April, 2016

• 13 April

  India’s wheat imports to hit decade-high

  

    New Delhi / Reuters India’s 2016/17 wheat imports are expected to surge more than five-fold to the highest in a decade, as a severe drought linked to an El Nino weather event and unseasonal rains push domestic output down to the lowest since 2011, a Reuters survey shows. A spike in overseas purchases by India, the world’s second largest ...

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• 13 April

  Pak eyes $955mn sukuk for hydropower project

  

    Islamabad / Reuters Pakistan’s government will guarantee 100 billion rupees ($955 million) worth of Islamic bonds to fund what would become the country’s fourth largest hydropower plant, aiming to address power shortages that have hindered economic growth. The deal would be one of largest infrastructure sukuk sold to date, helping expand a funding format that has largely been confined ...

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• 13 April

  Mori to spend $3.7 billion in Tokyo redevelopment

    TOKYO / Reuters Japan’s Mori Building Co said on Wednesday it would spend about 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion) on constructing three high-rise towers as part of a grand plan to redevelop a central Tokyo district, and may seek a partner to fund the project. The development is part of Mori’s 1 trillion yen plan to redevelop the Toranomon ...

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• 13 April

  Asian economies must build resilience to growing risks: ADB

  

    MANILA / WAM Emerging risks and destabilisers as diverse as widening income inequality, slower growth, and climate change, are reshaping Asia’s economic landscape at such a rapid pace that governments must build far greater resilience into their national plans, says the Independent Evaluation at Asian Development Bank (ADB). “The urgency for countries to adapt to the new environment is ...

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• 13 April

  Rousseff blasts ‘coup-plotter’ VP

  

  Brazil / AFP Brazilian President DilmaRousseff took off the gloves, branding her vice president a traitor and coup-plotter ahead of an impeachment vote in Congress, with a party once in the ruling coalition set to cast a ballot against her. In a blistering speech, Rousseff, 68, charged: “If there were any doubts about my reporting that a coup is under ...

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• 13 April

  ‘European Parliament’ ejects nationalist German lawmaker

    BERLIN / AP A European Parliament faction that includes Britain’s governing party has ejected a lawmaker from the nationalist Alternative for Germany, which has drawn criticism over members’ remarks suggesting that police could shoot refugees trying to enter Germany. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won seven European Parliament seats in 2014. Five lawmakers left for a new and more moderate ...

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• 13 April

  3 French soldiers killed in Mali mine blast

    Mali / ap A mine explosion in Mali has killed three French soldiers, in an unusually deadly incident for French anti-terrorist forces in the region. The French Defense Ministry says that soldiers had been approaching Tessalit in northern Mali in a convoy of about 60 vehicles when the lead armored vehicle was hit Tuesday. The Defense Ministry initially reported ...

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• 13 April

  Strike action continues at Brussels airport

    BRUSSELS / AP Belgian air traffic controllers continued strike action on Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of flights at Brussels airport as it struggles to get back up to capacity after the March 22 suicide bombings. Belgian flag carrier Brussels Airlines said that around 50 of its flights to and from the main international Zaventem airport were canceled. The strike action ...

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• 13 April

  Dozens of Iraq MPs hold parliament sit-in

  

  Baghdad / AFP Dozens of Iraqi lawmakers held an overnight sit-in at parliament to protest efforts by powerful political blocs to maintain control of key government posts, MPs said on Wednesday. The demonstration followed Tuesday’s postponement of a vote on a new lineup for the cabinet, which Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi has said should include technocrats instead of the ...

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• 13 April

  Ukraine eyes Thursday vote on new pro-EU govt

    Ukraine / AFP Ukraine’s bickering parliament resumed horse-trading on Wednesday over the makeup of a new pro-EU government headed by the chamber’s speaker VolodymyrGroysman that could be voted on the following day. A senior member of President Petro Poroshenko’s party said that “according to my information, all the agreements have been reached and no further questions remain.” “We will ...

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