Bloomberg A day after violent protests prompted Donald Trump to cancel a rally, the Republican presidential front-runner blamed the activist group MoveOn.Org and supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders for the chaos, while defending his own “harassed†supporters. “When they have organized, professionally staged wise-guys—we’ve got to fight back. We’ve got to fight back,†Trump said at an event in Dayton, ...
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Merkel’s party faces backlash in state polls
Seoul / AFP Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party braced for a backlash in key state polls on Sunday over the German leader’s liberal refugee policy, while the right-wing populist AfD prepared to scoop up the protest vote from angry voters. More than 12 million voters headed to the ballot box to elect three new regional parliaments for the southwestern states of ...
Read More »Obama said to winnow Supreme Court nominees to three finalists
Bloomberg President Barack Obama has narrowed to three finalists a list of potential US Supreme Court nominees to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, all of them federal appeals judges, according to a person familiar with the matter. The candidates are Merrick Garland, Sri Srinivasan and Paul Watford, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details ...
Read More »US-based Gulf Oil LP to enter Mexico gas station market
MEXICO / AP US-based Gulf Oil LP said it is entering Mexico’s gasoline retail market, becoming the first foreign company to do so under an energy overhaul that loosened more than seven decades of government monopoly in the sector. The company will open its first four gas stations in Mexico in June and July and aims to operate at least ...
Read More »Lagarde urges Asian leaders to use fiscal policy for financial stability
New Delhi / Bloomberg Asia needs to take a leadership role in the global economy that reflects the continent’s growing clout, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. Asian officials should keep monetary policy supportive, while using fiscal policy to boost growth and macro-prudential measures to protect financial stability, Lagarde said in a speech on Saturday in New Delhi. ...
Read More »Seeing risks, Osborne offers no austerity relief for UK
Bloomberg U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is sticking to his guns. Tripped up by an economy proving weaker than forecast and with lower tax revenues as a result, Osborne is set to use his budget on March 16 to deliver even more austerity to meet a legally binding pledge of a fiscal surplus by the end of the ...
Read More »Govt can’t let smartphones be ‘black boxes’, Obama says
TEXAS / Bloomberg President Barack Obama said that smartphones — like the iPhone the FBI is trying to force Apple Inc. to help it hack — can’t be allowed to be “black boxes,” inaccessible to the government. The technology industry, he said, should work with the government instead of leaving the issue to Congress. “You cannot take an absolutist view ...
Read More »US-Canada war over gas market share will heat up in 2017
BLOOMBERG U.S. gas drillers battered by the lowest prices in 17 years have found another release valve for their output: Canada. Over the past five years, the shale boom that unlocked vast supplies of natural gas across North America has tripled pipeline shipments from the U.S. to Mexico, and spurred the first seaborne exports from the lower 48 states. Now, ...
Read More »5 years after the spark, Syria war at a critical juncture
BEIRUT / AP After five years of bloodshed — after a quarter of a million deaths, and the flight of millions of refugees — Syria has arrived at a critical juncture: A diplomatic framework is in place to end the carnage, a two-week-old partial ceasefire is holding, and peace talks are set to resume in coming days. “The indicators from ...
Read More »North Korea: Military ready for pre-emptive attack against South
Seoul/ AP North Korea said on Saturday its military is ready to pre-emptively attack and “liberate” the South if it sees signs that American and South Korean troops involved in annual joint military drills are attempting to invade the North. The declaration from General Staff of the North’s Korean People’s Army on state media is the latest outburst over the ...
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