May, 2018

• 26 May

  Manafort judge denies request to dismiss count in indictment

  Bloomberg A federal judge denied a request by Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, to dismiss one of two counts in an indictment as unnecessarily overlapping. Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t violate the double-jeopardy clause of the US Constitution by charging Manafort with two crimes based on the exact same facts and circumstances, US District Judge ...

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• 26 May

  Trump picks anti-immigration hawk to lead refugee bureau

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate a retired foreign service officer affiliated with an organisation that critics call an anti-immigrant hate group to run the State Department bureau overseeing refugee protection and resettlement. Ronald Mortensen, whose postings as a diplomat included Chad, Gabon and Australia, was tapped to be assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, ...

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• 26 May

  Putin rejects claims of Russia role in MH17

  

  Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin rejected accusations by the Netherlands and Australia that Russia was responsible for the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, after investigators said they found proof the missile that downed the plane belonged to a Russia-based military unit. “No, of course not,” Putin replied when asked if a Russian missile had shot down the aircraft, killing ...

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• 26 May

  Rajoy refuses to be written off as rivals seek ouster

  

  Bloomberg Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy is fighting to save his government from collapse after a slew of harsh jail sentences handed down by judges in Madrid exposed his party’s Achilles heel on corruption. The Socialists, the biggest opposition group, filed a no-confidence motion against him and Ciudadanos, another party, threatened to do the same unless he calls early elections. The ...

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• 26 May

  Brexit rebels in Scotland bid for ‘independence’

  

  Bloomberg After championing the cause for staying in the European Union, Scotland’s nationalists are reigniting their effort to leave the UK with plans for a new currency, economic regime and an open door for immigrants. A report by a Scottish National Party commission made the case that Scotland should look to emulate small, better-performing economies such as Denmark and New ...

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• 26 May

  Madagascar top court orders to form new govt

  Bloomberg Madagascar’s Constitutional Court has instructed President Hery Rajaonarimampianina to appoint a new prime minister within seven days and ruled that he can remain leader of the Indian Ocean island nation until 60 days before the next election. The new PM will oversee the government until the inauguration of a new president. The country is scheduled to hold presidential and ...

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• 26 May

  Trump’s trade wars would avenge mythical casualties

  

  America’s government declares ‘war’ promiscuously — on poverty, on drugs, on cancer, etc. — except when actually going to war, which the nation has done often since it last declared war (on June 5, 1942, on Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary). But the incipient war du jour is being postponed. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the Trump administration is ‘putting the ...

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• 26 May

  Target should block out Wall Street’s noise

  

  The reaction to Target Corp.’s first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday is a near-perfect illustration of the enormous challenge many traditional retailers are up against in trying to satisfy Wall Street right now. By many measures, Target had a quite good quarter. Its comparable sales rose 3 percent over the same period last year, beating analysts’ expectations. That lift was powered ...

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• 26 May

  Tax sugar-sweetened drinks to help fight obesity problems

  

  Eating too much added sugar has become one of the riskiest health behaviours in the modern world. None too soon, governments are waking up to the fact. Staggering under the burden of increasingly overweight populations, more than 30 countries have put new taxes on sugary beverages, most in just the past four years. This is good policy, and it needs ...

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• 26 May

  Zuckerberg needs a wizard to clean up Facebook’s mess

  Is Mark Zuckerberg “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”? The comparison with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1797 lyrical ballad was invoked in the middle of a hearing in Brussels on Tuesday, where he faced questions from a handful of European lawmakers. In the poem, a wizard’s young apprentice is left alone by his master and enchants a broomstick. Before too long, he finds ...

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