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Colombo / AFP Japan has loaned $400 million to Sri Lanka to build a new terminal at the island’s main international airport which suffers congestion from growing tourism, it was announced on Monday. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said the second terminal would more than double capacity to 15 million passengers annually. The terminal, to be opened in 2020, ...

Kuala Lumpur / Bloomberg Malaysia’s palm oil production will slump more than previously forecast as the lingering effects of El Nino curb output in the world’s second-biggest producer, according to Godrej International Ltd.’s Dorab Mistry. Production will drop by 2 million metric tons in the year through September, Mistry said in remarks prepared for a conference on Monday in Beijing. ...

Manila / DPA The Philippines’ stable macroeconomic profile would enable the country to withstand external shocks better than most of its neighbors could, debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service said. In a statement, the government’s Investor Relations Office (IRO) cited a recent Moody’s report which assessed the Philippines’ macroeconomic profile as “Moderate+,” better than the assessment of “Moderate” for China, India, ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg India’s foreign-exchange reserves climbed to a record as the rupee heads for its biggest monthly advance in two years. The currency stockpile rose by $2.54 billion in the week through March 18 to an unprecedented $355.95 billion, a Reserve Bank of India statement showed. That capped a third straight week of increases. The rupee has jumped ...

Kuala Lumpur / DPA 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) will make further announcements on debt reductions in the coming weeks. It has also fully settled a 700 million ringgit (US$173.57 million) loan based on the proceeds from the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd. On Saturday, 1MDB president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy said the sale of Edra had ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eradicate radical ideologies from Pakistan after a Taliban suicide bomber targeted many women and children celebrating Easter on Sunday at a park in one of its biggest cities. “Our goal is not only to eliminate terror infrastructure but also the extremist mindset which is a threat to our way of life,” Sharif said ...

Jerusalem / AFP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed down on Monday from his attempts to appoint a former settler leader as ambassador to Brazil, which has since August refused to accept the nomination. Netanyahu “decided to appoint Dani Dayan as consul general in New York. He will replace foreign ministry career official Ido Aharoni, who is completing his term,” ...

Seoul / AFP South Korean activists on Monday launched tens of thousands of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea for the second time in three days, amid heightened military tensions on the divided peninsula. The conservative activists, including many North Korean defectors, used gas-filled balloons to float 100,000 leaflets criticising North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un over the heavily militarised border. Some ...

Bloomberg Rebels who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa have released nine Saudis in exchange for 109 Yemenis, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting them said on Monday, in the latest sign of tensions easing before peace talks. “Nine Saudi prisoners have been recovered and 109 Yemenis who were arrested in the military operations zone” near the border have been handed over, the ...

Damascus / AFP Syrian forces strengthened their hold on Palmyra on Monday and pushed forward against the IS extremist group after dealing it a major blow by retaking the ancient city. Antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim said that with UNESCO’s approval the treasured monuments damaged or destroyed by the extremists could be restored in five years. Government troops and allied militia, ...