Bloomberg Polish employer groups are voicing alarm over government plans to nearly double the minimum wage and hike social security fees, saying that businesses and the wider economy will face major risks from fast-rising costs. Seeking to further boost its poll-leading standings ahead of next month’s general election, Poland’s ruling party has pledged to raise the minimum wage by 78 ...

Bloomberg Taiwan has signalled to US officials that it will move swiftly to complete the purchase of 66 new F-16 fighters once congressional foreign relations committees complete their review this month, according to a State Department official. The department formally notified Congress on August 20 that it approved the sale, which includes munitions, defensive electronics and a top-of-the line fire-control ...

Bloomberg The US Navy has asserted that the recent passage of its guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E Meyer in waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea is consistent with its stance on international law that allows freedom of navigation, according to a statement on Saturday. “China, Taiwan, and Vietnam each claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands,“ the ...

Bloomberg The Taliban sent a team to Russia, and plans to visit China, Iran and Central Asian states to gauge support for the US to be forced to leave Afghanistan, Reuters reported, citing the group’s officials. The group wants to keep regional leaders informed about the breakdown of the talks and US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend the process ...

Bloomberg A pact between Malaysia’s biggest opposition parties is set to pose a key challenge to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s multiracial coalition that has sought to win support from the Malay Muslim majority. United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) the largest party in the alliance that ruled the country for six decades before being ousted last year, and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party ...

Bloomberg Three-and-a-half years after he quit as British prime minister in the wake of the Brexit referendum, David Cameron has got his revenge on the man he blames for his defeat: Boris Johnson. In an interview with the Times newspaper ahead of the publication of his memoirs next week, Cameron accused Johnson of originally campaigning for Brexit not because he ...

Bloomberg US Supreme Court decision preventing thousands of migrants from claiming asylum at the border threatens families as safety and health deteriorate for a suddenly immobile population, say immigration lawyers and activists. The travellers, many with small children, are now rushing to find housing, food and medical care as they’re stuck in dangerous Mexican border cities for far longer than ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at boosting its share of the $4 trillion US market for exchange-traded funds — even mimicking one of its Wall Street foes. The bank is adopting an approach pioneered by JPMorgan Chase & Co, filing for a line of broad-based index products that could start trading at rock-bottom ...

Bloomberg Vietnam’s central bank cut interest rates for the first time in more than two years to bolster the economy amid rising global risks. The benchmark refinance rate will be lowered to 6 percent from 6.25 percent from September 16, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said on its website. The discount rate and overnight lending rate in the inter-bank market ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG will benefit the most by far from the European Central Bank’s new tiered deposit rate, JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts led by Kian Abouhossein said. Germany’s largest lender stands to save roughly 200 million euros ($222 million) in annual interest payments thanks to a new rule that exempts a big chunk of the money it holds ...