Business

HANOI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has banned the import of glyphosate-containing herbicides after a U.S. court ruled that a weed killer, produced and sold by U.S. agrochemical giant Monsanto, could cause cancer, local media reported on Wednesday.

Vietnam's Plant Protection Department has urged businesses to stop signing new import contracts for glyphosate-based herbicides, but products already in circulation in the country are not affected by this decision, online newspaper VnExpress reported.

TOKYO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Diet on Wednesday enacted a record 101.46-trillion-yen (920 billion U.S. dollars) budget for fiscal 2019 to address the nation's ballooning social security costs, stimulate the economy and provide a buffer against the likely fallout from a consumption tax hike this year.

The budged passed the more powerful lower house of parliament at the beginning of March and was approved in the upper caucus by the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

BATON ROUGE, the United States, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Deep into St. James Parish, U.S. state of Louisiana, hundreds of construction workers are busy working on framed structures and installing giant equipment.

The 1,300-acre site on the west side of the Mississippi River will be home to a mega methanol production facility.

Yuhuang Chemical Industries Inc. (YCI), a subsidiary of China's Shandong Yuhuang Chemical, is constructing a 1.85-billion-dollar methanol plant here.

KABUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- As part of its annual program to exhibit various domestic products, Afghanistan has held its 22nd agriculture and handicrafts exhibition in capital Kabul.

The exhibition, which was held from March 22-26 at the Badam Bagh agriculture park, a garden in northern outskirts of Kabul city, was visited by thousands of people from around the country.

SANTIAGO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chile is "very interested" in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), president Sebastian Pinera said on Tuesday.

During a meeting with foreign correspondents in Santiago, Pinera confirmed he will attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing in April, saying "I will participate in everything that is beneficial for Chile."

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Tuesday his company was "humbled" and "learning" from an Ethiopian airlines crash that killed 157 people more than two weeks ago.

In a statement published Tuesday, Muilenburg said Boeing is resorting to all the resources it has to cooperate "tirelessly" with the Ethiopians to "understand what happened and do everything possible to ensure it doesn't happen again."

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China and France have pledged to jointly safeguard multilateralism and improve global governance, according to a joint statement issued Tuesday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the European country.

The two countries believe that in the current situation, upholding multilateralism is the best way to advance international cooperation in tackling growing common risks and challenges as well as in safeguarding world peace and prosperity, the joint statement said.

Paris, Mar 26; AFP:  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday stressed the growing convergence between Beijing and the European Union on global issues from climate change to trade, urging the two sides to overcome their "suspicions".

At a meeting in Paris between Xi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, the leaders declared their desire to work together.

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers are set to hold a series of votes on different options for Brexit in an attempt to break the country’s political deadlock.

Lawmakers voted 329-302 to take control of Parliament’s timetable from the government starting Wednesday to hold votes on alternative Brexit options.

The alternatives could include remaining in the European Union’s single market or canceling Brexit altogether.

The government promised to “engage constructively” with the process but has not committed to enacting whatever lawmakers decide.

26 Mar 2019; DW: The leaders of China, Germany, France and the EU are set for "unprecedented" talks on building a new global governance. The challenge for Europe is how to balance ties in the face of Beijing's growing global influence.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will be joining French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks in Paris on Tuesday.