April, 2016

• 12 April

  Emera agrees on $6.5bn Teco deal in New Mexico

  Bloomberg Canadian utility owner Emera Inc. has reached an agreement with groups in New Mexico, including the state’s attorney general, on its $6.5 billion takeover of utility Teco Energy Inc., bringing the deal one step closer to completion. Under the agreement, filed with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Monday, Emera said it wouldn’t seek a base rate increase ...

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• 12 April

  Cuba’s no Cubans-rule puts cruise lines in uncharted waters

  

  Bloomberg Carnival Corp.’s maiden voyage to Cuba next month will be filled with almost 700 cruisers looking to spend time assisting in economic, environmental and community development there. The one thing the boat won’t be carrying, however, is any Cubans. Raul Castro’s government prohibits native-born Cubans from returning by sea, and makes other forms of travel difficult for them as ...

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• 12 April

  Afghan Taliban announce start of annual ‘spring offensive’

  

  Kabul / AFP The Afghan Taliban announced on Tuesday the start of their “spring offensive” even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict. The Taliban said in a statement they would “employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country” during the offensive they have dubbed “Operation ...

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• 12 April

  Italian FM arrives in Libya in boost to UN-backed govt

  TRIOPLI / AP Italy’s foreign minister has arrived in Tripoli, marking the first visit by a European official to Libya since a UN-backed government convened in the capital. Libyan officials say Paolo Gentiloni was received at Matiga airport on Tuesday by deputies of Fayez Serraj, the head of a unity government that Western countries hope can unite Libya and combat ...

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• 12 April

  UN Syria envoy in Iran ahead of Geneva peace talks

  Tehran / AFP UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with a key backer of President Bashar Al Assad on the eve of fresh peace negotiations in Geneva. De Mistura will meet Iran’s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iranian media reported, ahead of the latest effort to end five years of fighting that ...

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• 12 April

  Turkey strikes at IS targets after rockets hit border town

  ANKARA / AP Turkish artillery units on Tuesday shelled IS group targets across the border in Syria, officials said, hours after rockets fired from Syria struck a Turkish border town, wounding eight people. Two rockets hit the town of Kilis early in the day in the third such cross-border incident at the town in the past five days. One rocket ...

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• 12 April

  USA, India agree to boost maritime coop as concerns grow over Beijing

  

  New Delhi / AFP US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart agreed on Tuesday to strengthen their cooperation on maritime security, as concerns grow in Washington over Beijing’s growing military ambitions. Carter is in New Delhi to bolster a strategic relationship Washington considers crucial in the face of what it sees as China’s rising assertiveness, particularly in the ...

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• 12 April

  Syrian government launches attacks in Aleppo’s south

  BEIRUT / AP Pro-government forces in Syria launched an offensive on Tuesday to retake a strategic hilltop village south of Aleppo from insurgents, including Al-Qaida’s local affiliate. Al-Manar TV, run by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces, reported the offensive to retake Tel Al Ais. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist-run monitoring group, ...

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• 12 April

  Alarming rise in Boko Haram’s child suicide bombers: UN

  

  Libreville / AFP The number of children used by Nigeria’s Boko Haram to stage suicide bombings has risen more than 10-fold in one of the most “horrific” aspects of the insurgency, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Experts said the group, which has been weakened by a multinational military offensive, is now trying to spread terror by using children for ...

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• 12 April

  5 military leaders who could be drafted for prez

  

  As Republicans head toward what could be a stalemated convention, they might recall how the party healed itself in 1952 in what was known as the “winter of discontent.” The Republicans drafted a military leader, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, as their presidential candidate. The looming showdown between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is a potential “train wreck,” to quote my ...

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