June, 2018

• 26 June

  VW mobility unit chief says self-driving cars core to plan

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s fledgling Moia mobility unit is betting on the rise of self-driving cars to deliver on its plan to catch up with ride-hailing leaders like Uber Technologies Inc without burning through piles of cash. Moia is focussed on connecting the fast-changing mobility marketplace with the German automaker’s vast manufacturing capacity, including its efforts to develop autonomous cars, according ...

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• 26 June

  Mueller poised to zero in on ‘Russia collusion’ allegations

  

  Bloomberg Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to accelerate his probe into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russians who sought to interfere in the 2016 election, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mueller and his team of prosecutors and investigators have an eye toward producing conclusions — and possible indictments — related to collusion by ...

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• 26 June

  Mattis lands in China for first Pentagon chief visit since 2014

  

  Bloomberg Jim Mattis arrived on Tuesday in Beijing on the first China visit by a US defense secretary in four years, as the Trump administration moves to push back against the country’s growing economic and military influence. Mattis, who plans to also visit South Korea and Japan, was expected to press China’s leaders for continued cooperation on North Korea’s nuclear ...

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• 26 June

  Merkel wins some space in migration rift

  

  Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s antagonists dialed back a clash over migration, saying they don’t want to blow up the party alliance underpinning her government. Comments by leaders of the Christian Social Union (CSU), a Merkel-allied regional party that governs Bavaria and wants to tighten border security, take some of the sting out of days of attacks on the chancellor. ...

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• 26 June

  Jordan says it won’t take in any more Syrian refugees

  

  Bloomberg Jordan will not receive new refugees from Syria under any circumstances, PM Omar Razzaz said, as a new Syrian government offensive threatened to send more displaced people fleeing to Jordan’s border. “Jordan cannot receive more refugees,” said Razzaz, who took office earlier this month. “We want a political solution.” Jordan has taken in 1.3 million refugees from neighbouring Syria’s ...

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• 26 June

  Provincial elections test Jokowi’s popularity

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s most populous province is set to go the polls in what’s shaping up as a test of President Joko Widodo’s popularity and a potential springboard for his rivals ahead of next year’s presidential election. More than 30 million people are expected to vote in West Java’s gubernatorial election on Wednesday in a contest between two former generals, the ...

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• 26 June

  Macedonia’s President attempts to block name deal

  

  Bloomberg Republic of Macedonia’s president rejected an agreement with Greece on the nation’s new name, a move that may be only a temporary hurdle in the ex-Yugoslav nation’s NATO and EU accession plans. The veto by opposition-backed President Gjorge Ivanov, who said on Tuesday he won’t sign the accord, is expected to be overturned in parliament as early as next ...

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• 26 June

  If this isn’t a trade war, then what actually is it?

  

  The escalating trade war between the United States and China poses crucial, though unanswerable, questions: Is this the beginning of the end of the post-World War II international trading system or will the present arrangements survive, as they have for 70 years? Almost certainly, historians will judge favourably the postwar expansion of trade (it has never been completely “free” but ...

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• 26 June

  Everyone should hate Google Glass

  

  I hate Google Glass, and I think I’ve hit upon a way to get everyone to understand the dystopic future this eyewear augurs: Give it to flight attendants. The summer of 2014 was a turning point for me. I had always considered myself a genuinely nice person who would never consider violence against a stranger. But then, at a conference ...

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• 26 June

  Italy is facing a crunch moment in bond market

  Italy’s auction of five and 10-year government bonds on Thursday will be the most important test of investor appetite since the country’s political crisis subsided. Buyers are understandably skittish. Appetite for the 10-year securities the government sold at the end of May was poor, something I remarked on at the time. Since then, yields on Italy’s two-year bonds have climbed ...

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