September, 2016

• 18 September

  As divided Fed meets, economic data favour standing pat

  

  Washington / AFP Two months ago, disagreements at the heart of the US Federal Reserve spilled out into the open, with policymakers squaring off over the near-term threat of inflation. And yet as the Federal Open Market Committee prepares to meet again next Tuesday and Wednesday to review interest rate policy, widespread expectations are that, for a sixth consecutive meeting, ...

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• 18 September

  Renzi scolds Germany, France over EU regulations

  

    Bloomberg Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, facing a key referendum at home later this year, accused Germany, France and Spain of breaking European Union rules on deficit control and spending in an interview with Corriere della Sera. Nations “will have to justify themselves for failing to respect the rules,” he told the Italian newspaper. “The size of Spain’s deficit ...

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• 18 September

  Basel rule blitz forces Danes to fix $420bn bond market

    BLOOMBERG Denmark’s government is ready to tackle liquidity shortages that have hit the world’s biggest market for mortgage-backed covered bonds, as it addresses risks that both the industry and investors warn are a serious side-effect of global regulation. Business Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Bloomberg he will back a proposal by a government-appointed panel to stop forcing mortgage lenders ...

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• 18 September

  Money isn’t everything as Poles turn to Germany

    Bloomberg The U.K. is losing its appeal for Poles seeking work abroad. While Britain is still home to more Polish expatriates than any other European country, Germany has become more of a lure, with about 41,000 moving there in 2015. That’s the fourth consecutive year that Europe’s biggest economy has been more attractive to them than the U.K. In ...

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• 18 September

  Global Fund collects $13 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and TB

  

    Montreal / AFP Donors pledged nearly $13 billion on Saturday in the fight to eradicate AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at an international conference. “It is my great honor to announce that for the fifth replenishment conference for the Global Fund to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, we have reached our goal ...

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• 18 September

  Syria truce teeters on brink after US-led raid kills troops

  

    Beirut / AFP Syria’s ceasefire was hanging by a thread on Sunday, after tensions escalated between Moscow and Washington over a US-led coalition air strike that killed dozens of Syrian soldiers battling extremists. The truce saw violence drop across Syria for several days after it came into force Monday, but fighting has since erupted on several fronts and besieged ...

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• 18 September

  ‘Iran supports any move to stabilise oil market’

    Dubai / Reuters Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran supports any move to stabilise the global oil market and lift prices, the Iranian oil ministry news agency SHANA quoted him as saying on Sunday. “Instability and falling oil prices are harmful to all countries, especially oil producers,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by SHANA. “Tehran welcomes any move aimed ...

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• 18 September

  Rival Libya forces battle anew for oil ports

  

    Benghazi / AFP Forces loyal to Libya’s UN-backed unity government launched an offensive on Sunday aimed at retaking key eastern oil ports seized last week by fighters from a rival administration. The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord has struggled to assert its authority over the country since the GNA was formed in December last year. Oil is Libya’s key ...

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• 18 September

  Besieged Syrian kids play with swings made of rockets

  

    Washington / AFP Syrian children love playgrounds like kids all over the world but in rebel-held towns near Damascus swing sets are made of spent rockets and jungle gyms are tucked underground. Eastern Ghouta, a besieged opposition stronghold east of Damascus, has been battered by regime air strikes and shelling since Syria’s conflict erupted more than five years ago. ...

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• 18 September

  17 soldiers, 4 militants killed in Kashmir terror attack

  

    Srinagar / AFP Militants armed with guns and grenades killed 17 soldiers in a raid on Sunday on an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir, the worst such attack for more than a decade in the disputed Himalayan region. The rebels broke into the base near the town of Uri before dawn and lobbed the grenades at tents and barracks ...

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