Iraqi forces to launch assault on Mosul in Oct

  Washington / AFP Iraqi security forces will be ready by next month for an assault on the IS stronghold of Mosul, the top general in the US military said on Wednesday. “We assess today that the Iraqis will have in early October all the forces marshaled, trained, fielded, equipped that are necessary for operations in Mosul,” General Joe Dunford, ...

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USA spying on NAM summit: Venezuela

  Caracas / AFP Venezuela accused the United States of spying on a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit it recently hosted, saying Venezuelan fighter jets had intercepted a US surveillance plane and forced it to turn back. President Nicolas Maduro’s latest beef with Washington comes after Venezuela hosted leaders from the 120-member group on the Caribbean island of Margarita last weekend, ...

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Obama urges 50 nations to take in 360,000 refugees

  United Nations / AFP US President Barack Obama urged countries to “welcome the stranger in our midst” at a summit that drew pledges from 50 countries to take in 360,000 refugees. Speaking at a US-led refugee summit at the United Nations, Obama praised Germany and Canada among other countries for opening up their doors to those fleeing the war ...

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BoJ overhauls policy to boost inflation

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s central bank on Wednesday unveiled a surprise overhaul of monetary policy, promising to redouble attempts to fuel inflation and kickstart the torpid economy. After a hotly anticipated meeting, the Bank of Japan said it would set a target for 10-year government bond yields to try to push them higher, while delaying a further cut in ...

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China’s PSBC raises $7.4bn in Hong Kong IPO

  Hong Kong / AFP Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) is set to raise $7.4 billion in its Hong Kong initial public offering, which is expected to be the world’s biggest flotation this year, reports said Wednesday. The listing is also poised to be the biggest since Chinese internet giant Alibaba floated in New York in 2014, raising $25 billion. ...

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HSBC: EU banks to cope with Basel capital revamp

Bloomberg New global banking rules are set to be “heavily watered down” to a level banks European can manage without major capital raising, according to HSBC Holdings Plc analysts. The revamp of the capital framework under discussion at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will probably boost capital requirements by less than 10 percent when implemented in Europe, allowing banks ...

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Goldman romps past JPMorgan in Wall Street battle of ETF newbies

  Bloomberg Two of the financial industry’s biggest names — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. — are in the race for Wall Street supremacy in the $3 trillion global market for exchange-traded funds. Goldman Sachs won the first leg by pulling in a couple billion dollars in ETF assets in a year. But the competition is ...

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‘Philippines’ crime war a risk for economy’

  Manila / AFP President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on crime is threatening the Philippines’ economy and endangering its democratic institutions, international credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s warned on Wednesday. S&P maintained its stable outlook for the Philippines, but highlighted a range of “weaknesses” under the new Duterte administration that also included his foreign policy and national security statements. ...

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India mulls anti-dumping tax on more steel product imports

  Bloomberg India is considering expanding the basket of steel products that attracts an anti-dumping tax to stem inflows of cheaper supplies into the world’s third-biggest producer. The steel ministry is likely to levy anti-dumping taxes on some of the 66 products that are currently covered by the minimum import price rule before it expires on Oct. 4, Steel Secretary ...

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200 killed in China chemical accidents: Greenpeace

  Beijing / AFP Chemical accidents have killed nearly 200 people in China so far this year, environmental group Greenpeace said Wednesday, calling on Beijing to overhaul the “appallingly under-regulated” industry. Industrial accidents are common in China, where work safety regulations are often flouted. In the first eight months of the year, China saw 232 chemical accidents which killed 199 ...

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