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  • NewsAFP News

    Ukraine 'hacktivists' fighting Russia on digital front

    When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Artem knew that he would not "sit idly by". He said he was employed by Ukraine's SBU security service before Russia invaded. 

    4-min read
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  • BusinessAFP News

    Easy does it: The Bank of Japan's experiment

    The Bank of Japan on Tuesday announced a seismic change in direction on Tuesday, hiking interest rates for the first time in 17 years."Having failed to achieve the target within a committed two-year period, the BoJ had no other choice than to pursue further stimulative measures including the negative interest rate," Momma told AFP. - Spur lending - The negative interest rate of -0.1 percent -- hiked to between zero and 0.1 percent on Tuesday -- had been in place since 2016, effectively charging

    3-min read
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  • NewsAFP News

    Blinken says US stands by 'ironclad' commitments to defend Philippines

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States stands by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea.Blinken will meet with Marcos later Tuesday where he is expected to reaffirm the United States' security commitments to the Philippines.

    3-min read
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  • BusinessAFP News

    Yen drops, Asian markets mixed as Japan hikes interest rates

    The yen weakened and Tokyo stocks rose Tuesday after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years as it shifted away from its long-running ultra-loose monetary policy.While the moves were a major change from a long-running policy, traders took them in their stride, with Japanese stocks rising and yen down against the dollar owing to fading expectations for US rate cuts this year.

    3-min read
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  • BusinessAFP News

    Bank of Japan scraps negative interest rate

    Japan's central bank on Tuesday scrapped its negative interest rate as it finally began unwinding one of the world's most aggressive monetary easing programmes.Because negative interest rates mean banks lose out by parking capital with the BoJ, the policy was aimed at encouraging them to lend to businesses and thereby jump-start the economy and inflation.

    2-min read
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  • NewsReuters

    Bangladesh, Pakistan and India bottom in air quality rankings in 2023, data shows

    Pakistan remained one of the world's three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization, data published on Tuesday showed. Average concentrations of PM2.5 - small airborne particles that damage the lungs - reached 79.9 micrograms per cubic metre in Bangladesh in 2023, and 73.7 micrograms in Pakistan. "Because of the climate conditions and the geography (in South Asia),

    2-min read
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  • PoliticsAFP News

    Trump unable to post $464mn bond in New York civil case: lawyers

    Donald Trump faced having assets seized in a humiliating blow to his carefully cultivated image as a self-made tycoon as his lawyers acknowledged Monday he doesn't have the cash to appeal a $464 million fine for fraudulently inflating his wealth."Defendants have faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million," Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said in a filing to the court.

    3-min read
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