Post-Bloomberg news budget

Published 1:37 pm Friday, April 22, 2016

The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News budget for Thursday, April 7, 2016. The editors are Effie Dawson, Georganne Coco, Amy Orndorff and John Romero. All stories have moved unless otherwise noted. For questions about stories, photos or graphics, please call 202-334-7666.

Click here for the In Case You Missed It budget, which updates on Thursday.

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FIRST 30 STORIES ARE ADDED STARTERS SINCE 2 P.M. BUDGET

ENERGY-ROBERTSON – Julian Robertson, a top Republican donor and legendary hedge-fund manager, is backing a campaign to push the party’s candidates to support clean-energy policies. 500 words, by Zachary Mider (Bloomberg).

GRASSLEY-SCOTUS — WASHINGTON – Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is at peace with his obstructionist stance on President Obama’s high court pick. 835 words, by Steven T. Dennis (Bloomberg). One photo.

GOVERNOR-WOMEN — Protesting a new abortion law, women are calling Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to tell him about their periods; the women protesting include Christians and Republican voters. 695 word,s by Tusha Mittal (Post special).

AMAZON — In his annual shareholder letter, the Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos writes about decision-making, corporate cultures and the need for experimentation.715 words, by Jena McGregor (Post).

METLIFE – Court rules that the U.S. fails to show that MetLife is “too big to fail,” in a case that was a huge test of a central mission of the 2010 financial reform package. 520 words, by Renae Merle (Post).

SCOTUS-GOP-ANALYSIS – WASHINGTON – After their own brutal confirmation experiences, some conservatives are backing Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. 1,130 words, by Paul Kane (Post).

CAMPAIGN-DEMS – NEW YORK – Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton continue fierce feud over qualifications. 700 words, by Abby Phillip, John Wagner and Anne Gearan (Post).

ROBOTS – MIT researchers take the nascent field of 3D printing to a new level with the creation of 3D printed robots made of both solids and liquids. 340 words, by Matt McFarland (Post). One video.

DECLASSIFIED – How the ‘Panama Papers’ could help go after Assad’s wealth. 1130 words, by Eli Lake and Josh Rogin (Bloomberg).

MD-POLL – A new poll finds that, in Maryland, Hillary Clinton has a clear but narrowing lead over Bernie Sanders and that Donald Trump has a slight edge. 1000 words, by Fenit Nirappil and Emily Guskin (Post). One photo.

US-LIBYA — Does U.S. Africa Command think Libyan factions can come together to fight the Islamic State? Not necessarily. The new, fragile government will be key, the U.S. says. 468 words, by Missy Ryan (Post).

OBAMA-GOP-COMMENT — By inviting Fox into the imposing campus of the University of Chicago, and holding forth on the Supreme Court, Obama raises obvious questions about the legitimacy of his foes. 500 words, by Francis Wilkinson (Bloomberg).

AIRLINES – WASHINGTON – The battle over the shrinking airline seat was renewed on Capitol Hill Thursday as the Senate struck down an effort to end the leg and knee squeeze. 415 words, by Ashely Halsey III (Post).

TAX-COMMENT — Why tax avoidance is a lousy business strategy. 890 words, by Jared Bernstein (Post special).

JOBS-COMMENT — Trump is wrong about unemployment. But he’s not the only one. 1370 words, by Zachary Karabell (Post special).

IPHONE – The iPhone is replacing the conventional camera. 415 words, by Roberto A. Ferdman (Post).

VERINT — The maker of software that sifts through communications such as text messages, phone calls and email finds itself under increased scrutiny — from investors. 825 words, by Gabrielle Coppolla (Bloomberg).

GOP-STATES — Battles erupting across the country over gay rights and other social issues have put Republican candidates in a pinch, deepening fissures between the business interests and social conservatives. 1260 words, by Sandhya Somashekhar and Karen Tumulty (Post). One video.

CAMERON-OFFSHORE — British Prime Minister David Cameron says he had a stake in an offshore fund set up by his late father, Ian, until six years ago. 470 words, by Eddie Buckler (Bloomberg).

PHIPPS-OBIT — Ogden Mills Phipps, patriarch of a thoroughbred-breeding dynasty and scion of the Carnegie Steel empire, is dead. He was 75. 675 words, by Margaret Collins and Stephen Miller (Bloomberg).

LULULEMON – Lululemon expands its line of exclusive, peculiar shops. 610 words, by Kim Bhasin (Bloomberg).

TWIGGLE – Amazon.com Inc.’s proprietary e-commerce search engine, A9, may soon have a new competitor in the form of Yahoo Japan-backed Israeli startup Twiggle. 475 words, by Gwen Ackerman (Bloomberg).

PACSUN – Pacific Sunwear files bankruptcy as shifting tides cut sales. 670 words, by Steven Church, Dawn McCarty (Bloomberg).

BKO-SCIENCE – Why watching basketball is like watching evolution in action. 790 words, by Erin Blakemore (Post special).

CLIMATE-UNCERTAINTY – Clouds remain of the biggest mysteries about the climate — but learning more doesn’t mean we’ll receive good news. 930 words, by Chris Mooney (Post).

HEALTH-RACE-COMMENT – For blacks and Hispanics, a huge drop in the uninsured rate. 650 words, by Greg Sargent (Post).

AMTRAK — After Amtrak workers killed in crash, federal regulators order safety review. 550 words, by Ashley Halsey III (Post).

WILLIAMS-OBIT — Earle Williams, who built BDM into contracting giant, dies at 86. 625 words, by Bart Barnes (Post).

SEXASSAULT-COMMENT — Lawmaker raped as a child can’t get his bill passed for sex assault survivors.1,05 words, by Petula Dvorak (Post).

APPLE-ENCRYPT — FBI director: Unlocking method works on ‘narrow slice’ of iPhones. 910 words, by Mark Berman(Post).

END 5 P.M. ADDED STARTERS

Politics

LEE-SCOTUS – WASHINGTON – Key conservatives are pushing Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for the Supreme Court. 1,860 words, by James Hohmann (Post). One photo.

TRUMP-AIDE (1STLD) – WASHINGTON – Trump aide Paul Manafort is unafraid of controversial jobs. 1,455 words, by Catherine Ho (Post).

CAMPAIGN-ECON – Contrary to what happened in other recent elections in which incumbents weren’t in the race, uncertainty about future economic policy is on the decline, according to an index. 850 words, by Michelle Jamrisko (Bloomberg).

VIRGINIA-POLL – RICHMOND, Va. – Nearly a third of Virginia Republicans will vote for Hillary Clinton, pick a third-party candidate or sit out the election if Donald Trump is the GOP’s nominee for president, a new poll finds. 485 words, by Laura Vozzella (Post).

SANDERS-ANALYSIS- Why Bernie Sanders finally unloaded on Hillary Clinton. 635 words, by Chris Cillizza (Post).

CLINTON-ENCRYPT — How Hillary Clinton helped build WhatsApp’s state-of-the-art encryption. 1,500 words, by Elias Groll (Foreign Policy). One photo.

National

IRAN-DETAIN – WASHINGTON – The findings of the Navy’s investigation into how 10 U.S. sailors were detained by Iranian forces are forwarded to the service’s top officers. 670 words, by Dan Lamothe (Post).

OBAMA-SCOTUS – WASHINGTON – President Obama will return to the University of Chicago Law School to make the case that confirming his Supreme Court nominee is the best way for the nation to uphold its founding principles. 875 words, by Juliet Eilperin and Mike DeBonis (Post). Will update.

ENDOWMENTS – Endowments at Duke University, Case Western Reserve University and Pomona College paid out more to help operate the schools than they earned in the most recent fiscal year. 765 words, by Janet Lorin (Bloomberg).

DUKE – Duke responds to some of protesters’ demands, but they refuse to leave the administration building. 275 words, by Susan Svrluga (Post).

DIRTBIKES – WASHINGTON – Police in Washington, Virginia and Maryland announce a crackdown on dirt bikes. 550 words, by Peter Hermann (Post).

OKLAHOMA – Facing a $1.3 billion budget gap, Oklahoma is weighing how to get federal Affordable Care Act funds without expanding Medicaid. 695 words, by John Tozzi (Bloomberg).

TEXAS-EXECUTION – The state executes an inmate who said he drank his 12-year-old victim’s blood. 410 words, by Mark Berman (Post). Moved Wednesday.

VIRGINIA-INMATE – Attorney General Mark Herring asks court to declare a man innocent after DNA clears him following 33 years in jail. 475 words, by Derek Hawkins (Post). Moved Wednesday.

TURKEYS – Turkeys torment Teaneck, N.J. 545 words, by Yanan Wang (Post).

PATIENT-RECORDING – Patient secretly recorded doctors as they operated on her. 1,342 words, Yanan Wang (Post).

TEXAS-VIDEO – Video shows Texas school police officer body-slam 12-year-old girl. 935 words, by Lindsey Bever (Post). With video link.

SUNDQUIST-OBIT – WASHINGTON – The Brookings Institution scholar of politics who wrote speeches for President Truman and was an assistant to then-New York Gov. Averell Harriman dies. 525 words, by Bart Barnes (Post).

PARKING-TICKETS — After police ticket cars awaiting state inspection, Virginia passes law banning it. 800 words, by Tom Jackman (Post). One photo.

MARINE – The military has launched a new investigation of Marine Maj. Mark Thompson, the former Naval Academy instructor accused of sexual misconduct with two young women while they were students at the school. 920 words, by John Woodrow Cox (Post). Two photos.

International

LIBYA _ Virtually unknown in Libya until late 2015, Fayez Serraj is quickly emerging as his country’s best bet to escape five years of deepening turmoil. 990 words, by Saleh Sarrar, Caroline Alexander and John Follain (Bloomberg).

CONGO-BUFFETT _ A conservationist is betting that hydropower plants can save Africa’s oldest national park, protect the gorillas living there and bring economic development to Congo, with help from Warren Buffett’s son. 660 words, by Tom Wilson (Bloomberg).

IRAQ-SHIA – The chances of a Shia uprising against the Iraqi government are increasing. 930 words, by Toby Dodge (Foreign Policy). One photo.

PERU – LIMA, Peru – As Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori serves a 25-year jail term for kidnapping, directing death squads and other crimes, his family is poised for an improbable political comeback. 910 words, by Simeon Tegel (Post special). One photo.

ISLANDS-ANALYSIS – Clashes over fishing rights – not fuel – occur almost daily in the South China Sea, posing the greatest risk of a crisis or even armed conflict. 1,680 words, by Keith Johnson and Dan De Luce (Foreign Policy).

NKOREA – TOKYO – North Korea is gearing up for a crucial party congress with a t70-day loyalty campaign. 805 words, by Anna Fifield (Post).

NIRELAND – Sentencing of a Northern Ireland woman for aborting her pregnancy revives an old and bitter debate. 1,665 words, by Sarah Kaplan and Fred Barbash (Post).

SYRIA-POLICY – Fighters allied with the United States and Russia, long on opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, are both zeroing in on Islamic State’s center of gravity. 865 words, by Henry Meyer (Bloomberg).

CAUCASUS – Russia begins a diplomatic offensive to reinforce a cease-fire that halted the worst fighting in two decades between Armenians and Azeris over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. 600 words, by Zulfugar Agayev and Sara Khojoyan (Bloomberg).

SWEDEN – Arabic overtakes Finnish as second language of Sweden. 550 words, by Adam Taylor (Post).

OFFSHORE-CHINA – BEIJING – As Panama leaks spread, China’s “Red Nobility” would rather not talk about it. 1,000 words, by Emily Rauhala (Post).

OFFSHORE-PUTIN – MOSCOW – Putin denounces Panama Papers leaks as attempt to weaken Russia. 460 words, by Michael Birnbaum (Post).

FRANCE-WINE – Spain to France: Don’t dump 90,000 bottles of our wine into your streets. 420 words, by Siobhan O’Grady (Foreign Policy).

DUTCH – Dutch voters rebelled against a treaty between the European Union and Ukraine in a referendum, albeit on low turnout that fell short of the stampede that anti-EU campaigners hoped for. 730 words, by James G. Neuger (Bloomberg). Also moving DUTCH-POST.

Financial

INSULIN _ Drugmakers are introducing improved forms of insulin at a higher cost. But with diabetes tearing across the developing world, health officials say, the focus must return to meeting basic needs. 840 words, by Albertina Torsoli and Jason Gale (Bloomberg).

CHINA-INTERNET _ China’s internet giants are providing a haven for bond investors fleeing mounting default risks among the nation’s state-owned enterprises. 820 words, by Lianting Tu and David Yong (Bloomberg).

CHAMBER-COMMENT _ The U.S. Chamber of Commerce aligns with a trusted, and wealthy, few members. 980 words, by Barry Ritholtz (Bloomberg).

OFFSHORE-COMMENT _ The ‘Panama Papers’ actually reflect well on capitalism. 1110 words, by Megan McArdle (Bloomberg).

ONLINE-COMMENT _ Shopping online may not save you anything. 970 words, by Leonid Bershidsky (Bloomberg).

EUROPE-COMMENT _ New reasons to question health of Europe’s banks. 770 words, by Mark Gilbert (Bloomberg).

JOBS – Fewer Americans file for unemployment benefits last week, illustrating a healthy labor market that’s allowing workers to feel more secure in their jobs. 475 words, by Shobhana Chandra (Bloomberg).

TRUMP-WALLSTREET – Wall Street is betting Donald Trump will lose. 590 words, by Ylan Q. Mui (Post).

EUROPE-ECB – European Central Bank officials are underlining their readiness to ease monetary policy even more should fresh risks to the economic outlook arise. Developing, by Jeff Black, Piotr Skolimowski and Jeanna Smialek (Bloomberg).

INVEST – More investors are making the switch away from high-priced actively-managed mutual funds to passive, low-cost exchange-traded funds and index funds. 990 words, by Eric Balchunas (Bloomberg).

MANHATTAN – Apartment rents in Manhattan fall in March, the first annual decline in two years in a sign housing costs have approached the limits of what tenants are willing to pay. Developing, by Oshrat Carmiel (Bloomberg). One photo.

HOME-LENDING – Eight years after subprime mortgages all but disappeared, U.S. buyers with bad credit can still own homes, but the deals often end badly for low-income buyers. 1,495 words, by Heather Perlberg (Bloomberg). One photo.

OVERSEAS-IRELAND – The death of the Pfizer-Allergan merger leaves Ireland unfazed. 615 words, by Dara Doyle (Bloomberg).

CHICAGO-BONDS — Chicago’s biggest bondholders are showing optimism that the nation’s third-largest city will work its way out of a pension crisis, even after the Illinois Supreme Court rejected Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to ease $20 billion of unfunded retirement obligations. 900 words, by Elizabeth Campbell (Bloomberg).

COMFORT — Consumer comfort inches lower last week, according to Bloomberg’s index. 385 words, by Michelle Jamrisko (Bloomberg).

PAYDAY-LOANS — Charlie Hallinan, who pioneered the tactics payday lenders have used for years to stymie state regulators, is indicted on federal conspiracy and fraud charges. 420 words, by Zeke Faux (Bloomberg).

TECH-FUNDING — Venture capitalists made fewer bets in the United States last quarter, while putting a larger proportion of their money into the most mature private companies. 345 words, by Olivia Zaleski (Bloomberg).

RUSSIA-IMPORTS – Russia’s craving for imports is unabated despite Vladimir Putin’s drive to promote domestic alternatives. 1,130 words, by Anna Andrianova (Bloomberg). One photo.

CANADA-ENERGY — Canada’s oil and gas companies will slash investments by 35 percent in 2016, a record two-year decline that underscores a need for new pipelines, the industry’s main advocacy group says. 415 words, by Josh Wingrove (Bloomberg).

VW — The rift between VW’s workers and executives deepens after powerful labor leaders says they have lost faith in management and demand job protections. 540 words, by Christoph Rauwald (Bloomberg).

BOEING — Boeing lands new four orders valued at $1.5 billion for its 747 jumbo jetliners, giving life to a program starved for sales amid waning demand for four-engine aircraft. 350 words, by Julie Johnsson (Bloomberg).

WYNN — Wynn Resorts Ltd. is building a lake resort behind its two Las Vegas casinos, creating a place for water-skiing and paddle-boarding just off the desert city’s famous Strip. 515 words, by Christopher Palmeri (Bloomberg).

CARGILL (1STLD) — Cargill Inc., the 151-year-old company that’s one of the biggest players in the global agriculture markets, sees no improvement on the horizon for slumping crop prices. 560 words, by Shruti Date Singh (Bloomberg).

JAPAN-LOEB – Activist investor Dan Loeb prevails in his latest battle to reform corporate Japan. 845 words, by Craig Trudell, Monami Yui and Shigeru Sato (Bloomberg). One photo.

SAMSUNG – Samsung posts a better-than expected first-quarter profit after the early release of Galaxy S7 smartphones. 810 words, by Jungah Lee (Bloomberg). Two photos.

DIDI – China’s largest ride-shyaring service raises the target on its latest round of funding to more than $1.5 billion. 475 words, by Lulu Yilun Chen (Bloomberg).

WHOLEFOODS – What to expect from Whole Foods’ new, low-price grocery chain. 740 words, by Sarah Halzack (Post). One photo.

WATERCOOLER — Watercooler: How to deal with deadbeat bosses. 500 words, by Karla L. Miller (Post special).

Health, science and environment

NATIVE-AMERICANS -In ancient DNA, the story of how Native Americans thrived – and then were wiped out. 920 words, by Sarah Kaplan (Post).

BLACKHOLES – Our universe might be as hole-riddled as Swiss cheese, according to a study published in Nature. 400 words, by Rachel Feltman (Post).

FOODWASTE – Study: We’re producing way more food than the world actually needs — but a lot of it goes to waste. 1,230 words, by Chelsea Harvey (Post special).

MOBYDICK _ One hundred and sixty-five years years after Herman Melville wrote the classic Moby Dick, an international team of scientists has finally tackled the question: Would a sperm whale actually use its massive noggin as a battering ram to down a whaling ship five times the animal’s size? 805 words, by Karin Brulliard (Post). Two illustrations.

Commentary

SANDERS-COMMENT – Bernie Sanders says we’re “destroying the moral fabric” of America. He’s wrong. 670 words, by Jeffrey R. Immelt (Post special).

GOP-COMMENT _ A convention coup endangers Republican party. 740 words, by Francis Wilkinson (Bloomberg).

IMMIG-COMMENT _ Obama’s wobbly legal victory on immigration. 960 words, by Noah Feldman (Bloomberg).

MONOPOLIES-COMMENT _ Monopolies are no fun and games for economic growth. 850 words, by Noah Smith (Bloomberg).

MARIJUANA-COMMENT _ Read the law, judge, to see that marijuana can be a sacrament. 800 words, by Noah Feldman (Bloomberg).

DUTCH-COMMENT _ Dutch voters snub Kiev, not Brussels. 1060 words, by Leonid Bershidsky (Bloomberg).

CHINA-DEBT-COMMENT _ Just how dire is China’s bad debt problem? 700 words, by Christopher Balding (Bloomberg).

BRITAIN-COMMENT _ When the ‘kindness of strangers’ is no longer enough. 890 words, by Therese Raphael (Bloomberg).

Features

SANDERS-FOOD – Bernie Sanders eats locally raised meat and drinks pinot. Does that make him a foodie? 1,180 words, by Tom Sietsema (Post). One photo.

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