Canadian oil price surge fails to lift producers out of doldrums

Bloomberg Alberta’s crude curtailment plan has caused a dramatic rise in the price of heavy Canadian oil. But for shares of energy companies, it hasn’t been as much of a help. Since the production curtailment was unveiled early last month, Western Canadian Select crude has almost doubled to about $43 a barrel, narrowing its discount to benchmark US oil to ...

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EU faces split over delaying Brexit by a year, say diplomats

Bloomberg European Union governments disagree over how long they think the UK should delay Brexit, with some pushing for an extension of as much as a year, diplomats said. While some countries think the EU should offer Britain a generous period to negotiate a deal that will win the backing of Parliament, possibly after a second referendum, others oppose a ...

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10 UN peacekeepers killed in Mali attack

Bloomberg Militants operating in northern Mali killed 10 Chadian soldiers and injured 25 others in one of the deadliest attacks on the United Nation’s peacekeeping mission in the west African nation. An unknown number of assailants in armed vehicles struck the base in Aguelhok in northern Mali, according to a statement from the local UN peacekeeping mission. Peacekeepers pursued the ...

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Chinese president calls for political stability

Bloomberg President Xi Jinping stressed the need to maintain political stability in a rare meeting of China’s top leaders — a fresh sign the ruling party was growing concerned about the social implications of the slowing economy. Xi told a “seminar” of top provincial leaders and ministers in Beijing that the Communist Party needed a greater sense of urgency “to ...

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Trump, Democrats inch closer amid ‘shutdown sniping’

Bloomberg Donald Trump and senior Democrats took their first steps towards a possible compromise deal on immigration and border security over the weekend, even as the president ramped up his feud with Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the government shutdown in its fifth week. It’s not clear whether Trump’s olive branch will yield fruitful negotiations, given that Democrats want the government ...

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Putin takes hard line on Japan island row

Bloomberg As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads for talks in Moscow this week in hopes of resolving a 70-year-old dispute over four small islands, President Vladimir Putin is showing him a deal won’t be painless. While Abe has pushed for progress in a dispute that has prevented the countries from formally ending their World War II hostilities, Russian rhetoric ...

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Insurgents plan attacks in Nigeria, says minister

Bloomberg Nigeria’s government has evidence that Boko Haram extremists as well as armed bandits are planning to carry out attacks across the nation ahead of elections next month, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said. “We have credible intelligence that armed bandits and Boko Haram insurgents have been mobilised to engage in massive attacks and other acts of violence in several states ...

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Europe stocks, S&P futures dip on mixed trade news

Bloomberg European stocks and US equity futures slipped on Monday while Asian markets posted modest gains as investors assessed the latest headlines on the economy and trade. The dollar was steady, while bonds in Europe were mixed. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was on course for its first drop in five days, tracking S&P 500 futures lower on what is ...

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Baht adds to Thai trade challenges

Bloomberg A surge in the baht is adding to the challenges facing Thailand’s trade-dependent economy this year as exports decline. The baht’s climb of about 5 percent against the dollar in the past six months is the strongest in the world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Exports are already suffering from the US-China trade war and fell in December ...

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India mulls $9.8bn plan to pay cash to farmers

Bloomberg India is considering a plan to transfer cash to farmers to ease their financial burden instead of offering subsidies, people with knowledge of the matter said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is planning to combine all farm subsidies, including fertiliser costs, and instead pay farmers cash, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public. ...

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