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Philippines holds drills with allies after South China Sea confrontation

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines held maritime drills with the United States and Japan inside its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, its military said on Friday, two days after a maritime confrontation with Beijing around a disputed shoal. The drills, which brought together a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft, Philippine Navy ship BRP …

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Ahead of expected war games, Taiwan urges China to ‘unclench its fists’

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te urged China on Friday to “unclench its fists” and not take any unilateral actions, saying ahead of expected Chinese war games around the island that Beijing would not win any respect for military drills. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own …

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India’s RBI supports growth with liquidity boost but holds rates amid high inflation

By Swati Bhat and Sudipto Ganguly MUMBAI (Reuters) -The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its key interest rate unchanged on Friday but cut the cash reserve ratio that banks are required to hold for the first time in over four years, effectively easing monetary conditions as economic growth slows. India’s GDP growth rate fell …

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Some German retirees find low-cost refuge in Orban’s anti-migrant Hungary

By Krisztina Than and Krisztina Fenyo SZOLOSGYOROK, Hungary (Reuters) – Andre Iwan and his wife moved to a village in Hungary from eastern Germany a few months ago, complaining of high taxes and a feeling that immigration had turned them into “second-class citizens”. Iwan, 55, bought a plot of land in 1998 in Szolosgyorok near …

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Aviva sweetens Direct Line bid to $4.33 billion, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) -Insurance company Aviva has sweetened its bid for UK’s Direct Line to about 3.4 billion pounds ($4.33 billion), or 261 pence per share, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The new offer is about 4% higher than Aviva’s initial offer, according to the Bloomberg report. The revised proposal comes …

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Europe’s Vega-C rocket returns to space after two-year gap

By Giulia Segreti and Tim Hepher (Reuters) -Europe’s Arianespace launched the Vega-C rocket on Thursday, marking a return to space for the upgraded Italian launcher two years after it failed during a debut commercial mission. Carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite into orbit for the European Union’s flagship Copernicus Earth observation programme, Vega-C blasted off into leaden …

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UK homebuilder Berkeley cautious on near-term demand after HY profit fall

(Reuters) -Britain’s Berkeley struck a cautious tone on the near-term demand environment after the high-end homebuilder posted a nearly 8% fall in half-year profit on Friday, as affordability concerns continue to weigh on sentiment in the sector. The British housing sector has been marked by caution in recent months due to concerns about the slowing …

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By running Aleppo, Syrian rebels seek to show they are alternative to Assad

By Karam al-Masri and Maya Gebeily ALEPPO (Reuters) – A week after Islamist rebels seized Syria’s second-largest city, in a surprise advance deep into government-held territory, Aleppo is slowly coming back to life.  A night-time curfew has lifted. Bread has returned to bakery shelves. Traffic police wave cars through intersections and internet coverage has improved …

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