Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - Property investment in China in the first four months of 2024 fell 9.8% from a year earlier, after dropping 9.5% in the first quarter, indicating the sector is yet to bottom out despite a flurry of policy support.

Property sales by floor area in January-April logged a 20.2% slide from a year earlier, compared with a 19.4% fall in January-March, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Thursday.

New... (continue reading...)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's new home prices fell at the fastest monthly pace in over nine years in April, as intensified efforts by authorities to prop up the ailing property sector show few signs of paying off.

Prices were down 0.6% month-on-month in April, deeper than a 0.3% fall in March, the fastest pace since November 2014, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on Thursday. Prices have... (continue reading...)

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Lokeswara Reddy, an Indian farmer with two decades of experience, has seen his crops flourish after lean years, thanks to earth-observation satellites.

Shifting climate patterns, high input costs, a scarcity of labour and erratic weather began to disrupt his earnings about 10 years ago, said Reddy, 52, currently a contract farmer with global giant Syngenta.

Satellite data,... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone strike killed a mother and her 4-year-old son who were travelling in a car in Russia's southern Belgorod region, the regional governor said early on Friday.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said one of several drones fired at the region hit a car in the village of Oktyabrsky, killing a woman at the site of the attack.

Her young son died of his injuries after being taken to a... (continue reading...)

By Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Hess shareholders should vote in favor of Chevron Corp's $53 billion offer at the company's May 28 special meeting, proxy adviser Glass Lewis said on Thursday.

The proposed deal terms provides a reasonable valuation and offers the potential for upside to Hess shareholders. The strategic and financial merits of the proposed merger "are sound and reasonable, on balance," Glass Lewis said in its... (continue reading...)