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ZURICH: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sees a looming free-trade deal with Switzerland as a touchstone for Beijing's growing ties with foreign nations, he told a Swiss newspaper on Thursday ahead of a landmark visit to Europe.Li was scheduled to arrive in Switzerland late on Thursday for trade-focused talks in what is the first stop on his debut visit to Europe since taking over in a once-in-a-decade power transfer in Beijing.In an opinion piece published in the Zurich daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Li wrote that the upcoming deal and his trip itself were "symbolic of China's openness to the outside world".Li, who took charge as premier in March, is on his maiden foreign tour and arrives in Switzerland fresh from talks with neighbours India and Pakistan, before heading to top European trade partner Germany at the weekend.Economic issues are set to be sharply in focus in his meeting with the Swiss ...
TORONTO: The Bank of Canada's next interest rate hike won't come until the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a Reuters survey that saw economists push back forecasts for the next tightening due to the economy's tepid growth and low inflation.All 34 economists polled by Reuters expect the central bank to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 1 percent on May 29, when it announces its next scheduled rate decision."The bank certainly has sent a ...
MOORE: Severe thunderstorms barreled through this Oklahoma City suburb at dawn Thursday, complicating clean-up efforts three days after a powerful tornado killed 24 people and destroyed 2,400 homes.More rain was forecast to fall on Moore, soaking the disaster zone where residents had just the day before, under clear blue skies, started picking through the rubble of their destroyed houses to recover personal effects.Localized street flooding was liable to upset access for emergency and clean-up vehicles.Monday's ...
JOHANNESBURG: The South African Reserve Bank held interest rates unchanged Thursday in the face of high inflation, while warning of major risks to already mediocre growth.Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus said the main interest rate would stay at five percent, despite the bank cutting its growth forecasts for the year."There are a number of critical domestic issues that are contributing the vulnerability of the economy that need to be urgently addressed," Marcus said.Africa's largest economy ...
TOKYO: Three Chinese government ships sailed in waters around disputed islands controlled by Tokyo for about nine hours on Thursday, Japan's coastguard said.The Chinese maritime surveillance vessels were spotted in the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea shortly before 9:30 am (0030 GMT), the coastguard said.They left the zone at around 6:30 pm, it said later.It was the latest in a long line of stand-offs ...
MADRID: Borrowing costs for Spain crept higher Thursday as the recession-hit country made big inroads into financing state spending for 2013.The Spanish treasury raised 4.076 billion euros in a sale of bonds expiring in three, five and 13 years.But demand for the bonds eased off and the Treasury had to offer a slightly higher return to lure buyers when compared to the last similar auction on May 9.Spain, with the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, was forced ...
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged on Thursday to crack down on corruption in the defence sector after a string of recent graft scandals left his government facing renewed calls to step down.The premier said he was committed to making the process of buying arms and other military hardware more "transparent, smooth, efficient and less vulnerable to unethical practices"."Adequate defence preparedness is critically dependent on sound defence acquisition policies," Singh said in Gurgaon, ...More Articles...
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