Bloomberg Theresa May left the European summit with warm words on Brexit from her fellow leaders, and the cold fact of a 60 billion euro ($70 billion) divorce bill they still want her to pay. The prime minister gave her clearest signal yet that she’ll cover the cost of the UK’s liabilities when it leaves the bloc, after leaders promised ...
Read More »Admin
Militant clashes in Egypt leave scores of policemen dead
Bloomberg At least 16 Egyptian policemen were killed in clashes with militants as the government struggles to main- tain security while it undertakes economic measures aimed at creating jobs and boosting growth. Another 13 police personnel were injured when a force raiding a militant hideout in the desert southwest of Giza was attacked with heavy weaponry, the Ministry of Interior ...
Read More »Abe poised to get fresh mandate
Bloomberg More than 100 million voters head to the polls on Sunday in an election that may clear the way for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to become Japan’s longest-serving leader. Polls project that Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito will maintain control of parliament while two opposition groups vie for second place. It’s unclear if Abe’s coalition ...
Read More »Iranian commander warns Iraqi kurds to withdraw from Kirkuk
SULAIMANIA / BAGHDAD / Reuters A senior Iranian military commander repeatedly warned Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq to withdraw from the oil city of Kirkuk or face an onslaught by Iraqi forces and allied Iranian-backed fighters, Kurdish officials briefed on the meetings said. Major-General Qassem Soleimani, commander of foreign operations for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, travelled to Iraq’s Kurdistan region ...
Read More »Catalan rebels: Spain will rue hostile power grab
Bloomberg Catalan separatists say Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into as he moves to quash their campaign for independence. As the government in Madrid prepares to deploy its most powerful legal weapons, three leading members of the movement in Barcelona said Rajoy isn’t equipped to achieve his goals and risks a damaging entanglement in ...
Read More »Austrian president warns on civil rights after nationalists gain
Bloomberg Austria’s president called on Sebastian Kurz, the 31-year-old likely to be the country’s next leader, to form a government committed to the European Union and human rights as he considers the nationalist Freedom Party as a potential partner. As President Alexander Van der Bellen mandated Kurz and his People’s Party to begin coalition talks, his comments hinted at the ...
Read More »N Korea’s cyber army
It turns out that North Korea isn’t just a nuclear threat. It’s also a cyberthreat, and in some ways, this may be more frightening. Launched largely anonymously, cyberattacks can cripple essential infrastructure — power grids, financial networks, transportation systems — and inflict social disorder and political anarchy. Immediate retaliation is difficult. All this now seems plausible. Until recently, cybersecurity experts ...
Read More »Why India’s stellar exports may not be a tax dodge
The big lesson for emerging markets from the taper crisis of 2013 was this: Don’t go into a US tightening cycle without your exporters bringing home truckloads of dollars. That’s why the most recent trade figures from India are both important and encouraging. Clubbed together with Indonesia, Turkey, Russia and South Africa on Morgan Stanley’s “Fragile Five†list four summers ...
Read More »Europe takes a backward step on banking union
As part of its plan to complete the euro zone’s so-called banking union, the European Commission has presented a new proposal for collectively insuring bank deposits. Such a scheme is badly needed — but the new idea falls short. By leaving too much risk with national governments, it fails to address a critical weakness of the system. The commission is ...
Read More »Trump might wreck NAFTA, believe him
President Donald Trump has been attacking trade for months, but believers in the value of international competition have drawn comfort from his reputation for empty talk and record of non-accomplishment. That record, along with a trade pact that has served the US economy well for decades, may be about to end. Talks on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement ...
Read More »