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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia said Friday it will offer tourist visas for the first time, opening up the ultra-conservative kingdom to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil. Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform programme to prepare the biggest Arab economy for a post-oil era. The announcement comes just two weeks after devastating attacks on Saudi […]
by Douglas Gillison WASHINGTON, United States | AFP America’s jobs engine downshifted in August as employers unexpectedly held back hiring across major industries, another sign that the world’s largest economy is cooling off, government data showed Friday. As the numbers were released early Friday, President Donald Trump, whose record as a job creator could pale ahead of next year’s election, renewed his attacks on the US central bank, which he blames for failing to […]
by Bhuvan Bagga and Glenda Kwek BANGALORE, India (AFP) — India lost communication with its unmanned spacecraft Saturday just before it was due to land on the Moon, in a blow to the country’s lunar ambitions as the world takes renewed interest in Earth’s satellite. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked on in the mission control room at the southern city of Bangalore, India had hoped to become just the fourth country — after […]
by Maria Panina VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on boosting investment and trade, with a special emphasis on energy and arms deals. The two will meet on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which Russia has hosted in Vladivostok since 2015 to boost partnerships with Asian countries amid Western sanctions its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Politically, there are no […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China’s currency slid on Monday to its weakest point in more than 11 years as concerns over the US trade war and the potential for global recession weighed on markets. The onshore yuan was around 7.1425 to the US dollar in late morning Asian trading, its weakest point since early 2008, but slightly off lows reached earlier in the day. Global economic tensions have intensified in recent days with the […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Monday put Japan into its own new export category, intensifying a trade war between the two neighbours and US allies. The move came after Seoul announced earlier this month it would remove Tokyo from its list of trusted trading partners, reciprocating an identical move by Japan. That followed Tokyo’s imposition of tough restrictions on exports crucial to tech titans such as Samsung following a series of […]
by Ryan Mcmorrow BEIJING, China (AFP) — Export-reliant Chinese companies are slashing prices, moving production abroad, creating new domestic markets and even rebranding goods as they try to survive the escalating trade war with the United States. Factories along the eastern coast, fish processors in the south, apple juice exporters in central China and farmers in the northeast have all been forced to change their business models since US President Donald Trump launched the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Britain was seeking to fast-track a crucial post-Brexit trade deal with the United States on Wednesday after new Prime Minister Boris Johnson dispatched his top diplomat and foreign trade minister to Washington. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was due to hold talks with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo at the State Department while the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has lined up meetings with top American trade officials. With Johnson […]
by John BIERS NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Earlier US tariffs enacted in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has dealt only a glancing blow to consumers, but those announced Thursday are different. “This hits consumers straight on,” Steve Pasierb, president of the Toy Association, said in an interview. “This is the finished products. It’s not raw materials.” The tariffs, a 10 percent levy on $300 billion in Chinese goods that Trump said […]
By Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C. (AFP) — The US Federal Reserve, under intense pressure from President Donald Trump to stimulate the economy, on Wednesday cut the benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than a decade but struggled to justify the move or explain where it goes next. The move to ease the cost of borrowing was well telegraphed and meant to inoculate against global risks washing onto American shores, but […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Most Asian markets fell Tuesday as investors take a breather after a recent rally and as they await the start of the corporate earnings season. Wall Street provided another record-breaking lead as an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut continues to fuel optimism, while top Chinese and US negotiators plan to hold fresh trade talks over the phone this week. Tokyo led losses as it reopened after a long weekend, […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets slipped on Monday as data showed China’s economy growing at its weakest pace in nearly three decades, hit by the US trade war, while investors debate the depth of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The world’s number-two economy expanded 6.2 percent in April-June, the worst reading since the early 1990s but in line with forecasts and within the government’s target range. The reading highlights the negative […]
