARSHALL, Texas A U.S. jury on Friday found Apple Inc (AAPL.O) did not infringe five antipiracy patents owned by a Pendrell Corp (PCO.O) subsidiary at trial in a Texas federal court. The jury also found that Apple did not prove that the patents were invalid. N... More »
SAN FRANCISCO Snapchat, maker of a free mobile app that lets users send videos and messages that disappear in seconds, is struggling to gain traction with advertisers, fuelling investor concern that its $16 billion valuation isn’t justified by a business that ... More »
SINGAPORE The co-founder of a Singapore church and five other leaders were sentenced to jail terms of up to eight years on Friday, for fraudulently diverting millions of dollars to support his wife’s pop singing career. The mix of faith and fraud has fascinate... More »
BEIJING China has appealed for international help in the battle it says it is waging against Islamist militants in its far western region of Xinjiang, as Beijing seeks Western support for its own “war on terror” in the wake of the Paris attacks. Hundreds of pe... More »
LONDON The euro hit its weakest in more than six months against the yen on Monday as investors sought safety in gold and low-risk government debt after Friday’s attacks in Paris. Oil prices edged up after France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic... More »
TOKYO As Japan struggles to get its Olympics plans on track, the construction start of its new national stadium has been further delayed to early 2017, officials said on Monday. The delay to build the centerpiece of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games comes at a time ... More »
TOKYO Japan slipped into its fourth technical recession in five years between July and September – spotlighting how the government’s “Abenomics” policies have struggled to drag the economy out of chronic stagnation. Official data on Monday showed the world’s t... More »
LONDON The euro hit a 6 1/2-month low against the yen and was pinned down near 7-month troughs against the dollar on Monday after the deadly attacks in Paris led to a bout of global risk aversion and kept investors cautious on the common currency. The Swiss fr... More »
BEIJING/HONG KONG China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd plans to invest 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) over the next five years in a bid to become the world’s third-biggest chipmaker, the chairman of the state-backed technology conglomerate said on Monday. Chairman Zh... More »
TOKYO Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari said on Monday that the economy was in a moderate recovery trend albeit some weakness and that it would continue to improve gradually even though overseas economies posed downside risks. Amari made the remarks afte... More »
KABUL Last year, Hamid Rostami, a 28-year-old from Wardak in western Afghanistan, was expelled from Denmark after years trying to stay in Europe. Jobless and cut off from his family, he now sits in wintry Kabul wondering how to go back. Jobless and unwilling t... More »
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has urged Japan to offer fiscal support to its economy to ensure it returns to growth driven by domestic demand. Lew made the remark in a bilateral meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on the sidelines of a Group of ... More »
TOKYO Japan has expressed concern to China about the pace of capital outflows from the country and has suggested Beijing moves very slowly in reforming its currency system to avoid repeating Japan’s past mistakes. After a summer of market turmoil, China now ap... More »
SYDNEY/TOKYO/PARIS/NEW YORK Stocks in major markets are set for a short-term sell-off on Monday after suspected Islamist militants launched coordinated attacks across Paris that killed more than 130 people, but few strategists expect a prolonged economic impac... More »
BEIJING China’s President Xi Jinping said the country is able to maintain a medium to high economic growth rate and expects China’s economy to grow at around 7 pct this year. Xi’s remarks at the G20 Summit in Turkey on Sunday were published on the foreign mini... More »
SYDNEY The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) could face recommendations that include suspension from the Olympics when the second part of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) report is released, according to one of the doping body’s in... More »
TOKYO/FRANKFURT At the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Ford Motor Co unveiled a new feature that lets drivers pre-set their car to go at or just above the speed limit. In-car cameras and software read and react to road signs, speeding the car up or slowing it down... More »
DES MOINES, Iowa U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton played defense over her 2003 vote backing the U.S. invasion of Iraq and inched away from President Barack Obama on Syria and the rise of Islamic State militants during a contentious deb... More »
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – James Bond is back on top, after “Spectre” led the U.S. box office for the second weekend in a row. Of course, the dashing super spy wasn’t exactly facing off against Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Its main competition was the second weekend... More »
SHANGHAI Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, enjoys strong support in the United States, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told Chinese officials during a visit this week to the Himalayan region, while expressing concern about human rights there. Pel... More »
JAKARTA When Indonesia’s anti-drugs czar announced plans to guard a death-row prison island with crocodiles, the government rushed to explain that it was just a joke, but on Friday Budi Waseso said he was now thinking of using tigers and piranha fish too. Medi... More »
NEW YORK Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other luxury brands suing Alibaba Group Holding Ltd for promoting the sale of counterfeit goods will resort to mediation, backing away from a threat to withdraw from the process after Alibaba founder Jack Ma said that he ... More »
NEW YORK MSCI will add Alibaba Group, Baidu.com and a dozen other overseas-listed Chinese shares to its emerging market index beginning on Dec. 1, in a move that is expected to draw billions of dollars into the stocks and make MSCI the first indexer to include... More »
CERRO LAS CAMPANAS, Chile Chilean President Michelle Bachelet put hammer to stone on an Andean mountaintop on Wednesday evening to mark the start of construction for one of the world’s most advanced telescopes, an instrument that may help shed light on the pos... More »
NEW YORK A Modigliani nude painting was sold to an unnamed Chinese buyer at Christie’s on Monday for $170.4 million, the second-highest price ever for a work of art at auction, as deep-pocketed collectors continue to pay, and pay big, for some rare masterpiece... More »
FLORENCE, Italy Pope Francis called on Tuesday for a Catholic Church that is not cosseted, self-centered and obsessed with power and money, as he faces new challenges to his financial reforms at the Vatican. The Argentine pope, who made his comments during a d... More »
BERLINGerman Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere retains the confidence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, a government spokesman said on Monday, after a spat within her cabinet over whether to limit the asylum rights of refugees from Syria. The government was forc... More »
MOSCOWRussia and Iran have signed a contract for Moscow to supply Tehran with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, Sergei Chemezov, the chief executive of Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying on Monday. ... More »
LONDONBritain’s security agencies will receive a significant boost to staff numbers as part of a multi-pronged effort to stave off threats from terrorist plotters, finance minister George Osborne said on Monday. “I can confirm that over the next five years we ... More »
NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet leaders of his party on Monday to discuss whether to overhaul policies and priorities in the wake of a humiliating defeat in elections in the eastern state of Bihar. Modi was due to huddle with a dozen sen... More »
BEIJINGChina must strengthen its reforms and modernize its system of governance over the next five years, President Xi Jinping told a meeting of a key Communist Party body on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The government will push forward re... More »
PARISGlobal trade flows have fallen dangerously close to levels usually associated with a global recession, although actions taken by China and others should ensure a pick-up in 2016, the OECD said in a report on Monday. The Paris-based Organisation for Econom... More »
LONDONThe dollar took a breather on Monday having surged to a seven-month high, while emerging, commodity and bond markets had a nervy feel after strong U.S. jobs data boosted bets on a December Federal Reserve rate hike. European .FTEU3 and Asian .MIAPJ0000PU... More »
STOCKHOLMas long as they can win over some of the most demanding consumers: video gamers. Since John Elvesjo noticed a sensor tracking his eye movements in a lab experiment, the technology he developed with Henrik Eskilsson and Marten Skogo has helped disabled... More »
TOKYOThe head of smartphone screen maker Japan Display Inc said he would not turn down a partnership with embattled rival Sharp Corp amid speculation that Japan Display’s top investor, a state-backed fund, wants a tie-up between the two. People close to the ma... More »
BANGKOKA Thai fortune teller arrested as part of a high-profile royal insult investigation has died, the government said on Monday, the second suspect in as many weeks to die in police custody. Suriyan Sucharitpolwong, a well-known soothsayer and former aide t... More »
STOCKHOLMMobile equipment maker Ericsson and U.S. networking company Cisco Systems Inc said on Monday they had agreed a business and technology partnership that should generate additional revenues of $1 billion for each company by 2018. Ericsson, whose like-fo... More »
LONDONThe dollar edged away from a 6-1/2-month high against the euro on Monday, as investors took profits on the greenback’s surge after bumper U.S. jobs data bolstered bets on the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates in December. The only major currenc... More »
TOKYOJapanese summer bonuses fell the most since the global financial crisis partly due to the effects of sampling, while monthly pay rose at a modest pace for a third straight month in September, underlining concerns about tepid wages and private consumption.... More »
Honda hit back at Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi after he accused their Spanish rider Marc Marquez of behaving like a ‘bodyguard’ to ensure compatriot Jorge Lorenzo won the MotoGP world championship in Valencia on Sunday. Lorenzo, Rossi’s team mate, had been the onl... More »
LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – James Bond and Charlie Brown brought the box office roaring back to life, as “Spectre” and “The Peanuts Movie” attracted big crowds over their opening weekends. “Spectre,” the latest 007 adventure, took first place, debuting to $73... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/YANGONWestern banks are cutting trade finance in Myanmar after learning that part of the country’s main port is controlled by a man blacklisted by Washington, threatening to stop nascent U.S. economic ties with the Southeast Asian nation in... More »
TOKYOActivist investor Daniel Loeb, famously branded a carpet-bagger by actor George Clooney, has turned from bruiser to charmer in Japan, where he has added diversified retailer Seven & I Holdings to his portfolio. Sources familiar with the situation say Loeb... More »
LONDONThe man who will become the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station said on Friday he hoped his mission would inspire young Britons to one day journey to Mars. Tim Peake, 43, a former army major, will blast off on a six-month mis... More »
LONDONBanks struggled again to make money trading bonds, currencies and commodities in the third quarter, as regulatory changes squeezed liquidity and intensified the pressure to cut costs, staff and activity. Revenue and profit fell for most of the world’s ma... More »
LONDONEuro zone private business growth remained tepid last month but activity in China’s services industry expanded at its fastest pace in three months, easing concerns about persistent weakness in its economy, surveys showed on Wednesday. There was little si... More »
HONG KONG MSCI (MSCI.N) will begin to add overseas-listed Chinese shares to its emerging market indexes this month, drawing billions of dollars into such stocks, which could eventually lead to mainland-listed companies finding their way into global equity port... More »
SEOUL The U.S. and South Korean defense chiefs urged North Korea on Monday to immediately cease all activities related to its nuclear program and said they will have no tolerance for any military provocation by Pyongyang. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and ... More »
SEOUL South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Monday to try to resolve as soon as possible a row over “comfort women” forced into prostitution in Japanese wartime military brothels, a feud that has been a major obs... More »
SEOUL Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told South Korea’s president on Monday he wanted cooperation between the two countries and the United States in maintaining an open and peaceful South China Sea, a Japanese government spokesman said. Abe has in the past... More »
ASTANA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit London this week to discuss the situation in Syria and other matters, his spokesman said on Monday. “While in London, he will meet with British Foreign Secretary Hammond to discuss a range of bilateral and g... More »
LONDON The U.S. dollar fell on Monday, as appetite for risk waned amid downbeat Chinese factory surveys, which also lent support to the low-yielding euro and the safe-haven yen. Demand for both currencies has risen in recent times when worry about a sharp Chin... More »
SYDNEY Activity in China’s colossal factory sector shrank in October as global demand stuttered, reinforcing the case for more stimulus and questioning whether the Federal Reserve can be confident enough to raise U.S. interest rates this year. A crop of indust... More »
LONDON Turkish Airlines Open champion Victor Dubuisson is less than pleased that he will be left twiddling his thumbs when the European Tour’s money-spinning Final Series continues in China on Thursday. The Frenchman sobbed like a child on Sunday after winning... More »
SINGAPORE Oil prices dropped in Asian trading hours on Monday as analysts expected weaker demand from China in upcoming months, but firming Japanese economic data offered some support. Benchmark U.S. crude futures CLc1 had fallen 15 cents from their last settl... More »
TOKYO Asian stocks slid to their lowest level in nearly three weeks on Monday, as profit taking set in after soft Chinese factory surveys and U.S. consumer spending data raised concerns over the global economic outlook. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific sh... More »
BEIJING China’s factory activity fell for an eighth straight month in October but at a slower pace as export orders flickered into life, a private survey showed on Monday, pointing to continued sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy. The Caixin/Mar... More »
BEIJING Growth in Chinese new home prices quickened in October from a year ago, two private surveys showed, adding to signs of stabilization in the housing market after a raft of government support measures. Prices of new homes in 288 cities rose an average 1.... More »
Wireless carrier Sprint Corp S.N. said on Sunday it aims to slash fiscal 2016 expenses by as much as $2.5 billion, through layoffs and a wide array of cost controls, as an essential part of its ongoing turnaround efforts. “We are leaving no stone unturned and ... More »
TOKYO Nov 2 Japanese manufacturing activity in October expanded at the fastest pace in a year as new domestic and export orders increased, a private business survey showed on Monday. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) r... More »
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Illustrating the limits of star power, “Our Brand is Crisis” and “Burnt” were both roundly rejected by audiences despite the presence of Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. “Our Brand is Crisis,” a political satire about a spin-docto... More »
NEW YORK Oil gained on Friday while stocks on Wall Street closed lower even as major U.S. and European stock indices posted their best month in at least four years, boosted in part by accommodative monetary policies in the euro zone and Japan. Oil prices rose ... More »
NEW YORK America’s most popular Halloween costume this year could be Batman adversary Harley Quinn from the DC Comics series, according to Google. Quinn’s stock is rising thanks in part to keen anticipation of the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” which will star Aus... More »
ISTANBUL Disparate ideas like a sea-borne zoo, an Aboriginal peace treaty and the lost birdsong of a ruined Armenian capital form a cohesive body of work at this year’s Istanbul Biennial, a top international art show taking place in turbulent times. “Saltwater... More »
