French cement maker Lafarge to face trial on terrorism funding charges

PARIS (Reuters) – Cement maker Holcim’s Lafarge will face trial in a French court on charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions in order to keep a plant operating, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor and a lead plaintiff said. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, has been the subject of …

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Japan’s Ishiba sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine, angering S.Korea, China

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent an offering to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, his office said on Thursday, drawing criticism from South Korea and China which view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past. The shrine includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the …

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North Korea calls South Korea ‘hostile state’ indicating constitution change

By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea has designated South Korea a “hostile state”, its state media said on Thursday, confirming that its national assembly had amended the constitution in line with their leader’s vow to drop unification as a national goal. The North’s KCNA news agency reported that the military had blasted sections of …

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Hungarian GDP growth will be close to zero in Q3, economy minister says

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian gross domestic product growth will be “very close to zero” in the third quarter, significantly below market expectations, Economy Minister Marton Nagy said on Thursday. In power since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has struggled to revive Hungary’s economy after last year’s downturn following a surge in inflation to more than …

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Gaza unemployment surges to 80% as economy collapses, UN agency says

ZURICH (Reuters) – Unemployment in Gaza has soared to nearly 80% since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, with the devastated enclave’s economy in almost total collapse, the International Labour Organization said on Thursday.  Economic output has shrunk by 85% since the conflict with Israel began a year ago, plunging almost the entire 2.3 million population into …

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Vietnam central bank says Vietcombank, MBBank to take over smaller lenders

HANOI (Reuters) – Vietcombank and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBBank) will take over smaller lenders Construction Bank and Ocean Bank, respectively, Vietnam’s central bank said on Thursday. The moves are part of the central bank’s restructuring program to stabilise the financial sector and tackle non-performing loans. “The goal of the compulsory takeovers is for …

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