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China March Consumer Inflation Steady at 1.4%

Chinese inflation held steady at 1.4 percent in March, the government said Friday, leaving policymakers further room for monetary stimulus as they try to manage a broad slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy.

The consumer price index (CPI) reading from the National Bureau of Statistics  (NBS) was the same as February, when it rose from January's more than five-year low and slightly better than the median 1.3 percent forecast in a survey of 39 economists by Bloomberg News.

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France Cuts 2016, 2017 Growth Forecasts

France's economy will expand at a slower rate than earlier thought in 2016 and 2017, the finance ministry said in new forecasts published Wednesday.

Growth is expected to reach 1.5 percent for both years, rather than 1.7 percent previously forecast for 2016 and 1.9 percent for 2017.

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Report: Islamic State Revenues Hit by Lost Iraqi Oil Fields

The Islamic State group has lost control of "at least three large oil fields" in Iraq, depriving the jihadists of a crucial source of income, a German newspaper report said Thursday.

In the face of a large-scale Iraqi counteroffensive, the extremist group now controls just a single oil field in the country, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said in its Thursday edition, citing the BND federal intelligence services.

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Greece to Make April IMF Payment, but Uncertainty Reigns

Greece is due to make its 459 million euro ($495 million) April loan payment to the IMF Thursday following days of uncertainty, but the European nation's ability to honour its debts remains a source of acute anxiety to creditors.

As Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras launched a two-day charm offensive in Moscow on Wednesday, the order for the payment had already reached the Bank of Greece, a source familiar with the details told Agence France Presse.

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Oil Prices Rebound in Asia Trade

Oil prices rebounded in Asia Thursday on bargain-hunting after a surge in U.S. crude stockpiles and record output in Saudi Arabia sparked a sell-off in the previous session, analysts said.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced 78 cents to $51.20 a barrel and Brent added 73 cents to $56.28 in afternoon trade.

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Saudi Oil Output Hits Record High

Saudi oil production reached 10.3 million barrels per day in March, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has said, a figure that is the highest on record.

"Average daily output hit 10.3 million bpd in March," Naimi, cited by the official Saudi Press Agency, said Tuesday night.

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Myanmar Farmers Dream of Resurrecting Asia's Rice Bowl

Dressed in Chelsea football shorts and a wide-brimmed hat, Than Tun toils away in his paddy field on the outskirts of Yangon, sweat pouring down his sinewy arms.

Grueling work that once helped Myanmar become the world's largest rice exporter is today a Herculean and often lonely job for farmers striving to return the impoverished nation to its former grain prowess.

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Microsoft Starts Program to Hire Workers with Autism

U.S. technology giant Microsoft has launched a pilot program to hire autistic workers at its headquarters in Washington state.

"People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft," Mary Ellen Smith, a corporate vice president wrote in a company blog last week.

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IMF: Aged Populations to Hamper Growth in Leading Economies

Advanced economies face limits on future growth due to the drag from aging populations, unless they can boost productivity through technology and infrastructure investment, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

A higher proportion of aged citizens means a smaller workforce and lower potential output, which in turn could spell lower living standards in the future, the IMF said in a new study.

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Singapore Telecom to Buy U.S. Cybersecurity Firm for $810 mn

Singapore Telecom (Singtel) said Wednesday it will buy almost all of U.S. cybersecurity firm Trustwave for $810 million, saying it was looking to become "a global player" in the sector.

Southeast Asia's biggest telecom firm by revenue said it will acquire a 98 percent equity interest in Trustwave under an agreement it signed with the Chicago-headquartered company.

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