September, 2020

• 12 September

  Afghan peace talks begin as US eyes exit from years of war

  

  Bloomberg Afghanistan’s government and Taliban leaders began historic peace talks on Saturday in a bid to end two decades of war, in a meeting that was fraught with tension over what the insurgent group will demand in return for laying down its arms. Meeting in an enormous hotel conference room in Doha, Qatar, the two sides promised to negotiate in ...

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• 12 September

  ‘US concerned over detained HK activists’

  

  Bloomberg The US is “deeply concerned” about 12 Hong Kong pro-democratic activists held in mainland China who have been denied access to lawyers of their choice, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The activists were arrested two weeks ago off the coast of Hong Kong by Guangdong Maritime Police. Local authorities haven’t provided information on their welfare or charges ...

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• 12 September

  China, India agree to ease tension on Himalayan border

  

  Bloomberg India and China pledged to de-escalate tensions along their disputed Himalayan border after their foreign ministers met Thursday for the first time since May when the stand-off began. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, agreed that “the current situation in the border area is not in the interests of both sides,” according to a joint ...

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• 12 September

  Suga stresses US-Japan alliance as key

  

  Bloomberg Yoshihide Suga, the front-runner to become Japan’s next premier, emphasized the importance of the nation’s alliance with the US for the country’s foreign policy. “With the US-Japan alliance at the foundation, it is important for Japan to get along with other Asian nations,” Suga said in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday at the Japan National Press Club. While ...

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• 12 September

  Raids on Chinese reporters in Australia ‘appalling’: Xinhua

  

  Bloomberg Australian raids on Chinese journalists living in that country were “imperious” and “utterly appalling,” and are damaging relations between the two nations, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said. Australian authorities confiscated computers and phones in raids on four Chinese journalists’ homes, including that of a Xinhua employee, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. The operation was conducted by ...

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• 12 September

  Duterte tells Chinese official to follow law in sea dispute

  Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe that South China Sea disputes must be resolved using international law, including a treaty used as the basis for a 2016 ruling that refuted China’s claims in the area. Duterte met with the Chinese official and emphasized that disputes “must be resolved peacefully in full accord with the United ...

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• 12 September

  America’s $20tn debt pile gets cheaper as it grows

  

  Bloomberg The US government is paying less as it borrows more, one reason investors appear more comfortable than Congress about funding another leg of stimulus. Interest payments in the federal budget declined about 10% in the first 11 months of this fiscal year, when America was running up its biggest deficit since World War II. Over the next few years, ...

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• 12 September

  Sunak urged to extend UK’s furlough scheme

  

  Bloomberg Rishi Sunak should extend wage support for UK workers in the hardest-hit sectors, lawmakers said amid warnings from economists, labour unions and opposition parties about a looming wave of job cuts. The chancellor of the exchequer must also devise a plan to help companies that plunged into debt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, or risk prolonging the ...

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• 12 September

  Spain is seeking to tax Facebook, Google services as phone carriers

  

  Bloomberg Spain will seek to tax all companies that operate telecommunications services, such as calls and instant messaging, according to Telecommunications Secretary Roberto Sanchez. Under a new law proposed by the government, “all operators who provide telecommunication services without having to provide phone numbers, such as WhatsApp” and Telegram would have to register as telecommunications operators and would be taxed ...

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• 12 September

  Canada’s household debt ratio falls in H1

  Bloomberg Canadian household indebtedness improved in the first half of 2020 as government support kept incomes afloat amid the pandemic. Household credit market debt dropped to 158.2% of disposable income in the second quarter, from 175.4% previously, Statistics Canada said in Ottawa. That’s due to an 11% increase in household disposable income, while stock of credit market debt remained relatively ...

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