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SANTIAGO, Nov 9, 2023 (AFP) – Hunger affected some 43.2 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022, about 6.5 percent of the region’s population, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday. While an improvement from 2021, the figure was higher than pre-Covid — representing some six million extra hungry people from 2019, the agency said in a regional overview of food security and nutrition. The FAO cited the pandemic, the climate […]
TOKYO, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Thursday a stimulus package worth $113 billion aimed at easing the pain from inflation. Voters in the world’s third-largest economy have been squeezed by rising prices since the Ukraine war while Kishida’s poll ratings are at their lowest since taking office in 2021. “This package… is expected to total in the lower range of the 17 trillion yen ($113.2 billion) level,” Kishida […]
TOKYO, Nov 1, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s top currency official said on Wednesday that Tokyo was “on standby” to intervene after the yen fell to a new year-low against the dollar and plunged against the euro, Bloomberg reported. The yen dropped below 151 against the dollar overnight after the Bank of Japan further loosened its control of bond yields but stuck with sub-zero short-term interest rates. Against the euro, the Japanese currency fell to its […]
By Robbie COREY-BOULET RIYADH, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – The raging war between Israel and Hamas is already battering the economies of nearby countries, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund told a Saudi investor forum on Wednesday. Israel’s neighbours are feeling the effects, especially those that rely on tourism, Kristalina Georgieva said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. “You look at the neighbouring countries — Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan […]
NEW YORK, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – The US auto workers union announced Tuesday it has extended its strike to a giant General Motors truck plant, saying the company’s strong profits meant workers should get “their fair share.” The latest United Auto Workers union stoppage, which expands the nearly six-week strike to GM’s Arlington, Texas assembly plant, came hours after GM reported a better than expected $3.1 billion in third-quarter profits earlier Tuesday. The move […]
By Robbie COREY-BOULET and Haitham EL-TABEI RIYADH, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – The Gaza war raging between Israel and Hamas could deal a heavy blow to the global economy, banking titans told a glitzy investment forum in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The dour mood from some of the gathering’s most high-profile speakers underscored how the conflict threatens attempts by the world’s biggest oil exporter to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels. Hamas militants who […]
RIYADH, Oct 23, 2023 (AFP) – Saudi Arabia said on Monday it would organise an eSports World Cup starting next year, the latest boost to a sector Riyadh hopes will create tens of thousands of local jobs. “The eSports World Cup is the natural next step in Saudi Arabia’s journey to become the premier global hub for gaming and eSports,” the Gulf kingdom’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said in a statement. Prince […]
TOKYO, Oct 23, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised on Monday tax cuts as part of a new economic programme that he hopes will shore up his sagging popularity. Kishida has seen his ratings plummet to the lowest levels since he took office two years ago, and over the weekend his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost a by-election. In a legislative policy address to parliament, Kishida listed his economic achievements and […]
BEIJING, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – China on Friday announced new curbs on exports of certain types of graphite, key to making batteries for electric vehicles, days after the United States slapped fresh restrictions on outflows of high-tech microchips. Washington said this week it would ramp up restrictions on exports of cutting-edge semiconductors crucial for powering artificial intelligence systems — its latest effort to curb Beijing’s access to advanced tech. China has branded Washington’s policy […]
TOKYO, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese consumer inflation slowed to below three percent last month for the first time since August 2022 on the back of easing gas and electricity prices, government data showed Friday. The annual reading of 2.8 percent, excluding volatile fresh food prices, was just shy of market expectations of 2.7 percent and follows 3.1-percent rises in August and July in the world’s number-three economy. But stripping energy as well as […]
By Agnès PEDRERO GENEVA, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Global trade growth will be sharply lower than forecast this year as stubborn inflation, high interest rates and the war in Ukraine pressure economies around the globe, the World Trade Organization said Thursday. Strains in China’s vast property market also prompted the WTO to cut its trade growth forecast to just 0.8 percent this year, less than half the increase it had previously projected. “The projected […]
