BEIJING (Reuters) -China's crude oil imports rose on the previous year in April, as refiners prepared for a fully recovered Labour Day holiday travel season, official data showed on Thursday. Crude imports in April totalled 44.72 million metric tons, or about 10.88 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed. That represented a 5.45% increase...

May 9 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Times - John Wood Group has rejected a 1.4 billion pounds ($1.75 billion) takeover bid from a smaller rival, Sidara, saying it fundamentally undervalued the engineering consultancy. - Oxford...

May 9 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire and damaged several storage tanks at a fuel depot in Russia's Krasnodar region, the region's crisis administration said on Thursday. About six drones were destroyed and debris fell on the refinery near the village of Yurovka, the administration said on the Telegram messaging app. Several tanks were damaged, the...

TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan board members turned overwhelmingly hawkish at their April policy meeting with many calling for steady interest rates hikes to forestall risks of an inflation overshoot, a summary of opinions at the meeting showed on Thursday. Some members saw the chance rates could rise faster than currently anticipated due to heightening prospects of inflation durably staying,...