WASHINGTON (AFP) – U.S. President Donald Trump blocked an unsolicited bid by Singapore-based Broadcom to take over smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm, citing national security concerns.
Trump issued an order barring the proposed mega-acquisition on Monday, saying there is credible evidence such a deal "threatens to impair the national security of the United States," according to a White House statement.
The order came despite Broadcom's assurances that it would complete its move to the United States by early April, ahead of a previously-planned Qualcomm shareholder vote on the $117 billion deal -- meaning any national security concerns were moot.
One analyst said Trump likely had China concerns, possible Broadcom's relationship with entities there or the fact that the only company other than Qualcomm investing heavily in long-term mobile chip research is Huawei.

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STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) -- Italian right-wing leader Matteo Salvini denounced the European Union as "destroyers" Tuesday for policies he said robbed citizens of the right to hope, a week after his League party became parliament's second-biggest in a national election.
The March 4 vote ended in political gridlock, with Salvini, a tough critic of EU-imposed budget austerity and Italy's migrant inflow, jockeying for power with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which emerged as the single largest party.
Neither group has enough seats to govern alone, leaving the country's president with the delicate task of persuading rivals on the fractured political scene to team up and run the country.
The League surpassed the Forza Italia (FI) of Silvio Berlusconi in the elections, weakening the former premier's claim to temper his partners' more radical ideas, especially regarding Brussels and the single currency.

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SEOUL (Reuters) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't believe North Korea will use summits with the United States and South Korea to buy time to pursue its nuclear and missile programs, South Korea's presidential office said on Tuesday.
"North Korea has big negotiations to make at the inter-Korean summit and later its summit with the United States and in light of the situation I don't think (North Korea) will use this opportunity to simply buy time," Abe was cited as saying by the Blue House in a statement.
Abe was speaking to South Korea's National Intelligence Service Suh Hoon earlier in the day. Suh was visiting Tokyo to brief officials there on his visit to North Korea and later the United States regarding denuclearzation talks with Pyongyang.

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MADRID (AFP) -- Spanish police said Tuesday they had arrested 155 mostly Chinese nationals after busting a gang that trafficked Chinese migrants into Britain and Ireland for $25,000 per person.
The arrests, which included four alleged ringleaders detained in Barcelona, came after a three-year investigation, police said in a statement.
"The dismantled network was extremely hermetic, structured and hierarchical," they said.
Officials launched the probe after Barcelona airport staff noticed a significant rise in fake identity papers used by Chinese nationals headed for Britain.
"Each victim paid $25,000 for the trip and once they'd arrived in the European Schengen zone, they would temporarily stay in flats in different parts" of the northeastern region of Catalonia "until they got their fake papers" made in China, police said.
They added that five Chinese illegal migrants had agreed to testify against the gang in exchange for entering a witness protection program.

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ADDIS ABABA (AP) -- Ethiopia's state-affiliated broadcaster says that a bus plunged into a ditch, killing 38 people in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region.
Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday that the bus veered off the road and went into the trench. It said an additional 10 people were injured.
The broadcaster reported that most of the victims were university students. It said the accident happened in the south Wollo area.
Ethiopia is upgrading its road system but dilapidated roads, inadequate driving skills and poor conditions of vehicles contribute to road traffic deaths. According to a report in Ethiopia last year, traffic accidents claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people in the country between 2014 and 2017.

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KATHMANDU (AFP) -- Nepal's lawmakers Tuesday elected President Bidya Bhandari for a second term, extending the tenure of the Himalayan nation's first female head of state for another five years.
Bhandari took nearly two-thirds of the vote to retain her position as ceremonial head of state, the election commission confirmed.
Bhandari, who was backed by the ruling Communist bloc, was widely expected to defeat her sole opponent.
Her first five years in office have been largely uncontroversial.
Critics say she has not done enough to advance women's rights in deeply patriarchal Nepal -- though her role is largely ceremonial.
Late last year she signed into law a revamp of the country's ancient penal code, which criminalises the dowry system and bans an old Hindu practice that banishes woman from the home while menstruating.
The 56-year-old took up politics in her teens, joining the fight to overturn the monarchy's centuries-long rule and later marrying a fellow communist, Madan Bhandari.