February, 2016

• 23 February

  Argentina settles bond debt dispute partially

  

  New York / AP Argentina has reached a settlement with several bondholders for $250 million and 185 million euros, a court-appointed mediator said as the country continues work toward ending a debt crisis that has damaged its ability to maneuver financially abroad. The latest deals boost to more than $1.5 billion the amount Argentina has committed in deals since President ...

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• 23 February

  Pentagon’s Gitmo plan lays out costs, savings

  

  Washington / AP U.S. officials say the Pentagon’s long-awaited plan to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer the remaining detainees to a facility in the United States calls for up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings. The plan, ...

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• 23 February

  Obama requests $1.9bn to combat Zika virus

  Washington / AP President Barack Obama sent lawmakers an official $1.9 billion request to combat the spread of the Zika virus in Latin America and the U.S. He is also requesting flexibility to use a limited portion of leftover funds provided in 2014 to fight Ebola to take on Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects. Top House ...

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• 23 February

  Starbucks changes rewards program

  

  New York / AP Starbucks is changing the terms of its rewards program so that people who spend around $5 or less per visit won’t get as many freebies. The Seattle-based coffee chain says its loyalty program will award stars based on the dollars spent starting in April. Currently, people earn a star for each transaction, regardless of how much ...

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• 23 February

  US oil exports already shifting global power

  Bloomberg The sea stretched toward the horizon last New Year’s Eve as the Theo T, a red-and-white tug at her side, slipped quietly beneath the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge in Texas. Few Americans knew she was sailing into history. Inside the Panamax oil tanker was a cargo that some on Capitol Hill had dubbed “Liquid American Freedom” — the first ...

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• 23 February

  Beijing instals radar in South China Sea islands

  

  Beijing / AFP Beijing is installing radar facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, an American think tank has said, in a move analysts warned would “exponentially improve” the country’s monitoring capacities. Satellite imagery of Cuarteron reef in the Spratlys released by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) showed what appeared to be ...

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• 23 February

  Singapore deports Indonesians accused of ‘joining’ IS group

  Jakarta / AFP Singapore has deported four suspected Indonesian extremists allegedly heading to Syria to fight with the IS group, authorities said on Tuesday. The four, who included a 15-year-old boy, were arrested on Sunday in the city-state when officials became suspicious after checking their documents and finding one of them had previously spent time in Syria, Indonesian police said. ...

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• 23 February

  ‘Canal’ highlights Delhi’s water vulnerability

  New Delhi / AP Engineers were working to restore New Delhi’s full water supply on Tuesday after protesters damaged a key canal in a neighboring state and disrupted supplies over the weekend — highlighting the extreme water vulnerability faced by the Indian capital’s 18 million residents. Some supplies resumed to northern and central parts of New Delhi, and will hopefully ...

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• 23 February

  USA missile system in South Korea would hurt Seoul-Beijing ties: Envoy

  

  Seoul / AFP China’s ambassador to South Korea warned on Tuesday that the planned deployment of a US missile defence system in the country could damage Beijing-Seoul ties, possibly irreparably. Once damaged, it would be “hard” to normalise relations between the two former Cold War enemies, ambassador Qiu Guohong said, according to a spokesman for South Korea’s main opposition Minju ...

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• 23 February

  Germany, France press Kiev on graft, vote in rebel east

  

  Kiev / AFP Germany and France on Tuesday urged Kiev to root out corruption and quickly adopt a law on elections in the pro-Russian east that may help resolve Ukraine’s separatist war. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Kiev amid political chaos that has seen ministers in the pro-EU government trade accusations of ...

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