March, 2019

• 3 March

  US, South Korea end military drills after summit collapse

  

  Bloomberg The US and South Korea agreed to end their biggest annual joint military drills in a bid to ease tensions with North Korea, a move that comes just days after Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un failed to reach an agreement on denuclearization at a summit in Vietnam. US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and South Korea’s Defense Minister ...

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• 3 March

  Russia vows to help Venezuela avoid any military intervention

  

  Bloomberg Russia will “do everything possible” to avoid outside military intervention in Venezuela, Parliament Speaker Valentina Matvienko told the Latin American nation’s vice president. “We are very concerned that the US are ready for any kind of provocation to start bloodshed and justify military intervention in Venezuela,” Matvienko told Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. “We’ll do everything possible to avoid this. ...

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• 3 March

  Mueller’s report to ignite an epic war over disclosure

  

  Bloomberg When Special Counsel Robert Mueller closes up shop and submits his long-awaited final report — possibly within days — it will be only the start of an explosive chain of events. There will be a struggle in Congress, on cable TV and social media and probably in the courts over how much must be disclosed from what will begin ...

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• 3 March

  Protests persist in Balkans over leaders

  

  Bloomberg Thousands of protesters marched through the capitals of Serbia and Montenegro as demonstrators kept up pressure on governments to curb corruption and allow more freedom in a region that hopes to integrate with the European Union. In Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, several thousand people took part in a fourth weekend rally in a row over allegations of corrupt practices of ...

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• 3 March

  US renews pressure on Europe over ‘IS fighters’

  

  Bloomberg The US will keep pressing its European allies to take back citizens caught fighting for IS in Syria if they’re released, National Security Adviser John Bolton said. The fate of the estimated 800 to 1,000 captives taken by Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria has been a sore point since President Donald Trump tweeted in February that the UK, France, ...

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• 3 March

  $43bn race to fix Jakarta’s choking traffic begins now

  

  Bloomberg Muhammad Ridick would rather endure a back-breaking five hours of commuting on his motorbike each day than ride Jakarta’s public transport. “It’s very difficult to get a seat on a bus or train during rush hour,” said Ridick, 25, an employee at PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, whose 80 kilometer round-trip journey to work and back means he often doesn’t reach ...

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• 3 March

  China looks to buy soybeans from US

  

  Bloomberg A week after US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said China pledged to buy more American soybeans, no sales have been done. While Chinese buyers returned to the market asking for offers, traders familiar with the process say no deals have been done. That’s a disappointment for American farmers looking to offload a bumper harvest that’s been piled in bags ...

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• 3 March

  Malaysian plans for car of the future are flying high

  

  Bloomberg Malaysia says it is trying to develop its first flying car, but it won’t let the general public drive it. Malaysia’s flying car will instead be developed for transport-service companies, Bernama news agency said, citing the country’s Entrepreneur Development Minister Muhammed Redzuan Yusof. Companies are queuing up for the vehicle, including Grab, which wants to use it as a ...

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• 3 March

  Singapore headhunter wants to nab China’s ‘job seekers’

  

  Bloomberg In some quarters, a lack of work-life balance is not always a bad thing. HRnetgroup Ltd., Singapore’s biggest recruiter and human resources firm, is hoping that expanding services in China will help lift its share price that has sagged since an initial public offering (IPO) two years ago. China’s headhunting market is booming, thanks to the willingness of job ...

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• 3 March

  ‘Investments drive Japan’s current account surplus’

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s top currency official said the nation’s current account surplus is a result of investments abroad rather than the exchange of goods, and it shouldn’t become a trade issue. It’s not uncommon for Japan’s savings to grow because of its aging population, Masatsugu Asakawa, vice finance minister of international affairs, said at a conference in Tokyo. His remarks came ...

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