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IMF Chief: Ukraine Crisis Could have 'Severe' Economic Impact

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned in a German newspaper interview Monday that the Ukraine crisis could have "severe" economic consequences for other countries.

Lagarde also told the Handelsblatt business daily that a 17-billion-dollar aid package granted to Ukraine by the IMF would not be enough.

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Australia to Streamline Government, Axe Public Servants in Budget

Dozens of Australian agencies and hundreds of public service jobs face the axe in Tuesday's budget, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann saying government was too big, wasteful, and needed streamlining.

Cormann refused to confirm specifics of the conservative administration's first budget since taking office in September, which comes as a mining boom fades and growth remains sluggish.

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High Cost, Corruption Claims Mar Brazil World Cup

The cost of building Brasilia's World Cup stadium has nearly tripled to $900 million in public funds, largely due to allegedly fraudulent billing, government auditors say. The spike in costs has made it the world's second-most expensive soccer arena, even though the city has no major professional team.

Now, an Associated Press analysis of data from Brazil's top electoral court shows skyrocketing campaign contributions by companies that have won the most World Cup projects. The lead builder of Brasilia's stadium increased its political donations 500-fold in the most recent election.

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London Tops Super-Rich City List, Survey Shows

London has more billionaires than any other city in the world, and Britain has more billionaires per head of population than any other country, new data showed on Saturday.

The survey of Britain's super-rich compiled for the Sunday Times newspaper is likely to prompt debate in a country where many still struggle financially and where food banks are a fact of life, despite economic growth recently returning to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crash.

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Nauru Applies for IMF Membership

The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru has officially lodged an application for entry to the International Monetary Fund, the global financial body said Friday.

The Micronesian island of around 9,500 people would become the 189th member state of the IMF if its application is successful.

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Double Ratings Boost for Portuguese Economy

The Portuguese economy received a double boost Friday as ratings agency Moody's raised its debt rating one notch to Ba2, hours after fellow agency Standard & Poor's upgraded the country's credit outlook.

The announcements provided a timely vote of confidence after Lisbon announced on Sunday it will make a clean exit from its multi-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout package, following in the footsteps of Ireland by foregoing a credit line.

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Venezuela Auto Industry Collapses over Currency Shortfalls

Venezuelans, who enjoy free highways and dirt-cheap gas, are struggling to buy cars as production falters thanks to a lack of foreign currency to pay for imported parts.

Vehicle assembly plants are facing their worst year in the oil-rich OPEC nation, producing five times fewer vehicles than last year due to the lack of imported supplies amid an economic crisis that began last year.

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British Industrial Output Dips: Official Data

Industrial output across Britain surprisingly slid in March after a solid gain seen the previous month, official data showed on Friday.

Output fell by 0.1 percent in March compared with a jump of 0.8 percent in February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

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Alibaba's Rise: Success and Setbacks

Even before Alibaba went online, its founder talked about making the fledgling e-commerce company a global player.

At Alibaba Group's first staff meeting in 1999, a video shot by an employee shows Jack Ma rallying a workforce of 17 of his friends. They met in a cement-floored apartment in Hangzhou, a city southwest of Shanghai, at a time when few Chinese were online. Ma was an English teacher with no training in business or computers.

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China Deflation Fears Rise as Inflation Tumbles

China's annual inflation fell sharply in April to its lowest level in 18 months, official data showed Friday, raising concerns about the risk of deflation in the world's second-largest economy.

The consumer price index -- a main gauge of inflation -- went up by 1.8 percent year-on-year last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement, down from a rise of 2.4 percent in March.

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