March, 2016

• 17 March

  Sudan warns to shut S Sudan border over ‘insurgent issue’

  Khartoum / AFP Sudan warned on Thursday it could shut its border with South Sudan just weeks after reopening crossings, accusing Juba of backing insurgents battling Khartoum. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war, but Juba and Khartoum have traded allegations the other is supporting rebels on their territory, ...

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• 17 March

  Rousseff phone tap puts doubt over govt’s future

  

  Bloomberg Large anti-government protests broke out in Brazil as President Dilma Rousseff’s bid to salvage her government by naming Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as chief of staff appeared to backfire. Only hours after Rousseff on Wednesday afternoon said she was bringing Lula to the government for his merit and not to shield him from a corruption probe, Federal Judge ...

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• 17 March

  Obama calls GOP bluff with ‘Garland’ nomination

  

  Bloomberg The last time President Obama had a high court seat to fill, in 2010, Republicans singled out Federal Appeals Court judge Merrick Garland as their preferred choice. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, an influential GOP voice on judicial nominations, said publicly at the time that he’d gone so far as to recommend Garland to the president as “a consensus nominee” ...

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• 17 March

  BoE keeps key rate at 0.5%, says Brexit may hit spending

  

  Bloomberg ­Bank of England officials kept their key interest rate at a record low and said uncertainty stemming from Britain’s referendum on its European Union membership may hold back investment and economic growth. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mark Carney, unanimously agreed to maintain the benchmark at 0.5 percent — where it’s been for seven years. The ...

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• 17 March

  George Osborne’s budget draws flak for ignoring climate goals

  

  Bloomberg U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s statement that his new budget “puts the next generation first” isn’t enough to protect subsequent generations from the consequences of climate change, critics said. Just three months after the U.K. joined 195 other countries in a climate deal in a bid to restrain rising global temperatures by curbing emissions, Osborne’s budget cut ...

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• 17 March

  Hungary to offer lotteries to distribute aid

  

  Bloomberg Hungary expanded its arsenal of state subsidies for home purchases to help revive the construction sector, triggering criticism that the plan offers inadequate protection and arbitrary criteria for savers. Members of the new building societies, known as NOK, will be eligible for subsidies of up to 300,000 forint ($1,090) a year if they pledge contributions for 10 to 15 ...

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• 17 March

  Norway cuts and signals more easing ahead amid oil plunge

  Bloomberg Norway’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low and signaled it’s prepared to ease policy further to ward off a recession in western Europe’s biggest crude oil producer. The overnight deposit rate was lowered by 25 basis points to 0.50 percent, the Oslo-based central bank said on Thursday. The decision was predicted by 18 of ...

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• 17 March

  Swiss giant shows how not to cement a $35-bn merger

  

  Bloomberg As cement sets and hardens, it binds materials together, creating a stronger whole. LafargeHolcim’s first yearly results as a combined company gave little indication that their union has done similar. The Franco-Swiss cement producer, the world’s biggest, booked a 3-billion Swiss franc ($3.1-billion) impairment in the fourth quarter, attributed mostly to Brazil, Russia, Iraq and China. As a consequence, ...

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• 17 March

  A dangerous showdown looming with China

  

  The Obama administration is moving towards what could be a dangerous showdown with China over the South China Sea. The confrontation has been building for the past three years, as China has constructed artificial islands off its southern coast and installed missiles and radar in disputed waters, despite US warnings. It could come to a head this spring, when an ...

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• 17 March

  A ‘cashless society’ is great until it’s not

  

  The Bank of Korea is planning for a cashless society by 2020. Swedes are making the shift. I am intrigued but also troubled. There’s a lot to like about the idea of a cashless society, starting with its effect on crime. The payoff to mugging people or snatching their bags has already declined dramatically, simply because fewer and fewer people ...

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