Bloomberg Donald Trump called on the Venezuelan military to drop its support for Nicolas Maduro in a Miami speech critical of socialism, previewing attacks he may deploy against Democrats in his re-election campaign. “The twilight hour of socialism has arrived in our hemisphere and frankly in many, many places around the world,†Trump said to an audience at Florida International ...
Read More »Brazil’s Bolsonaro fires political ally
Bloomberg Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired a key political ally and cabinet member amid a campaign funding scandal, raising doubts over his government’s unity and the prospect of economic reforms. Secretary-General Gustavo Bebianno’s dismissal was confirmed by the presidential spokesman, after days of intense speculation. The ruling PSL party that Bebianno headed and Bolsonaro joined less than a year ago ...
Read More »Abe to press Trump to raise missing Japanese with Kim
Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will press Donald Trump to raise the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea when the US president meets leader Kim Jong-un next week for nuclear talks. Japan has been pushing to have its position heard on the emotive domestic issue of abductees during Trump’s summit with Kim, planned for February 27-28 in Hanoi. ...
Read More »Donald Trump’s red line is turning blue
President Trump has been insisting for so long that any investigation of his personal finances would cross a “red line” that people may have overlooked the outrageousness of his claim. But this self-declared immunity is about to change. We’re entering a new phase of the Trump-Russia investigation, where the president’s efforts to contain the probe are failing. Information he tried ...
Read More »Google, Facebook’s next big fight
For many people, it probably sounds a little rich to hear the European Union (EU) accuse Silicon Valley of being a graveyard of innovation. But that’s where we are in 2019. Regulators are hitting the likes of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. with a flurry of antitrust fines and data-privacy probes, implying that they regard tech billionaires as more ...
Read More »China is putting a pretty face on Shiseido’s sales
As global retailers struggle to keep Chinese consumers shopping, Japan’s oldest cosmetics brand is flourishing there. Almost to a fault. Last week, Shiseido Co. posted an 8.9 percent rise in 2018 sales to 1.049 trillion yen ($9.51 billion) and a 34.7 percent climb in operating profit to 108.4 billion yen. Yet fourth-quarter operating profit slid 29 percent compared with a ...
Read More »The multibillion-dollar inflation scandal of UK
Rarely has a multibillion-dollar scandal been quite so boring. For years, the UK has measured inflation using rival indicators, notably the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and the Consumer Prices Index. Each has its place. CPI is used by the Bank of England to guide monetary policy, for instance, while RPI is used as the reference rate for inflation-protected government bonds. ...
Read More »May’s Brexit plan found at the bottom of a glass
Olly Robbins has become the one thing a British civil servant must never be: the news. The government’s most senior Brexit negotiator, the ultimate safe pair of hands, was overheard by an ITV journalist in a Brussels bar this week openly contradicting Theresa May’s policy on at least three fronts. He may, though, have done everyone a favour by bringing ...
Read More »Europe’s Amundi does more with less
Size alone wasn’t enough to shield Amundi SA from the market turmoil that prompted investors to pull money from the asset management industry as a whole in the fourth quarter. But bulk is helping Europe’s biggest fund manager weather the storm better than its competitors. Net outflows of 6.5 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in the final three months of last ...
Read More »Imagine Canada becoming a tax haven for Americans
Taxes on rich Americans are probably going up if Democrats win both the presidency and Congress anytime soon. Whether it’s to provide revenue for more government spending on health care or the environment, or simply to reduce inequality, it seems likely that the well-off will pay more. The idea receives wide support. Exactly which type of taxes would go up, ...
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