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CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro extended the closure of shools and businesses for another 24 hours on Monday due to the ongoing electricity blackout, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said. It’s the second time Maduro has prolonged the closure, which was first announced after the massive power cut hit late on Thursday afternoon. © Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Thursday negotiations to resolve his eight-month trade war with China were making progress, expressing fresh optimism about resolving the confrontation between the world’s largest economies. Trump told reporters at the White House that the talks were “moving along pretty well.” Chinese and American officials have alternated between expressing optimism that a deal is at hand and also warning that much remains to be done to […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — The sudden death last year of millions of Iraqi carp, used in the country’s signature dish, was caused by a strain of herpes harmless to humans, the United Nations said Wednesday. Iraqi fish farmers south of Baghdad were left reeling in late 2018 after piles of dead carp were found washed up on the banks of the Euphrates River or floating in their cages. Rumours swirled over whether the fish were […]
by Eva Xiao and Ryan McMorrow BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s premier warned Tuesday that the country faces a “tough struggle” as he unveiled tax cuts to prop up a stuttering economy while increasing military spending to nearly $180 billion. The slowdown and US trade war have become major challenges for President Xi Jinping, a year after becoming the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong with the abolition of term limits and etching of […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s economic growth ground to a near halt in the second-half of 2018, official data showed Wednesday, thrusting the issue to the front and center of an already contentious general election campaign. The figures released by Australia’s statistics agency showed growth for October to December at 0.2 percent, after a 0.3 percent reading in the previous three months. Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison has based his re-election campaign on stewardship of […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China lowered its economic growth target on Tuesday as the country struggles with a crackdown on debt, a slowing global economy and a trade war with the United States. The 6.0 to 6.5 percent estimate for 2019 was released in a report for the opening session of the annual National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. The government had set a target of around 6.5 percent in 2018 and eventually recorded official […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks turned down Thursday after three days of gains as investors found few fresh buying pegs after dovish signals from the US central bank. The Nikkei 225 index opened slightly higher as Wall Street stocks edged up, following cues from the Federal Reserve. But the Tokyo benchmark soon fell into negative territory and lost 0.27 percent or 58.93 points to 21,372.56 in the first 30 minutes of trade. The broader Topix […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets were mixed Thursday after the Federal Reserve left open the possibility it could lift interest rates this year, while investors kept an optimistic eye on China-US trade talks. Equities and other risk assets have enjoyed a stellar start to the year on hopes for the negotiations as well as expectations the US central bank will slow its pace of monetary tightening — with some even tipping a cut […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian markets were mixed Thursday after the Federal Reserve left open the possibility it could lift interest rates this year, while investors kept an optimistic eye on China-US trade talks. Equities and other risk assets have enjoyed a stellar start to the year on hopes for the negotiations as well as expectations the US central bank will slow its pace of monetary tightening — with some even tipping a cut […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Growing optimism that China and the United States will reach a trade deal lifted most Asian equities Wednesday while the positive sentiment also provided support to regional currencies against the safe-bet dollar. The yuan was among the big gainers following a report that the US has called on China to stabilize the unit as part of any agreement between the world’s top economic powers. Wall Street returned from a long […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Factory and consumer price inflation in China rose at a slower rate than expected in January as global growth cools and the US trade war drags on, official data showed Friday. The producer price index (PPI) — an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate — rose 0.1 percent on-year in January, compared with a 0.9 percent rise the previous month. The […]
by Ryan Mcmorrow Agence France Presse Top US economic officials were to meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the sides aim to wrap up trade talks in Beijing with enough goodwill to extend a truce in their tariff war. The world’s two biggest economies are seeking an accord to bridge their deep trade differences, after President Donald Trump set a March 1 deadline beyond which he would rescind a freeze on tariff […]
