East Asia

The European Commission announced that it had opened an investigation on possible market distortions by China's state owned CRRC, in a bid to build railways in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. According to a preliminary investigation, the Commission found that the Portuguese subsidiary of the Chinese rolling-stock manufacturer may have received foreign subsidies for its participation in a bid in April to build Lisbon's "violet line", a surface section linked to the city underground. According to Metropolitano de Lisboa (the issuer), the tender attracted four bids ranging between 599 million Euros ($698.55 millions) and 716 million Euros. The winner has...

The German road traffic agency KBA reported on Wednesday that Tesla's German sales volume had more than halved from the same period last year. However, sales of battery-electric vehicles were up overall. KBA reported that Tesla sold 750 vehicles in Germany in October. This is a 53.5% decrease from the previous year. Teslas were sold at a 50.4% lower rate in January-October, to 15,595 cars, than the same period a year ago. KBA said that the number of electric vehicles registered in October increased by 47.7% to 52.425 units. Tesla's sales in October fell in several European countries, including Spain...

These are some of the most important stories in selected Canadian newspapers. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these stories. THE GLOBE AND MAIL India and China have imposed steep tariffs of 30% and 100% on Canadian yellow peas. This has crippled exports to Canada’s two biggest markets, and prompted farmers to call for Ottawa to resolve the trade disputes. The first federal budget of Prime Minister Mark Carney encourages private sector investment with targeted incentives and infrastructure expenditures. However, it falls short on sweeping regulatory or tax reforms. Business leaders are...

According to two industry sources, and LSEG ship tracking, Russia's Black Sea Port of Tuapse suspended fuel exports while the local refinery halted crude processing following the November 2 Ukrainian drone attack on its infrastructure. Ukraine announced on Sunday that its drones had struck Tuapse - one of Russia's major Black Sea oil port - causing an explosion and damage to at least one vessel. This was part of Kyiv’s effort to undermine Russia’s war economy through targeting its energy infrastructure. The regional administration confirmed that the strike caused an fire in the port. Since several months, Ukraine has been...

Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration stated on Wednesday that China had not provided any information regarding a new airport that will open in the next year, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from a Taiwanese Airport. This raises flight safety concerns. Xiamen's Xiang'an Airport is located only 3 km away from Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, the site of the Cold War's on-off battles. Construction work can also be heard and seen from Taiwan. Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration sent a statement to saying that close airports need to be planned and coordinated in advance to ensure safety and smooth operation. It said...

On Saturday, the White House released details of an agreement between U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping that was reached this week to de-escalate both countries' trade conflict. This included U.S. Tariff reductions and a pause on Beijing's restrictions on rare earth mineral and magnets. The agreement, which includes the resumption by China of its purchases of American soybeans and averts Trump’s threatened 100% tariff against Chinese goods, extends for approximately a year a fragile trade truce between two of the largest economies in the world. Here are some key elements of the Trump - Xi agreement...

U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping took steps on Thursday to de-escalate the trade war. They swapped some U.S. duties and tighter export controls in exchange for a pause on Beijing's new restrictions regarding rare earth minerals and magnetic materials and a resumption on its purchases of American soya beans. The agreement extends the delicate trade truce for around a year between China and the United States. Here are the main elements of the Trump-Xi Agreement that was reached at Busan, South Korea. TARIFF REDUCTION ON FENTANYL-RELATED CHINESE GOODS The U.S. is reducing by half the current...

Matteo Salvini, Italy's Minister of Infrastructure, urged the Italian government to ignore the court's decision on Thursday to block construction of a new bridge connecting Sicily with the mainland. He said the local economy was dependent on the project. Giorgia Melons, the Prime Minister of Italy, called a meeting with key advisors to discuss Thursday the refusal by the court to sanction the project. The state is expected to spend 15.7 billion dollars on the project. The court didn't immediately explain its reasoning, but at a Wednesday hearing, legal counsel questioned if the original 2005 tender was still valid, and...

The major Gulf stock markets rose in the early hours of Thursday's trading after the U.S. cut its rate, local earnings were strong and there was a detente on trade between U.S. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, announced that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had reached an agreement on rare earths. Gulf countries are major trading partners with both nations. The global markets have fallen, after traders had seen their previous promising starts be followed by setbacks. The Federal Reserve cut rates on Wednesday in line with expectations. It did, however, indicate that this might be the final cut...

The Italian Court of Auditors refused on Wednesday to approve a government plan for a bridge linking Sicily with the mainland. This casts serious doubt on whether the $15.7 billion project, which is estimated to cost 13.5 billion euros, will be viable. Salvini, the Deputy Italian Premier, denounced this ruling as "a serious blow" for the country. He called it a decision made on a more political basis than a technical one. However, he vowed to use all means possible to bring the decades-old project to fruition. After an earlier hearing, the court issued a short statement announcing its decision....

The Italian Court of Auditors discussed on Wednesday a landmark project of the government for a new bridge that would connect the island of Sicily with the mainland after raising doubts about the decision to revive a decades-old plan. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Mello has allocated 13.5 billion euro ($15.7 billion), a project Italy dropped in 2012 because it was too expensive. Matteo Salvini - the Infrastructure Minister and leader of far-right League – put a lot of pressure on the government to approve the construction of the link between Messina, a city in Sicily, and the...

May Mobility announced on Thursday that it had secured a substantial equity investment from Singapore's ride-hailing company Grab as part of its plans to expand into Southeast Asia in the coming year. Grab will integrate the startup's autonomous driving technology into its fleet management, vehicle matching and routing systems. This deal represents a major step towards the global deployment of robotaxis, and creates a blueprint on how self-driving cabs will be managed by existing ride-hailing platforms. May Mobility has declined to reveal any further information about Grab's stake in the startup. May Mobility has now partnered with Uber for its...

Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, announced on Thursday that its management board approved an investment program for 2026 in the amount of 1.1 trillion Russian roubles (approximately $13.53 billion), which is almost a third less than a revised figure of 1.615 trillion Russian roubles set for 2025. Gazprom did not include the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline from China to the list of priority projects for next year. The company announced last month that it had signed an agreement for the construction of a pipeline which would allow the delivery of 50 billion cubic meters of additional gas to China...

Industry officials claim that Australia's boom in renewable energy is wasting clean energy due to transmission bottlenecks, and the slow deployment of batteries. This signals challenges throughout Asia as the energy transition accelerates. OpenElectricity data showed that wind and solar curtailments have more than tripled over the past nine months to 3.9 Terawatt-hours, or 6.8% of renewable production. The amount of solar or wind power that was able to be produced, but was rejected preemptively because the grid reached its limit. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) warned in July that some solar farms in Southeast Australia could be curtailed...

According to LSEG and market sources, the new sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU against Russia and its oil giants Rosneft Lukoil and Lukoil are yet to affect physical crude shipments out of Russia's western ports. LSEG data and sources indicate that despite weather-related restrictions and sanctions pressure, October exports of Primorsk and Novorossiisk ports in western Russia are expected to be around 2.33 million barrels a day (bpd), which is in line with Russia’s revised monthly program. Sources say that new U.S. restrictions are putting pressure on Russia's oil exports to the west. Urals oil is being purchased...

In an interview with The Toronto Star on Tuesday, Tim Hodgson, Minister of Natural Resources for Canada, said that the country will be focusing on securing critical minerals supplies when it hosts Group of Seven partners at a meeting of Energy and Environment ministers this week in Toronto. Except for Japan, all G7 countries are heavily or solely reliant upon China to supply a wide range of materials, from rare earth magnets and battery metals. Hodgson stated, "This week we will see many examples where we move beyond talking to firm commitments (to fund various types of tools to secure...

Multiple sources confirmed on Thursday that Chinese state oil giants had suspended their purchases of Russian oil shipped by sea after the United States imposed new sanctions against Rosneft, one of Moscow's largest oil companies, and Lukoil. Refiners in India, which is the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil by sea, will be reducing their imports of the oil from Moscow to comply with U.S. sanction imposed on the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine. The sharp decline in demand for oil from Russia's largest two customers will strain Moscow's oil revenue and force top importers around the world to...

Laos may stop supplying electricity to cryptocurrency miners in the first quarter 2026 as the country aims to redirect power domestically to industries that are more conducive to economic growth. After a policy change in 2021 that led to a rapid increase in mining, crypto operators were attracted by the cheap, non-fossil fuel. Chanthaboun Sukaloun, the deputy minister of energy, said that the government is now looking to give priority to sectors like AI data centres and metals refineries, as well as electric vehicles. Soukaloun stated that Laos had already started to reduce the supply of electricity for crypto miners....

Trump's administration proposed on Thursday to ban Chinese airlines from flying above Russia during flights into and out of the United States. They said the practice places American carriers at an unfair disadvantage. U.S. Airlines have criticized for years the decision of allowing Chinese carriers to fly above Russia on certain flights, because they gain the benefit of reduced flying time and less fuel. In its proposal order, the U.S. Transportation Department stated on Thursday that "this imbalance has now become a significant factor in competitiveness." USDOT announced that it would ban Chinese overflights to "level this competitive disparity between...

Data from market sources and LSEG revealed that Taiwan and India were the two main destinations of Russian seaborne naphtha in August as cheaper barrels attracted buyers. The main destination for Russian naphtha has been the Middle East and Asia since the European Union imposed a full embargo against Russian oil products in February 2023. Naphtha, a feedstock used in the petrochemical sector, is used to produce olefins (and aromatics), which are then processed into a variety of products such as plastics, resins, fibers, and other chemicals. According to LSEG, the export of naphtha from Russian ports to Taiwan has...

These are the most popular stories from the New York Times' business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. Tesla unveiled on Tuesday new versions of two of its most popular models: Model Y, and Model 3. These will be sold for $40,000 each and $37,000 separately. A Los Angeles jury on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $966 Million to the family a California woman, who died of a rare cancer. The company had been found liable after a lawsuit claiming that its baby powder products caused cancer....

A report from the think tank Ember revealed that renewable energy sources produced more electricity globally than coal for the first time during the first half 2025. This was due to rapid growth in China, India and other developing countries, the report showed. Most scientists believe that reducing coal power generation, since it emits twice as much carbon dioxide as the gas-based generation, will help to meet global climate goals. Ember reported that renewables such as solar and wind power provided 5,072 Terawatt Hours (TWh), or electricity, globally between January to June. This was more than coal's 4,896 terawatt hour...

Industry sources said that despite recent progress made by Russia in negotiations with Beijing regarding a new gas pipeline, it will take at least 10 years for natural gas exports from China to increase significantly as a result. Alexei Miller said that a legally binding memorandum had been signed by the CEO of Russian Gas Corporation Gazprom on the Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in the last month. This development highlights Moscow's efforts in reorienting its vast reserves of gas towards Asia, after its energy trade with Europe – once its biggest market...

Authorities in the region said that overnight, drones from Ukraine targeted Rosneft's Tuapse refinery, located in southern Russia's Krasnodar Region. The drones caused a fire to break out at a building used by security personnel, but it was quickly put out. Ukraine has intensified its drone attacks on Russia's oil pipelines and refineries in the last two months, claiming that it is in response to Russia's attacks against its own energy infrastructure. The Russian military announced on Monday that their air defence units have been upgraded. Overnight, 251 Ukrainian drones flew over the Black Sea, 61 of which were over...