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28 Mar 2019; DW: Germany has extended its current ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia for six more months, ending on September 30, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Thursday.

During that period, no new contracts will be approved, Seibert said. The decision came after Merkel met with members of her cabinet to review the policy.

CAPE TOWN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Amid a worsening power crisis, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) vowed on Thursday to break energy monopoly by state-owned electricity utility Eskom.

This followed the most severe rolling blackouts over the past week, which have crippled businesses and industries, hampered transportation and affected over 8 million people at any given time.

Poor management and alleged corruption at Eskom, which provides about 95 percent of the electricity consumed in the country, are believed to be the major factors that have led to the power crisis.

PHNOM PENH, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Friday that the negotiations on hiring a Turkey's power ship to tackle the ongoing electricity shortage have reached an agreement.

"Due to electricity shortage this year, we need to bring a power ship, which is installed with about 200-megawatt power plant, to Phnom Penh," he said in a speech during a government-private sector forum here.

SHENZHEN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech firm Huawei reported robust revenue and profit growth in 2018 "despite a challenging environment," the company announced Friday.

The company raked in 721.2 billion yuan (about 105.2 billion U.S. dollars) in global sales revenue, up 19.5 percent year on year, while its net profit increased 25.1 percent to reach 59.3 billion yuan, according to Huawei's 2018 annual report.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing Thursday, vowing to promote cooperation in various fields.

Calling Kazakhstan a good neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, Wang said that under the leadership of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has made well-recognized achievements in national building and is playing an increasingly important role in international and regional affairs.

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said new ventures will not require any regulatory permissions for three years and will get easy access to bank credit if his party is voted to power.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, he also promised to remove the existing 'angel tax' imposed on start-ups. Angel tax is levied on investment in start-ups. Currently, angel tax is charged at a maximum rate of 30 per cent.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. trade negotiators arrived in Beijing on Thursday to start a new round of talks aimed at ending a tariff war over China’s technology ambitions as officials hint they might be making progress.

The meetings are the latest in a rapid-fire series of exchanges seeking to end the conflict that is disrupting trade in goods from soybeans to medical equipment.

The talks will begin with a working dinner Thursday and last the entire day Friday, Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng said during a regular briefing.

27 Mar 2019; AFP: Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific announced Wednesday that it will buy budget airline HK Express for US$628.15 million, as it moves to counter competition from the increasing number of low-cost carriers in the region.

The HK$4.93 billion acquisition leaves Cathay Pacific in control of three of the four airlines in Hong Kong, adding to its namesake carrier and regional subsidiary Cathay Dragon.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The annual Russian-Chinese Maritime Cooperation-2019 naval exercise will be held in late April and early May, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

LONDON, March 28. /TASS/. British lawmakers rebuffed all eight alternative proposals on a deal with the European Union on Brexit conditions during the vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening.