Headlines

Northvolt buyer Lyten said yesterday that it had appointed the last chief operating officer of the bankrupt Swedish battery maker as the new CEO of Lyten Sweden, and also recruited several other former executives of the failed company, Reuters reported. Silicon Valley-based startup Lyten, which develops lithium-sulfur batteries, unexpectedly announced last month that it was buying Northvolt's assets, offering a lifeline to future European battery production for electric vehicles.

Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to swiftly hear a bid to preserve his sweeping tariffs pursued under a 1977 law meant for emergencies after a lower court invalidated most of the levies that have been central to the Republican president's economic and trade agenda, Reuters reported. The Justice Department appealed an August 29 ruling by a federal appeals court that the president overstepped his authority in invoking the law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, undercutting a major Trump priority in his second term.

Japan and the United States are in the final stages of talks to implement lower tariffs on Japanese automobile imports within 10-14 days after the issuance of a U.S. presidential executive order, a Japanese government source told Reuters on Thursday. That means that a reduced U.S. tariff rate on Japanese cars, from the current 27.5% to 15%, is set to take effect by the end of this month, said the source, who declined to be identified as the matter is confidential.

India is seeking to boost drug exports to semi-regulated markets in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia to reduce its dependence on the U.S., where tariff concerns pose risks, officials from a government-backed trade body told Reuters on Thursday. The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) also plans to push for sales of finished goods to China to bridge the trade deficit, the officials said. The Indian industry imports more than 60% of its raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients from China.

Malaysia’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected, with tariff-related uncertainties looming, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bank Negara Malaysia on Thursday kept the overnight policy rate at 2.75% after July’s first cut in five years. The central bank “considers the monetary policy stance to be appropriate and supportive of the economy amid price stability,” it said in a statement. Malaysia’s economy grew 4.4% in the first half of 2025 and remains on track to meet the central bank’s full-year growth target of between 4% and 4.8%, it said.

Swiss annual inflation held at a low level in August, keeping the country’s central bank on guard as it considers cutting its key interest rate to below zero later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 0.2% higher than the same month of last year, matching July’s rate, Switzerland’s statistics office said Thursday. That remains within the Swiss National Bank’s target of positive inflation lower than 2%. The SNB meets later in September, with most investors currently expecting it to hold its key rate at 0%.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that her government is considering imposing tariffs on imports from countries that do not have trade agreements with Mexico, including China, Reuters reported. The tariffs would be part of "Plan Mexico", an initiative to boost domestic industry amid tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on some imports from Mexico.

The head of Russia's largest bank has said the country's economy has reached a stage of "technical stagnation," EuroNews reported. Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok, German Gref, who runs Sberbank, said that Russia would have to slash interest rates to avoid a recession. GDP data from July and August showed "quite clear symptoms that we are approaching zero," after figures from the second quarter of the year revealed signs of economic stagnation, Gref noted.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother is scrambling to stave off bankruptcy over debts owed to a collapsed “Ponzi scheme,” The Telegraph reported. Kevin Maxwell has launched a last-ditch legal claim to prevent administrators of Fortress Capital Partners chasing him for almost £600,000. The British businessman applied to the High Court last week to dismiss an ultimatum from the insolvency experts overseeing the collapsed fund. He is threatened with bankruptcy if he fails to repay the money.

North Korean hackers are saturating the cryptocurrency industry with credible-sounding job offers as part of their campaign to steal digital cash, according to new research, raw data, and interviews, Reuters reported. The problem is becoming so common that job applicants now regularly screen recruiters for signs they might be acting on Pyongyang's behalf. Twenty-five experts, victims, and corporate representatives that Reuters spoke to agreed that the problem was ubiquitous.