Bloomberg

5 hours ago | bloomberg.com | Richard Henderson

Market information displayed inside The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) building in Tokyo, Japan. (Bloomberg) -- Asian equities may struggle for direction on Thursday as Wall Street showed signs of exhaustion following a surge for risk assets sparked by US-China trade talks. Asian equity futures for Japan and Australia fell while those for mainland China and Hong Kong rose. A gauge of US-listed Chinese companies climbed 1.2% on Wednesday.

8 hours ago | bloomberg.com | Joe Mayes |Alex Wickham

(Bloomberg) -- The UK is drawing up plans for a special visa for foreigners who invest significant sums in Britain, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government seeks to blunt the economic blow from recent tax hikes and wider curbs on work permits.

12 hours ago | bloomberg.com | Philip Lagerkranser

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to create Europe’s most formidable conventional army as he seeks to counter the rising threat from Russia. “Our friends and partners also expect this from us, indeed, they practically demand it,” Merz told Bundestag lawmakers today. The plan is said to include raising the annual defense budget to more than €60 billion ($67.4 billion) this year and beyond, a more than 15% increase from 2024.

13 hours ago | bloomberg.com | Jonathan Browning |Lucy White

Keir Starmer(Bloomberg) -- Five years ago when he was campaigning to lead the UK Labour party, Keir Starmer championed migration, saying “We welcome migrants. We don’t scapegoat them.” As prime minister, Starmer has since reversed course in response to massive gains by Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party in local elections. Now warning of the “incalculable damage” of mass immigration, he’s announced plans to curb arrivals and end what he called the UK’s experiment in open borders.

13 hours ago | bloomberg.com | Patricia Lopez

MAGA in South Africa. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As one of the first acts of his second term, President Donald Trump suspended the US refugee program, not to be restarted “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.” Almost four months later, it is now clear which refugees align with those interests, and which do not: Prosperous, White South African farmers are allowed in, while Afghans fleeing the Taliban are not.