June, 2016

• 18 June

  Police smother Chinese village ahead of planned protest

    Beijing / AP Scores of paramilitary police have locked down a restive village in southern China to ward off fresh anti-corruption protests nearly five years after its uprising made it a symbol of grassroots defiance against the Communist Party. A resident from Wukan village in Guangdong Province said by telephone that police swept in late Friday night to surround ...

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• 18 June

  Migrants in Indonesia row brought ashore

  

    lhoknga, Indonesia / AFP Dozens of Sri Lankan migrants stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore on Saturday, easing a tense stand-off with local authorities that drew international condemnation. The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week as authorities in the western ...

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• 18 June

  Obama’s year of resilience

  

    WASHINGTON A year ago this month, President Obama was delivering a eulogy in Charleston, South Carolina, after the mass shooting in a church there. As he neared the end, he took a long pause and then began singing “Amazing Grace.” It was an unforgettable, transcendent moment. Michelle Obama had reportedly cautioned him against singing, but Obama told her on ...

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• 18 June

  Brazil’s economy in doldrums as Games near

    With figures showing that Brazil’s economy stalled in 2014 and shrank 3.8% last year, the country heads towards its worst recession amid warnings such a development could cast a shadow on the Olympic Games in August, and deepen the political crisis. The scenario is deplorable indeed. The country’s primary fiscal deficit is forecast to be around $47 billion. And ...

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• 18 June

  Negative German yields reflect ECB exhaustion

    Mark Gilbert Bloomberg View Germany this week joined the elite club of sovereign borrowers able to raise funds for a decade at an interest rate of less than zero. Other euro zone countries, including France, Spain and Italy, are also enjoying 10-year borrowing costs at or near record lows. Negative German yields are the strongest signal yet that the ...

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• 18 June

  Singapore-Kunming Rail Link: A ‘Belt and Road’ case study

    Shang-su Wu SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS Among the various projects proposed under China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) strategy, the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL) seems to be the most promising rail project. Since announced at the fifth summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, this project has evolved from a conventional railway to a ...

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• 18 June

  Central bankers at sea amid global flux

  

    Bloomberg From the immediate possibility of Britain leaving the European Union to the longer-term consequences of aging populations, the world’s major central banks this week just aren’t sure what to do next. Officials from the US, Japan, the UK and Switzerland all opted to keep monetary policy unchanged this week as they await the June 23 Brexit vote and ...

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• 18 June

  Spain to probe BNP over roles in tax case

  

    Bloomberg Spanish authorities are investigating some Banco Santander SA and BNP Paribas SA employees amid allegations they may have helped shield customers’ international transfers from tax authorities, according to a person familiar with the probe. Investigators are trying to work out who within the banks may have been responsible for the alleged transactions by analyzing evidence including papers they ...

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• 18 June

  JPMorgan to lead Dutch bad bank bidding

  

    Bloomberg A venture between JPMorgan Chase & Co and private-equity firm Lone Star Funds is the leading bidder to buy Propertize BV, the Dutch bad bank that holds 5.5 billion euros (US$6.1 billion) of loans and real estate, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Propertize may reach a deal to sell the firm in the next ...

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• 18 June

  Russian cyber gang behind bank robberies

  

    Bloomberg Investigators have linked malware used by Russian and eastern European cyber-gangs to a string of bank heists that culminated in the record-breaking theft of US$81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank, according to people familiar with the probe. The tools used in some of the attacks on as many as 12 banks, mostly in Southeast Asia, match those deployed ...

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