BOJ’s Ueda vows to maintain easy policy, rules out chance of early exit

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank is unwavering in its stance of patiently maintaining ultra-loose monetary policy, reassuring markets Japan will be a dovish outlier as its global peers combat stubbornly high inflation. The recent rise in Japanese inflation above the BOJ’s 2% target is…

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Explainer-How Montana could enforce a TikTok ban

(Reuters) – Montana took the unusual step on Wednesday of banning Chinese-owned short video app TikTok, with lawmakers of the sparsely populated western U.S. state saying they aimed to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China. TikTok, which is wildly popular with American teens and owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is already banned…

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AstraZeneca’s China boss says drugmaker will seek to “love the Communist Party”

By Joe Cash and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) – Global drugmaker AstraZeneca will seek to be a patriotic company in China that “loves the Communist Party”, its China president said at an event on Friday. Wang Lei, who is also the company’s global executive vice president, made the comments at an event in the eastern…

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G7 leaders’ statement: Ukraine has budget support for 2023 and early 2024

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Friday said they had ensured that Ukraine had the budget support it needs for this year and early 2024 as they renewed their commitment to provide financial and military support in its fight against Russia. “Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s…

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Australia’s Westpac says won’t stick to home loan guideline as interest rates surge

By Byron Kaye and Lewis Jackson SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp said it will refinance loans for some borrowers who don’t meet an industry standard that assesses their ability to repay, putting pressure on the bank regulator to relax guidelines after a year of interest rate hikes. The country’s No. 2 mortgage provider has…

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Thailand’s Move Forward says coalition partners need not support amending royal insult law

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s progressive Move Forward party on Friday said potential coalition partners need not support its controversial stance on amending the royal insult law, as it seeks to win the backing of other parties to form a government. Move Forward, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, won the most…

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G7 members should not compete against each other on renewables – von der Leyen

By Andreas Rinke HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations should work together to access technology and secure sources of critical minerals for a green transition, creating additional manufacturing capacity rather than competition, a top European diplomat said on Friday. The G7 is accelerating its push towards greener technologies after Russia’s…

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