Bloomberg US-led reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan since 2002 are linked to the deaths or injuries of more than 5,100 people in addition to more than $130 billion in financial costs, according to a new report on America’s longest war. Some 2,214 people were killed and another 2,921 wounded while taking part in reconstruction and stabilisation missions across the war-ravaged nation ...

Bloomberg Ukraine is pressing Iran to send the so-called black box recorders from the Boeing Co plane that crashed after taking off from Tehran last month, Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said. “The black box and cooperation with Tehran was the very difficult issue from the beginning and we will try to keep the message” focussed on recovering the data, ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) has set out an ambitious timetable for its strategic review that could see a decision on whether to change its inflation goal by the summer, according to euro-area officials. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is confidential, the officials described a rushed agenda under President Christine Lagarde, who reached her 100th day ...

Bloomberg China will allow local governments to sell another 848 billion yuan ($122 billion) of debt before March, as authorities seek to offset the economic shock of the coronavirus. The new quota includes 558 billion yuan of local government debt as well as 290 billion yuan of so-called special debt, according to a Ministry of Finance statement on Tuesday. The ...

Bloomberg Mastercard Inc won approval to set up a bank card clearing business in China, gaining access to a $27 trillion payments market as part of the nation’s financial opening. The announcement by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Tuesday signals the country is moving ahead with the speedier opening of its financial system that was agreed on as ...

Bloomberg When a former Yes Bank Ltd executive started selling his stake in September, the Indian lender’s top managers watched for any sign that the resulting drop in share price would trigger a rush to withdraw deposits. The stock sales came as customers of a regional lender — Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Ltd — were lining up outside its ...

Bloomberg Local Chinese banking regulators are urging lenders to increase their tolerance for bad loans and lower profit targets as the coronavirus hits at businesses across the country. Over the weekend, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s Zhengjiang branch asked banks in the region to be more lenient on bad loans and reduce their profit targets. The local bank watchdog ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA expects to cut 6,000 jobs and close 450 branches in Italy as Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier sets his three year-efficiency plan in motion. The reductions and closures will take place through 2023, according to a letter sent to unions and seen by Bloomberg News. The Italian redundancies are part of a plan announced in December ...

Bloomberg Lebanon needs the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to draft a rescue plan and decide whether to repay its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, the Annahar newspaper cited one of the country’s longest-serving politicians and a member of the ruling coalition as saying. With the country facing its worst financial crisis in decades after months of ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration’s indictment of Chinese military personnel over one of the biggest data thefts in US history highlights a key source of animosity remaining between the two sides after their “phase one” trade deal. The US Department of Justice announced the charges against four People’s Liberation Army members over a 2017 hack of credit reporting agency Equifax Inc, ...