Uncategorized

Beirut / AP The deadline for a partial Syrian ceasefire negotiated by Russia and the US passed amid uncertainty over whether it would take hold and how to judge its success. The “cessation of hostilities” went into effect at 12:01 a.m Saturday local time, but Syrian regime forces continued to shell rebel areas in the Damascus suburb of Al Marj ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s ruling party suspended its second-in-command Muhyiddin Yassin for undermining the organization in his quest to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak, the latest indication of the premier strengthening his grip on power after months of political turmoil. Muhyiddin’s suspension as deputy president of the United Malays National Organisation will be in effect until the next party elections, Secretary-General Tengku ...

Bloomberg A mass shooting on Thursday at a Hesston, Kansas, factory was overshadowed by coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, even at the largest news organization in the region, and President Barack Obama isn’t OK with that. “Once a week, we have these shootings and it doesn’t dominate the news,” Obama said , without singling out the Kansas City Star’s ...

Singapore / DPA The strong wage growth that workers enjoyed last year might not be sustainable, given the lacklustre economic outlook and Singapore’s flagging labour productivity. Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) permanent secretary Ow Foong Pheng said at a press briefing that demand for labour may be more subdued this year, given the “challenging near-term outlook for the Singapore ...

Dublin / AFP Ireland faced political uncertainty on Saturday after two exit polls indicated voters had punished the governing coalition in Europe’s fastest-growing economy, still feeling the pain of years of austerity. As counting got under way following the parliamentary election, it appeared PM Enda Kenny’s centre-right Fine Gael and its Labour junior partner would lose support as voters angry ...

Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warned he may make further cuts in public spending in his annual budget on March 16 after data showed Britain’s economic recovery is not as advanced as he hoped. Osborne will seek further “efficiencies” in government departments before making cuts to services, he said in an interview with the BBC in Shanghai, where ...

Relaxnews The two new Galaxy S7 handsets from Samsung were the most-tweeted about Mobile World Congress topics during the annual tech conference’s 2016 edition. The Mobile World Congress has increasingly become a destination for technology manufacturers of all kinds, but at the eighth MWC in Barcelona, February 22-25, it was the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge that won out ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg Treasuries fell after a line-up of above-forecast economic data prompted traders to re-evaluate their views on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rates path. Yields on two-year notes, seen as the most sensitive to Fed policy expectations, surged by the most since December as traders ratcheted up bets on the pace of rate increases. That helped push the gap ...

Rio De Janeiro / Bloomberg Transmissora Alianca de Energia Eletrica SA (Taesa) , a state-owned operator of power lines in Brazil, is considering the acquisition of Abengoa SA’s transmission assets in the country as the Spanish company teeters on the edge of insolvency. “We are interested in the assets,” Chief Executive Officer Jose Aloice Rogone Filho said in an interview. ...

Beirut / AP Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with key players in the Syria conflict, including President Bashar Assad, ahead of a US-Russia-engineered cease-fire, as the opposition voiced concerns that the truce due to begin later this week will only benefit the Syrian government. Government troops backed by Russian warplanes waged fierce battles to regain control of a strategic road ...