March, 2016

• 3 March

  German government should give electric cars a good jolt

  

  Bloomberg Germany is falling woefully short of its target to have one million electric vehicles on the streets by 2020 so it feels the need to do something. Enter the taxpayer: the government is considering a €5,000 ($5,419) incentive to lure would-be buyers. That money could be better spent. Electric vehicles’ share of German sales: 0.4% The industry has a ...

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• 3 March

  N Korea fires missiles after UN imposes tough sanctions

  

  Seoul / AfP North Korea fired six short-range projectiles into the sea on Thursday in a show of defiance just hours after the United Nations adopted the toughest sanctions to date on Pyongyang over its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch. Limited displays of military firepower have become a routine response by North Korea to international pressure over anything from ...

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• 3 March

  Istanbul police kills 2 female leftist militants

  Istanbul / AfP Turkish police killed two female leftist militants who hurled grenades and opened fire at an Istanbul police station on Thursday, officials said. The two women—members of the outlawed ultra-leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C)— had taken refuge in an apartment after their attack. Police then launched an assault on the apartment, and the two were “neutralised”, Istanbul ...

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• 3 March

  Migrants sew mouths to protest ‘Jungle’ demolition

  Calais / AFP A group of Iranian migrants sewed their mouths shut in a disturbing protest at the ongoing demolition of the “Jungle” migrant camp in the French port city of Calais on Thursday. AFP journalists said at least nine Iranians had stitched their mouths shut in the southern half of the camp, which is being gradually demolished by French ...

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• 3 March

  Trump’s rise spooks Europe

  

  London / AFP Europe’s bemusement at the rise of Donald Trump has switched to concern as his presidential campaign has gained ground in what observers said was a warning to traditional parties about ignoring populists. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier this week spoke about the “politics of fear” in the US campaign in a thinly-veiled reference to Trump and drew ...

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• 3 March

  Ukraine accuses rebels of firing missiles ahead of peace talks

  

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine on Thursday accused pro-Russian insurgents of firing large-calibre weapons at its forces in advance of new peace talks in Paris aimed at ending the 23-month war. The charge came one day after Kiev and rebel envoys agreed to halt live-fire exercises along the 500-kilometre front splitting eastern separatist territories from the rest of the West-leaning former ...

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• 3 March

  India’s 2016 budget: Politics meets economics

  

  The annual budget of India is often an expression of not only the economic direction of the country over the coming year, but also the political intentions of the ruling party. The 2016 budget, which was presented in the Indian parliament on Monday, however, contains more political substance than economic heft. It reveals the political thinking of the Bharatiya Janata ...

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• 3 March

  New sanctions on North Korea target loopholes, elites

  On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council voted to impose a new round of sanctions on North Korea in response to both its January 6 nuclear test and February 7 satellite launch (widely believed to double as a missile launch test). The new sanctions have been characterized by various media sources as “sweeping” and the “toughest” yet imposed because they ...

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• 3 March

  Can Singapore smooth China-ASEAN relations?

  

  Singapore’s minister for foreign affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, spent two days in China this week, meeting with Chinese officials to set a positive tone for both the bilateral relationship and the China-ASEAN relationship. It was Balakrishnan’s first visit to China since assuming his post in October 2015. In an op-ed for China Daily, Balakrishnan cited Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime ...

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• 3 March

  New pact to make Emirati film, TV industry a big draw

  

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business Roll, camera and, action. Given the number of Hollywood and Bollywood movies shot here, the world is well aware of the potential and the appeal of the Emirates capital as a hot spot for the film and television industry. Now, authorities recognise that too. Aiming to give a major boost to the Emirati film and ...

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