Headlines

Canada will pause its electric-vehicle sales mandate that was set to take effect next year to ease the financial squeeze the domestic auto sector faces from hefty Trump administration tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Prime Minister Mark Carney added Friday that officials would review the EV sales policy, implemented by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, alongside a broader review of how the Canadian economy can remain competitive while reducing greenhouse gases.

Chinese lawmakers have begun reviewing a draft revision to the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, as part of efforts to improve the market exit system, Xinhau reported. The draft revision to the law was submitted on Monday to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, for its first reading. The draft introduces a relatively comprehensive revision to the current law, with more than 160 provisions newly added or revised.

A Quebec Superior Court judge has declared the North American branch of battery manufacturer Northvolt insolvent as the provincial government seeks to recover $260 million owed to it, CBC.ca reported. Justice Janet Michelin on Friday placed Northvolt Batteries North America under creditor protection following a request earlier in the week from the province.

Italy was once Europe’s emblem for political instability, with a mounting debt and deficit and few options to fix the mess. Now, it’s France’s turn, and the situation is about to get worse, the New York Times reported. On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is expected to fall for the second time in just nine months after a confidence vote in Parliament. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, called a vote to shore up support for his plan to mend the country’s finances with 44 billion euros (a little over $51 billion) in spending cuts.

This past week, U.K. long-term borrowing costs hit their highest level in decades, causing Treasury chief Rachel Reeves to shoot down suggestions that the heavily indebted country is heading for a fiscal crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most economists agree with her—for now. But in a world where industrialized nations have taken on record amounts of debt and are paying ever more to finance the borrowing, the U.K. could become the financial markets’ equivalent of the proverbial canary in the coal mine—a leading indicator of trouble for other debtors like the U.S.

Foreign investors were already on the run from India’s stock markets even before President Trump declared economic war on India. But the two main stock indexes in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, are up 10 percent over the past six months. And they have barely budged since Mr. Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on India took full effect in late August. The reason: Indian investors keep pouring money into stocks as fast as foreigners are taking money out, providing a measure of relief for the country’s businesses and economy, the New York Times reported.

The Japanese economy grew at a faster pace than initially estimated in the second quarter, revised data showed, confirming a fifth straight quarter of growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. Real gross domestic product expanded 2.2% on an annualized basis in the April-June period, according to official figures released Monday. That compared with preliminary estimates of 1.0%. On a quarterly basis, the economy grew 0.5%.

German industrial production rebounded in July despite a further plunge in exports to the U.S., indicating the sector’s resilience in the face of tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial output in Europe’s largest economy jumped 1.3% on month, the first rise since March, while June’s data was also revised upward to a decline of just 0.1% from the 1.9% slump originally reported, according to Germany’s statistics agency Destatis on Monday.

China’s exports grew at a slower-than-expected pace last month as the boost from a trade truce with the U.S. waned, the Wall Street Journal reported. Outbound shipments rose 4.4% from a year earlier in August, down from a 7.2% increase in July, the General Administration of Customs said Monday. Chinese imports climbed 1.3% during the month, according to the customs bureau. That compared with July’s 4.1% increase and the 1.8% rise expected by the economists surveyed.

Police are describing the daylight shooting of South African insolvency lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk as a "deliberate hit," IOL.co.za reported. Van Niekerk was killed in the boardroom of his Saxonwold, Johannesburg office on Friday. The 43-year-old was at the time of his death reportedly working on high-profile cases, including a major insolvency case linked to an alleged Ponzi scheme. According to police spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, nothing was stolen.