Apple to invest $900mn in Danish data plant

STOCKHOLM -- Apple on Monday said it would invest six billion Danish kroner ($920 million, 810 million euros) in a data centre in Denmark, its second in the country to run entirely on clean energy.Ground-breaking at the plant in Aabenraa, which will employ between 50 and 100 people, will start in the final quarter of 2017, with construction due to be completed in early 2019.The facility will help to handle data from iMessages, answers from the voice-activated assistant Siri and song downloads fr

July 10, 2017

Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's health deteriorates

BEIJING (AFP) -- Fears about the health of China's cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo rose on Thursday as the hospital treating him said the liver function of the country's most prominent democracy advocate had deteriorated.Friends voiced concerns that Liu, 61, is now near death after it emerged last month that he had been transferred from prison to a hospital due to terminal liver cancer.Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009 for "subversion" after calling for democrati

July 6, 2017

Japan, EU seal landmark trade deal in challenge to Trump

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and top EU officials agreed Thursday to the broad outline of a landmark trade deal, presented as a direct challenge to the protectionism championed by US President Donald Trump.The breakthrough capped four years of talks and came on the eve of a G20 meeting in Germany at which Trump is expected to defend his "America First" stance on world trade."Today we agreed in principle on an Economic Partnership Agreement (with Japan), the impact of whic

July 6, 2017

Airbus announces China order of 140 planes for $22.8 bn

BERLIN (AFP) - Airbus said Wednesday it had won a major order from China of 140 planes for $22.8 billion, during a visit by President Xi Jinping to Berlin.The European aircraft maker said it had sealed the agreement with China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS), which chief executive Tom Enders called "one of the biggest contracts signed in a long time by Airbus".The deal covers 100 A320 single-aisle jets and 40 A350 wide-body aircraft."This underscores the strong demand by Chinese airlines

July 5, 2017

China insurance mogul said unable to work, reported detained

BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese insurer that owns New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel said Wednesday its chairman has turned over his duties to other executives following a report he was detained by regulators amid accusations of possible financial misconduct.Anbang Insurance Group Ltd. Chairman Wu Xiaohui was "temporarily unable to perform his duties due to personal reasons,'' said a one-sentence statement on the company website. It said Wu had authorized other executives to do his work and gave

June 14, 2017

ECB hints at end to easy money policy

The European Central Bank on Thursday signalled greater confidence in the eurozone economy, as it took what analysts describe as a tentative step towards an exit from its easy-money policy.Policymakers meeting in Estonian capital Tallinn decided to keep the bank's main refinancing rate at 0.0 percent, the marginal lending rate at 0.25 percent, and the deposit rate at -0.4 percent -- meaning lenders have to pay to park cash with the central bank -- a spokesman said.But they also dropped a long-st

June 8, 2017

China says considering tighter controls on yuan currency

SHANGHAI (AFP) - China said Friday it is considering a change to its mechanism for managing its currency to buffer it against market forces, in an apparent step back from liberalisation pledges.The potential new system would introduce a "counter-cyclical factor" to China's current system of allowing the yuan to trade within a government-set band, according to a statement on the website of the Foreign Exchange Trade System, an agency under the People's Bank of China.The statement did not explain

May 26, 2017

US growth in Q1 revised up to 1.2 pct. but still weak

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy started 2017 out with a whimper, but it wasn't quite as weak as first thought. The government revised up its January-March growth reading to a rate of 1.2 percent --  better than an earlier estimate of 0.7 percent but well below President Donald Trump's ambitious growth targets.The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, is down from 2.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter and marks the weakest result in a

May 26, 2017

With Macron win confirmed, European market rally hits pause

LONDON (AP) -- When Emmanuel Macron topped the first round of voting in the French presidential election two weeks ago, French stocks soared to near-decade highs. On Monday, the reaction to his victory in the runoff was decidedly subdued: investors had been fully expecting it and seem wary of the difficulties he'll face governing a divided country.In midday trading, the CAC 40 index of leading French shares was down 1 percent at 5,379. Other indexes across Europe were also trading lower, while t

May 8, 2017

Fitch cuts S. Africa's credit rating to 'junk'

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) -- Ratings agency Fitch said Friday it had cut South Africa's credit rating to junk status, citing the recent political instability prompted by a controversial cabinet reshuffle.The agency downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating from 'BBB-' to 'BB+' but kept the outlook stable.It said the downgrade reflected the view that "recent political events, including a major cabinet reshuffle, will weaken standards of governance and public finances."Already earlier this week, ano

April 7, 2017

China to create new economic zone outside Beijing

BEIJING -- China will create a new special economic zone outside Beijing similar to those established in Shenzhen and Shanghai, the government said, in a bid to boost flagging growth and reduce the strain on the capital.The Xiongan New Area, located some 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of downtown Beijing in Hebei province, will rival south China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, established in the 1980s, and Shanghai's Pudong New Area, set up in the 1990s. The move was a "major historic and

April 2, 2017

Stock markets, pound subdued as UK triggers Brexit request

World stock markets were subdued Wednesday as Britain triggered the start of its exit from the European Union, a formal step that kicks off two years of negotiations that will have wide-ranging consequences for business in the region.Britain's FTSE 100 was faring worst in Europe, dropping 0.4 percent to 7,317. Germany's DAX climbed 0.4 percent to 12,200 and France's CAC 40 added 0.1 percent to 5,050. U.S. stocks were poised to open higher. Dow and S&P 500 futures were flat.British Prime Minister

March 29, 2017

ECB says 'optimistic' for global deal on bank rules

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Regulators at the European Central Bank said Monday they are "optimistic" that talks on harmonising rules for banks around the world will soon end in a deal.The so-called "Basel III" round of banking talks has stalled in recent months as negotiators battle over questions like how big banks' capital reserves should be and how they should judge risk.Observers feared that Donald Trump's incoming adminstration -- seen as favouring looser regulation of banks and distrustful of multi

March 27, 2017