Bloomberg President Donald Trump anticipates a hero’s welcome in India on Monday, but the glitzy events filling his two-day visit with PM Narendra Modi will paper over growing trade frictions. The visit is intended to strengthen the personal relationship between Trump and Modi, a fellow nationalist whose country is regarded by the US as an important regional counterweight against China. ...

Bloomberg Germany has been mired in political turmoil, and a regional vote on Sunday to give an early indication of the fallout. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s succession plan collapsed on February 10 when her chosen heir, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, unexpectedly announced she would resign as head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Voters in the city-state of Hamburg were going to the ...

Bloomberg The British government plans to reject a European Union decision to lift sanctions on the wife of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, suggesting its approach to financially targeting foreign individuals will diverge from the bloc’s, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The UK suspended an order freezing the assets of Grace Mugabe after the EU’s decision last week, because it’s ...

Bloomberg Anwar Ibrahim, the political leader touted as Malaysia’s next premier, said there are attempts to topple the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which are being orchestrated by members of his own party along with PM Mahathir Mohamad’s political group. Anwar, who is president of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), said some in his group and Mahathir’s Bersatu party met with ...

Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised the country’s infectious-disease alert level to the highest and signalled the potential for unprecedented steps to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six and infected hundreds. The government ordered that schools delay resuming lessons after a holiday break as more than 600 people were confirmed to have been infected, a 20-fold surge ...

Bloomberg Australia’s government will work to set new long-term plans on reducing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a key global summit this year, though signalled it won’t pursue policies that pose risks to jobs or growth. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has faced pressure over his climate and energy strategy in the wake of Australia’s deadly wildfires, has criticised opponents ...

Bloomberg As global streaming giants Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co spend millions of dollars to grab viewers in India, a country that could become their biggest overseas market, a homegrown rival is preparing to defend its turf. Zee5, top domestic streaming platform set up by India’s biggest television broadcaster, is betting on local content to fend off big-spending rivals, ...

Bloomberg For a global financial hub, Hong Kong has been a notable laggard in pushing its investment industry to adopt environmental, social and governance criteria. Now, a key operator in the city’s $125 billion pension system is helping change that. BCT Group will screen new fund managers based on socially responsible criteria for the money it allocates in its Mandatory ...

Bloomberg Japan’s government stuck to its view the economy is recovering despite the sharpest contraction in more than five years last quarter and forecasts from private sector analysts that the coronavirus epidemic will trigger a recession. In it’s monthly report for February, the Cabinet Office maintained its stance the economy is “recovering at a moderate pace” amid continued weakness in ...

Bloomberg Disease outbreaks like the coronavirus often unfold too quickly for scientists to find a cure. But in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) could help researchers do a better job. While it’s probably too late for the fledgling technology to play a major role in the current epidemic, there’s hope for the next outbreaks. AI is good at combing through ...