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Democracy faces the enemy within

We’re past the point of shifting blame. We know who gave us the presidency of Donald Trump, and it wasn’t Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein or James Comey. The culprit was democracy. Even if you defend democracy on the grounds that Trump lost the popular vote, it’s still a lame argument. After all, what kind of sensible political system generates ...

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Paris accord and the reality of presidential power

To critics of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, it may seem like presidential fiat is a very dysfunctional way to do foreign policy. How, exactly, is such overwhelming power consistent with checks and balances? How can one man, even if he is the president, single-handedly alter our international obligations? The short answer ...

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Wal-Mart has a big problem landing, and it isn’t Amazon

So far, it’s mostly been about Amazon. But Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a new foe. And it’s one it has lost out to before in Europe. It mustn’t repeat the same mistakes in its homeland. The world’s biggest retailer has been investing heavily in e-commerce in an effort to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. And as my colleague Shelly Banjo ...

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Astana Expo 2017: Doors open to the world

As many as 115 states and 22 international organisations are going to take part in Kazakhstan EXPO 2017, the doors will be opened to the world on June 10. One of the largest international expos of the decade is held in Astana capital of Kazakhstan, which is the greatest achievement at the international level of Kazakhstan since its independence. EXPO ...

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Flight to haven steadies, bank rescue spurs equities

Bloomberg A measure of calm returned to markets on Wednesday, as investors started to reassess the risks surrounding a series of key events this week. Bank stocks powered equity gains after a troubled Spanish lender was rescued. Traditional haven assets steadied after Tuesday’s jump, with gold and Treasuries edging lower and the yen tempering an advance. European equities headed for ...

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Qatar shares most volatile globally amid rising tension

Bloomberg As an unprecedented diplomatic crisis spreads through the Gulf with Qatar at its center, one thing is certain: the country’s stock market has become the world’s most volatile. It’s difficult for investors to assess the impact to the country’s $135 billion stock market as the disagreements mark an unprecedented low in the relationship between the Arab countries, in particular ...

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Santander to take over Popular as ECB says bank was failing

Bloomberg Banco Santander SA agreed to buy Banco Popular Espanol SA for a nominal 1 euro ($1.13) after European regulators determined that the troubled lender was likely to fail and ordered it to be sold. Santander will raise about 7 billion euros through a rights offer to bolster Popular’s balance sheet, it said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The ...

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India’s RBI keeps interest rates steady

Bloomberg India kept interest rates unchanged as expected, as the central bank shrugged off slowing growth and vowed to continue to assess whether a drop in inflation to a record low in the $2 trillion economy was transitory. The Reserve Bank of India, led by Urjit Patel, kept its benchmark repurchase rate at 6.25 percent while maintaining its neutral stance, ...

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Account error at Philippine bank spurs social media storm

Bloomberg Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) blamed an internal data-processing error for inaccurate customer-account balances amid a flurry of claims on social media over unauthorized withdrawals and missing funds. Some deposit accounts don’t reflect their correct balances because the processing error had caused past transactions to be either debited or credited twice, the third-largest Philippine lender by assets said ...

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QNB trading at cheapest in four years as crisis swirls

Bloomberg Qatar National Bank QPSC, the biggest lender in the Middle East, is trading at the cheapest relative to emerging-market peers since 2013 as a regional political storm engulfs its home country. That doesn’t mean analysts are suggesting it’s a good time to buy the stock. The Doha-based bank is trading at close to nine times its expected earnings, the ...

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