BLOOMBERG While Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to station nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus is unlikely to change Europe’s strategic balance, it has put him at odds with a pledge he made with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping just days earlier. Russia and China declared that “all nuclear weapons states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad” in a joint statement …

BLOOMBERG North Korea test-launched two short-range ballistic missiles, adding to its barrage in recent weeks as Pyongyang protests joint military exercises by the US and South Korea. The missiles were fired starting about 7:47 am local time from the Chunghwa area just south of Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message. The missiles were launched …

BLOOMBERG Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida received a much-sought rise in his support rate after a trip to Ukraine met with broad approval from the public ahead of a series of local and special elections. A survey by the Nikkei newspaper and TV Tokyo conducted March 24-26 found 48% of respondents said they supported Kishida’s cabinet, up five percentage points …

BLOOMBERG Nigeria’s ruling party looks set to retain its dominance of the country’s political offices after elections held in recent weeks. Besides winning the presidency, the All Progressives Congress (APC) kept majorities in the Senate and among state governors. The party also secured the most seats in the House of Representatives. While the runners-up in the presidential race — Atiku …

BLOOMBERG Marine Le Pen’s far-right party is biggest beneficiary of French discontent over President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an increase in the retirement age, according to a survey by pollster Ifop for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper. If legislative elections were to take place on April 2, 26% of the 1,094 adults interviewed via the Internet March 20-21 …

BLOOMBERG US futures rose with European stocks as the prospect of further support from US authorities eased some concerns over the troubled regional banking sector. Contracts on the S&P 500 rose about 0.3%. First Republic Bank shares jumped 34%, leading regional peers higher, after Bloomberg reported that US authorities are considering expanding an emergency lending facility that would give the …

BLOOMBERG Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson — among the most prominent bearish voices on US stocks — says turmoil in the banking sector has left earnings guidance looking too high, putting sanguine stock markets at risk of sharp declines. “Given the events of the past few weeks, we think guidance is looking more and more unrealistic, and equity markets are at …

BLOOMBERG For decades, Anil Agarwal cultivated a reputation as one of India’s great survivors. Starting as a scrap metal dealer, the billionaire magnate built a mining conglomerate to rival any other, weathering cash crunches, government friction and disputes with Indigenous people over expansion plans. But in recent months, Agarwal has faced one of his toughest acts yet. The tycoon’s Vedanta …

BLOOMBERG VinFast, an electric car maker backed by Vietnam’s richest man, plans to ship its second batch of EVs to North America on April 4. The company will send 900 VF 8 standard vehicles to California and 900 to Canada, VinFast Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy said in a statement to Bloomberg. VinFast sent 999 VF 8 City …

BLOOMBERG India’s parliament removed a tax concession for debt funds, stirring concern in the mutual fund industry that the measure would turn away investors. Holders of some bond funds will no longer be able to apply a long-term capital gains tax rate, according to a finance bill amendment. Instead, they’ll have to pay based on their own income tax rate, …