Bloomberg The Kremlin indicated that President Vladimir Putin supports new laws punishing online media for spreading “fake news” or material that insults state officials, the latest move in a broad crackdown on dissent in Russia. The upper house of parliament passed the legislation in a near-unanimous vote, and will now send it to Putin for signing. The measures are “undoubtedly” ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s de facto central bank intervened to defend the local currency’s peg against the dollar for second time in days. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) bought $500 million of local currency, according to its page on Bloomberg, after the Hong Kong dollar fell to weak end of its HK$7.75-HK$7.85 trading band. It also purchased $192mn worth at ...

Bloomberg Australia’s consumer confidence slumped in March as households were shaken by a slowdown in economic growth and the prolonged downturn in the property market. Sentiment fell 4.8 percent to 98.8, the weakest reading since September 2017 and meaning pessimists now outnumber optimists, Westpac Banking Corp. said in a statement Wednesday. It said responses during the survey showed “a marked ...