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Bloomberg The Italian Treasury is set to slash its growth forecast for this year and raise its projected budget deficit, according to two senior officials with knowledge of the draft outlook. The economy will expand by just 0.1 percent this year, according to the draft, which is due for cabinet approval by April 10, the officials said. The government’s previous ...

Bloomberg A Canadian trade tribunal is recommending that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government claw back steel tariffs imposed to contain fallout from Donald Trump’s own levies. In a decision, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal recommended tariff rate quotas on two types of steel — heavy plate and stainless steel wire — among seven that the government had already applied provisional ...

Bloomberg Germany’s painful industrial slump shows little sign of ending, with factory orders plunging the most in a decade in February, led by a drop in exports. The bad news from the Economy Ministry was followed just hours later by new forecasts for 2019 that predicted the weakest growth in six years. The country’s five leading research institutes see expansion ...

Bloomberg Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli, setting up a potential endgame for the capital as the country’s UN-backed government vowed stiff resistance. Under attack from fighter jets, Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) fought its way towards the country’s most populous city, where battle-hardened militias that oppose him have mobilised. Appeals for calm by ...

Bloomberg Venezuelans poured into the streets, demonstrating against a near-total breakdown in public services and rallying behind National Assembly leader Juan Guaido, who is leading a drive to end two decades of socialist rule. The protests come after a month of rolling blackouts that have paralysed daily life and dried the water taps in huge swaths of this oil-rich nation. ...

Bloomberg Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto called for change in a rally on Sunday, talking down the government’s economic performance as competition heats up ahead of an election next week. Indonesia goes to the polls on April 17 in a contest that pits the incumbent Joko Widodo against the contender with the economy being the focal point in the race. ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Theresa May defended her decision to ask archrival Jeremy Corbyn to help draft a new blueprint for Brexit, and warned the UK might never leave the EU if he doesn’t back a compromise plan. “The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving at all,” May said in a statement. “It would mean ...

Bloomberg The prospect of many small parties gaining parliamentary seats in Thailand has dented the claim by an anti-junta coalition that it has a majority following March’s general election. An Election Commission statement said more than 25 parties will receive lower house seats based on the proportional representation system in the military-backed constitution, implying many small parties will enter the ...

Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered security personnel to parts of the country prone to attacks by bandits. “I have ordered rapid and robust deployment of troops to all the areas currently under attack from bandits,” Buhari said in a statement. “We are determined to tackle this challenge ferociously until these remorseless killers are crushed and utterly defeated.” The attacks ...

The president has received from one of his employees, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a report that probably tells Ross’ employer what he wants to hear: that imports of cars — “The Audis are coming! The Audis are coming!” — threaten “national security.” This report is required by our lackadaisical Congress so it can pretend to be involved in setting trade ...