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  Vienna / AFP The UN refugee agency said on Wednesday Austria is in danger of breaking a decades-old tradition of helping those in need, after Vienna moved a step closer to potentially shutting its borders to migrants. “Since World War II, Austria has always adhered to the tradition of protecting refugees. Access to the asylum process has always been a ...

  Istanbul / AFP Washington and Ankara are ready to work together to push IS extremists out of their self-declared Syrian capital of Raqa, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments published on Wednesday. Erdogan said he had agreed with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in China to do “what is necessary” to drive ...

  Berlin / AFP Chancellor Angela Merkel called on her ruling coalition on Wednesday to resist pressure to change its refugee policy after a stinging defeat to the upstart anti-migrant AfD in regional polls at the weekend. In her first address to parliament since Sunday’s election in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Merkel defended her welcoming stance to refugees ...

  Paris/ AFP Gabon’s Ali Bongo on Wednesday rejected criticism of his disputed presidential election victory, accusing EU observers of bias towards his rival and insisting that only the country’s top court could order a recount. Oil-rich Gabon has been in turmoil since the August 27 poll, in which Bongo’s rival Jean Ping also claimed victory. Several people have been killed ...

  Bloomberg China’s four biggest banks reported that staff numbers fell by the most in at least six years in the first half, highlighting the possibility that employment has peaked at the firms that are the world’s biggest providers of banking jobs. A decline of 1.5 percent from the end of last year left 1.62 million workers at Agricultural Bank ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged following July’s surprise cut, as policy makers wait to see if the government will adopt additional stimulus measures in its budget next month. Bank Negara Malaysia kept the overnight policy rate at 3 percent, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday. The decision was predicted by 14 ...

  Bloomberg Poland’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at a record low for a 17th month as economic growth stabilized around 3 percent and deflation stretched into a third year. The 10-member Monetary Policy Council on Wednesday left the seven-day reference rate at 1.5 percent, matching the predictions of all 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Adam ...

  Reuters The chief banking officer of Bank ABC, Ray Ferguson, will step down from his position at the Bahraini lender in early 2017, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Ferguson, hired from Standard Chartered in 2014, had been tasked with helping to formulate and implement a refreshed strategy at the bank which included expanding abroad ...

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank might need to change the rules of the game if it wants to keep playing in the bond market. President Mario Draghi’s 1.7 trillion-euro ($1.9 trillion) asset-purchase program is scheduled to end in just six months, but euro-area inflation is still weak and the full shock of the UK’s Brexit vote could be yet ...

  Bloomberg Air Canada plans to ease its debt load and push back maturities to cut costs as the airline industry wrestles with overcapacity and weak fares. The airline intends to redeem $700 million of US dollar first- and second-lien bonds maturing in 2019 and 2020, as well as C$300 million ($233 million) of Canadian dollar bonds maturing in 2019, ...