Business

RABAT, March 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday signed an agreement with Morocco to provide 100 million yuan (about 14.9 million U.S. dollars) to finance public projects in the north African kingdom.

This deal was inked by Morocco's Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun and Chinese Ambassador to Morocco Li Li.

Benchaaboun thanked the Chinese government for its continuous support for Morocco's economic and social development, while expressing his satisfaction with the quality of the projects undertaken in Morocco with the financial support of China.

PARIS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The departure of Britain from the European Union would affect the growth in France, even if the divorce scheduled for the end of March were amicable, the national statistics institute Insee said on Tuesday.

It projected that an orderly Brexit would trim French economic activities by 0.3 percent over several quarters.

If the EU and Britain failed to agree on a deal, "the increase in customs duties following this hard Brexit would weigh on the French economy," Insee said, estimating that the impact would be 0.6 percent.

GENEVA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies was the top corporate filer of international patent applications in 2018, leading an Asia-based innovation surge accounting for over half of the applications submitted at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) last year, WIPO said on Tuesday.

LONDON, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Downing Street confirmed Tuesday that British Prime Minister Theresa May will write to European Council President Donald Tusk asking for Britain's departure from the bloc to be delayed.

The latest development came after the bombshell decision by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow to stop May putting her Brexit deal to politicians for a third time.

Media in London quoted an official Downing Street spokesman as saying it has plunged Britain into a constitutional crisis.

Mumbai, Mar 19; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  Cash-starved Jet Airways on Tuesday alleged that non-payment of salaries had adversely affected its members' psychological condition, which puts the safety of the airline's flight operations at risk.

In a communication to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Jet Airways Aircraft Maintenance Engineers' Association (JAMEWA) sought the aviation regulator's intervention in recovering the dues, saying the management's failure to keep its commitment of clearing their salary by March had "shaken" their faith in the company.

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Metro services will not be available till 2.30 pm on Thursday due to Holi, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on Tuesday.

In addition, Metro feeder bus services will also not be available till 2pm and will run as per schedule thereafter, it said.

On the day of the 'Holi' festival (March 21), Metro services will start from 2.30 pm on all lines of Delhi Metro including Airport Express Line, the DMRC statement said.

Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) The umbrella body of the domestic pilots of the nearly crippled Jet Airways Tuesday threatened to stop flying from April 1, if the resolution plan is delayed and salary dues are not cleared by the end of this month.

The decision was taken at the annual meeting of Jet Airways domestic pilots body National Aviators Guild after a meeting here lasting for over 90 minutes.

19 Mar 2019; AFP: Germany launches its auction Tuesday for the construction of an ultra-fast 5G mobile network as a transatlantic dispute rages over security concerns surrounding giant Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei.

The United States has warned it could scale back the sharing of sensitive information with Berlin if it does not exclude hardware made by Huawei from the infrastructure, arguing that Chinese equipment could help Beijing spy on Western companies and governments.

19 Mar 2019; DW: Two Chinese fanciers battled it out in an online auction to buy the star racer, smashing the previous record of €376,000 ($425,000). New interest from Asian markets in recent years has given the flagging practice a lift.

Belgium's best long-distance racing pigeon, Armando, was the subject of a bidding war between two anonymous Chinese buyers, putting enthusiasts into a spin on Sunday.

18 Mar 2019; DW: A third vote by the UK parliament on the Brexit deal may be in jeopardy after the Speaker of the House in the UK parliament warned on Monday he could block the vote.

John Bercow cited a rule from 1604 that disallows parliament from voting on the same matter more than once in the same sitting.

Bercow said a third vote on the matter, if it was not substantially different, would fall afoul of this rule, last invoked in 1920, and he would therefore block it.