November, 2018

• 6 November

  Russia puts brave face on cancelled Putin-Trump talks

  

  Bloomberg The Kremlin sought to limit damage from another apparent snub after plans fell through for a meeting in Paris between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump. Russian officials have pinned their hopes on personal contacts between the two leaders to help achieve a long-sought warming in relations with the US that plunged to their worst since ...

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• 6 November

  Plan to attack president Macron foiled as French police make arrests

  

  Bloomberg French authorities probing a planned attack on President Emmanuel Macron made six arrests on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The planned attack on Macron was not well-defined at this stage, said the person, who asked not to be named as the status of the probe is confidential. A preliminary investigation is being run by Paris ...

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• 6 November

  Tunisia: President-PM rift widens over cabinet

  

  Bloomberg Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has rejected a cabinet reshuffle announced by the prime minister, escalating a political deadlock between the former allies as the government struggles to revive an economy saddled with high inflation and a financial crisis. Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced the appointments in a speech on state television, in an effort to shore up support ...

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• 6 November

  ‘Britain almost certain to end up with hard Brexit’

  

  Bloomberg Veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson expects the UK to end up with only loose ties to the European Union after leaving the bloc. “It’s almost certain that we’re going to end up with some form of hard Brexit,” Mandelson, who served in the governments of former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, told Bloomberg Television at the New ...

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• 6 November

  Trump seeks high court review of ending deportation shield

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court to let him end deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants, urging the justices to take the unusual step of bypassing federal appeals courts to get the case resolved by next summer. The three connected appeals challenge federal trial court decisions that are blocking Trump from abolishing the programme, started by ...

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• 6 November

  Why Trump, Xi should strike a technology deal

  

  If China is such a powerhouse of intellectual-property (IP) theft, why doesn’t Beijing do it any better? Take the auto industry. This would seem a sector ripe for forced technology transfer, industrial espionage and all the other sharp practices causing such tension in China’s trade relationship with the US. China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of vehicles, and ...

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• 6 November

  Save the climate, eat less red meat

  

  The way we eat is going to have to change — that is, if we are to preserve a livable climate on Earth. A new international study makes this clear. Over the next three decades, the food system’s impact on the environment stands to at least double if humanity carries on eating the way it does now. The negative effects ...

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• 6 November

  SoftBank the big stack bully went quiet last quarter

  

  Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Vision Fund has been described as a “big stack bully” because of its ability to throw money around at the poker table of venture capital funding. The fund doesn’t appear to have done any net new deals in the September quarter. According to data in its fiscal first-half filing, the fund had investments totaling $28.1 billion on ...

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• 6 November

  Japan can slash stimulus without repeating mistakes

  If Haruhiko Kuroda is starting to lay the groundwork to trim Japan’s huge stimulus, he’ll be looking over his shoulder at two things: the world outside and a deceased predecessor. The first issue for the Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor to watch is the international scene, which is getting tougher for central banks eyeing steps away from ultra-accommodation. Kuroda’s speech ...

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• 6 November

  Some context for Canadians who love or hate new Nafta

  

  Americans are not the only ones still unpacking the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal that is due to replace Nafta. Two issues have received a great deal of attention in Canada — one which is misunderstood as a great concession by Canada and the other wrongly celebrated as an unequivocal victory. Both deserve a deeper look. Just recently, Canada’s ...

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