A long overdue antitrust push is gaining steam. But it’s focusing on large technology companies like Facebook Inc and Google-parent Alphabet Inc, which present complex problems that classic antitrust approaches won’t always solve. The cases are based on very standard stuff. The US Justice Department is accusing Google of illegally preserving its dominant market share in search and search advertising ...

This week offered another illustration of a dual policy dynamic in the US that has been undermining both short- and longer-term economic prospects for the past few months: too limited a response for necessary fiscal measures and pro-growth structural reforms and too much reliance on monetary policy tools that are close to, if not already past, the point of limited ...

Bloomberg The US Commerce Department announced it’s blacklisting Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co and more than 60 other Chinese companies “to protect US national security.” “This action stems from China’s military-civil fusion doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” the Commerce Department said. Commerce ...

Bloomberg In balmy Singapore, a tiny island nation that sits almost directly on the equator, it’s usually flowers, meat and seafood that gets whipped away into SATS Ltd’s cool rooms upon landing at Changi Airport. Now one of the world’s biggest ground handlers is gearing up for a more vital task. Like cargo operators everywhere, SATS is preparing for the ...

Bloomberg The economic blow from coronavirus has wiped out 81 million jobs across Asia-Pacific this year, with women and young people disproportionately affected, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). “Covid-19 has inflicted a hammer-blow on the region’s labour markets,” Chihoko Asada Miyakawa, the group’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement. “Low levels of social ...

Bloomberg Brexit trade talks headed into a decisive weekend with neither side confident of a deal after a frantic 24 hours exposed just how far apart the UK and European Union (EU) still are on an issue that’s hampered the talks since March. With officials from both sides expecting a conclusion one way or the other within the next two ...

Bloomberg The death toll from a suicide bombing aimed at Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble has increased to 14. Among those killed in the explosion were members of the prime minister’s security team and top army officials, including the commander of the 21st Division of the Somali National Army, according to Somali police officer Nour Hersi. Ten people died on ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration told lawmakers that it plans to close its two remaining consulates in Russia, CNN reported, citing a State Department notification dated December 10. The US State Department intends to shut the Vladivostok consulate and suspend operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg, according to a copy of the notification to Congress that was obtained by CNN. That ...

Bloomberg More than 300 students kidnapped in northwest Nigeria last week have been freed after being held captive for six days, according to officials. In all, 344 students have been released, Abdu Labaran, a spokesman for Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state, where the mass kidnapping occurred, said by phone. Nigerian authorities didn’t pay a ransom to secure the release ...

Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended his government’s new laws that seek to deregulate food procurement, as tens of thousands of farmers continue to protest on the outskirts of capital New Delhi. Modi listed government measures taken to improve procurement and called on state administrations implementing the laws to explain them to farmers. He blamed opposition parties for fuelling ...