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Pakistan Wants Iran to Finance Gas Pipeline

Pakistan has asked Iran for $2 billion in financing to build its side of a controversial gas pipeline that has drawn threats of U.S. sanctions, Islamabad's petroleum minister said Tuesday.

The Iranian side of the $7.5-billion project is almost complete, but Pakistan has run into repeated problems paying for the 780 kilometer (485 mile) section to be built on its side of the border.

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World Bank: Palestinian GDP Can Expand by a Third if Israel Lifts Limits

The Palestinian economy could expand by over a third if Israel were to lift its restrictions on about 60 percent of the West Bank that it controls, the World Bank said in a report published Tuesday.

"More than half the land in the West Bank, much of it agricultural and resource rich, is inaccessible to Palestinians," said the World Bank.

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U.S. and China Tussle for Trade Dominance at APEC

The United States stepped up efforts to reinforce its economic might in the Asia-Pacific at a regional leaders' summit in Indonesia on Tuesday, amid warnings from an increasingly bold China.

The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) event at a five-star resort on the tropical island of Bali is aimed at breaking down trade barriers among all 21 member economies, but rival agendas by the world powers have overshadowed the talks.

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Japan's Mizuho Declines Honour over Loans to Gangsters

Japan's Mizuho Financial Group has declined an award it was set to receive for transparency after getting told off by regulators for lending money to gangsters.

Mizuho Bank, Japan's third-biggest, has been under fire since it came to light that it had processed hundreds of transactions worth about 200 million yen ($2.0 million) for "anti-social forces", a common term for Japan's yakuza mobsters.

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Dollar Edges Up amid U.S. Budget Woes

The dollar edged up against the yen in range-bound Asia trade on Tuesday as market players grew jittery over the U.S. budget impasse.

The greenback was quoted at 97.06 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 96.68 yen in New York Monday afternoon.

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Xi Says China and Asia Can Only Prosper by Working Together

China and the Asia-Pacific region need each other to prosper, President Xi Jinping said on Monday, insisting there was space for everyone to grow despite territorial disputes and tensions with Washington.

"China cannot develop in isolation of the Asia-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific cannot prosper without China," Xi said at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Indonesia.

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Minister: Greek Budget Sees End of Recession in 2014

Greece will emerge from a long recession next year with the economy growing by 0.6 percent, the draft budget presented by the government showed on Monday.

"We foresee the end of recession in 2014," Vice Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said.

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Report: Singapore, China Giants 'Mull Spain Gas Investment'

Singapore state investment giant Temasek and Chinese oil group Sinopec aim to snap up a multi-billion-euro stake in Spain's Gas Natural, the Financial Times said Monday.

The two groups had contacted Spanish oil firm Repsol separately to say they were interested in buying its 4.7-billion-euro ($6.4 billion) stake in Gas Natural, the paper said, citing people close to the process.

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World Bank Lowers East Asia Growth Forecast to 7.1%

The World Bank on Monday lowered its 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1 percent and warned that a prolonged U.S. fiscal crisis could be damaging to the region.

The estimate for this year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is down from a forecast of 7.8 percent in April, and lower than the 7.5 percent growth recorded in 2012 and 8.3 percent in 2011.

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As Developed Countries Improve, the BRICs Stumble

The developing countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China recovered quickly from the financial crisis five years ago. Their spending helped keep a global recession from becoming a global depression.

Now they're stumbling.

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