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Bloomberg The southwest monsoon that waters about half of India’s farmland arrived in the country slightly ahead of its normal schedule, giving a boost to farmers planting rice to soybeans crops in coming weeks. Monsoon rain has reached the southern state of Kerala, K. J. Ramesh, chief of India Meteorological Department, said by phone. The June-September rainy period typically starts ...

Bloomberg Four months into Donald Trump’s presidency, the sky has not fallen in on the system of global governance the US did so much to construct since World War II. It is, however, in deep trouble. Trump has not followed through on pre-election threats to declare the North Atlantic Treaty Organization obsolete, abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement, accept ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has unsettled allies, as well as Americans, Senator John McCain said during a speech in Sydney on the future of U.S. relations with Asia. McCain —the chairman of U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and the Republican presidential nominee in 2008—said on Tuesday that Australia wasn’t alone in questioning whether America was still committed to upholding peace ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, ordered an investigation into how the final components of a controversial U.S. missile shield had arrived in the country without his knowledge. The president initiated the probe after learning that a complete set of six launchers were on South Korean soil, Moon’s spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, told a news conference Tuesday. Previous Defense Ministry ...

Bloomberg The path is beginning to clear for Italians to head back to the polls as the country’s main political parties near a deal on a new electoral law. Italy’s biggest parties are considering a proportional system similar to the German model with a 5 percent cut-off for smaller parties, and lawmakers are due to discuss a first draft of ...

Bloomberg Singapore fined Credit Suisse Group AG and United Overseas Bank Ltd. a total of S$1.6 million ($1.2 million) as regulators completed a two-year review of banks involved in fund flows linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB. Credit Suisse was fined S$700,000 while UOB has to pay S$900,000 for breaches of anti-money laundering requirements and control lapses, the Monetary ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was denounced by the head of Venezuela’s legislature over a report that the bank bought $2.8 billion of bonds from that country, potentially helping President Nicolas Maduro’s administration amid accusations of human-rights violations. The investment bank’s asset management arm paid about $865 million, or 31 cents on the dollar, for bonds issued in 2014 by ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Al Hilal Bank was awarded two awards including the Best New Loyalty Program for its Joud Rewards Program and Best Innovative Banking Services Award for its EIDA Card by Banker Middle East UAE Product Awards. Alex Coelho, the Chief Executive Officer of Al Hilal Bank said: “It is our mandate to maintain the highest levels ...

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabian lender Alawwal Bank, 40 percent owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, has picked JPMorgan to advise it on a proposed merger with Saudi British Bank (SABB), sources familiar with the matter said. Senior management of SABB and Alawwal held talks with advisers to discuss the principle of the merger and timeframe for its completion, one ...

Bloomberg Commerzbank AG has sent out early retirement offers to about 3,000 employees, a first key step in the German lender’s move towards cutting 9,600 jobs over four years, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The offer entitles eligible employees born before 1962 to a 30,000-euro ($34,000) sweetener, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal ...