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Tokyo / Bloomberg With Japan’s economy shrinking, the stock market in turmoil, and a stronger yen threatening export earnings, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’scalculus on whether to call a snap general election this summer has suddenly grown more complicated. Another win in the lower chamber along with an expected victory in the upper house vote set for the summer could allow ...

Singapore / AFP Airbus and Boeing announced billion-dollar deals at Asia’s largest airshow in Singapore on Wednesday, underscoring the region’s role as a driver of industry growth despite greater caution among plane buyers. Europe’s Airbus said it had won an $1.85 billion deal for the purchase of six A350-900s by Philippine Airlines (PAL), the flag carrier of one of Asia’s ...

Brussels / Bloomberg Prime Minister David Cameron edged closer to securing an overhaul of the terms of Britain’s membership of the European Union, as fellow leaders signaled they were ready to help him get a deal at this week’s EU summit. With Cameron due in Brussels on Thursday for the second time in 48 hours, he won the backing of ...

Yangon / Bloomberg The European Union’s regulatory arm proposed more oversight of natural-gas contracts with Russia and other external suppliers as a part of a wider plan to boost energy security. The European Commission is also seeking closer regional cooperation among the EU’s 28 nations to prevent supply disruptions, under its winter gas package presented in Brussels on Tuesday. The ...

RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has extended his deep condolences to the family of martyr Abdullah Juma Al Shamsi, who fell in the line of duty while participating in the Arab Coalition “Operation Restoring Hope”, led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Sheikh Mohammed ...

Beijing / Bloomberg China’s military is closing the technology gap with the US, though the experience of America’s pilots still gives them an “unbelievably huge” edge, according to the Pacific Air Forces chief. General Lori Robinson, in Singapore to attend the country’s air show, said she felt assured that Chinese pilots would act professionally in interactions with the US, citing ...

Washington / AFP Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro named a new head of his economic team just five weeks after he had handed the job to a widely criticized professor who blamed the world’s fastest inflation on the country’s “parasitic” business class. Luis Salas, who had held the post as economy vice president since Jan. 6, is leaving for family reasons, ...

Bloomberg Justice Antonin Scalia’s unexpected death not only unleashed a bitter partisan debate over the president’s powers, it has also shaken up both party’s presidential nominating contests and provided ready ammunition for volleys fired between the candidates’ camps. The ultimate beneficiaries could be Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted Cruz, and the battle itself could reshape the US Senate, the ...

Bloomberg Turkey said on Tuesday it wanted a ground operation in neighbouring Syria with its international allies, as a UN envoy held talks in Damascus aimed at saving a troubled ceasefire plan. Tensions escalated over Russia’s air war in support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, with Ankara branding it “vile, cruel and barbaric” and EU President Donald Tusk saying ...

Bloomberg When British Prime Minister David Cameron rushed to Paris late on Monday to lobby the French leader over safeguards for London’s banks, the latest in a long line of disputes between the two countries had been five years in the making. French President Francois Hollande is leading a group of euro-area countries unhappy with U.K. demands to shield its ...