Bloomberg Singapore is set to deliver a strong budget this week to offset the damage to the economy from the coronavirus, with analysts predicting the biggest deficit in almost two decades. The fiscal gap may widen to 1.5% of gross domestic product in the year beginning April 1, the highest since the 1.7% shortfall recorded in the 2001 financial year, ...

Bloomberg India’s trade deficit unexpectedly widened in January, as exports contracted for a sixth straight month while the decline in imports eased. The gap between exports and imports was at $15.2 billion last month, compared with $11.25 billion in December, data released by the Commerce Ministry showed. That’s the widest gap since June and compares with the median estimate of ...

Bloomberg Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs for Sony Corp’s next PlayStation to around $450 per unit, forcing a difficult price-setting decision in its battle with Microsoft Corp, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Japanese conglomerate is preparing to gradually replace the six-year-old PS4 console, releasing its PlayStation 5 the same holiday season its archrival debuts ...

Bloomberg Car sales in China fell to fresh lows in January as the coronavirus kept buyers away from showrooms, intensifying the gloom hanging over the industry. Retail car sales fell 22% to 1.71 million units, the biggest-ever drop for the month of January, the China Passenger Car Association said. The group predicted a worsening outlook, saying February sales may drop ...

Bloomberg Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he’s committed to ending the conflict with Russia, after the appointment of a new Kremlin envoy signalled a possible opening for peace efforts. “On the first day of my presidency, I said openly: we didn’t start this war, but we have to end it,” Zelenskiy, elected in a landslide election last year on a ...

Bloomberg Venezuela’s detention of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s uncle is based on “preposterous charges” and another sign of the “increasing desperation” of Nicolas Maduro’s regime, the US Department of State said in a statement. “The United States strongly condemns the detention of Juan Jose Marquez, uncle of interim President Juan Guaido, and demands his immediate release,” the State Department said. ...

Bloomberg Fears continue to grow as much of the world shifts its attention to cruise ships infected with the coronavirus. Japan said it found an additional 70 cases aboard the Diamond Princess, a luxury liner that’s been quarantined at the port of Yokohama, bringing the total number of infected on the ship to 355. Malaysia said it won’t allow any ...

Bloomberg The White House delivered its legal justification for the January airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, arguing that President Donald Trump was authorised to take the action under the Constitution and 2002 legislation authorising the Iraq war. The Trump administration memo, which was released by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, was the first official explanation of the ...

Bloomberg Joe Biden said threats against officials at a prominent Nevada union that criticised Bernie Sanders’ health care plan by some supporters of the Vermont senator were “outrageous.” The threats were “vicious, malicious,” and “misogynistic,” Biden said in an excerpt of an interview on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The former vice president called on Sanders to accept greater ...

Bloomberg A senior United Nations official called the arms embargo on Libya a “joke” as governments struggled to hold together efforts to end a civil war in the North African country. Germany hosted a meeting of top officials in Munich, who expressed concern about “the deplorable recent violations” of the Libyan weapons embargo, while reaffirming the conclusions of a summit ...