World briefs

CHINA-US For the third year in a row, U.S. soybean production is expected to set a record, the best such string since 1979. Yet, with output dropping elsewhere, a flurry of demand from China and other importers is eating away at stockpiles. The result: For the first time in three years, domestic inventories are poised to drop below the previous season.

SOUTH KOREA Documents from courts and the labor ministry show electronics giant Samsung has repeatedly and as recently as in 2015 blocked access to key information affecting workers’ health and safety by playing the trade secrets card. Claiming concern over confidentiality, the company has evaded scrutiny from South Korea’s labor ministry, the main government department in charge of workers’ health and workplace safety issues.

AUSTRALIA’s first attempt to conduct a census online resumed yesterday two days after it shut down due to what an angry prime minister described as system failures that left it vulnerable to cyberattack. Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) blamed failures of the Australian Bureau of Statics and systems provider IBM.

AUSTRALIArejected bids for electricity network Ausgrid from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing and State Grid Corp. of China, amid growing opposition to selling infrastructure assets to overseas investors on national security grounds.

EUROPE on fire Wind-whipped wildfires scorched through two southern towns, burning homes and at least one school and leaving hundreds of people evacuated. Firefighters in Portugal are also battling multiple blazes fed by brush in a hot, dry summer for a sixth straight day. A total of 186 wildfires were counted on Portugal’s mainland alone and yesterday, 12 were burning out of control. Meanwhile, Spanish authorities said five major fires were raging in the northwestern region of Galicia, with 10 others under control.

UK Police say they are investigating a reported near-collision between a drone and a passenger plane near England’s Newquay Airport. Devon and Cornwall Police says the plane, carrying 62 people, was arriving at the airport in southwest England earlier this week when it reported a drone flying dangerously close. The plane was about 900 feet high and 2 miles from the airport “when it reported a near-miss with a drone which flew alongside the aircraft.” Police had not tracked down the drone or its “reckless” operator.

MARKETS Asian stocks were mostly down yesterday after a sell-off in energy companies due to lower oil prices pulled down U.S. stocks overnight, and with regional volumes affected by the closure of Japan’s stock exchange for a holiday.