1 Eurozone growth revised up to 0.4% (Gulf News) The
19-nation Eurozone grew by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, official data has
shown, revising upward a first estimate that triggered worry the crisis in
Greece had destabilised growth in Europe. Last month, the EU’s Eurostat agency
said the Eurozone grew by just 0.3 per cent in the April to June period, lower
than what analysts expected.
The more upbeat data comes as concerns are growing
about the global economy, hit by a slowdown in powerhouse China that has
spooked financial markets. The revised figures still demonstrate that the
Eurozone economy suffered a slowdown in the first half of 2015, despite a
massive European Central Bank stimulus programme to boost the fragile recovery.
Eurostat said that all members of the Eurozone
expanded in the second quarter, except France, the bloc’s second biggest
economy, which posted zero growth. Export champion Germany, the bloc’s top
economy, grew at the Eurozone average, by 0.4 per cent. Greece managed 0.9
growth in the period that was deeply marked by a political crisis dividing
leftist-led Athens with its Eurozone creditors.
However the ECB said last week that the recovery in
the euro area would continue at a slower pace than previously anticipated
because of the turbulence from China.
2 China imports plunge 14%, exports fall 6% (BBC) China's
imports in August fell 14.3% in yuan-denominated terms from a year ago, while exports
fell by 6.1%. The steep fall in the value of imports reflects lower commodity
prices globally, particularly crude oil.
The numbers mean China's monthly trade surplus
expanded by close to 40% from the month earlier to 368bn yuan ($57.8bn;
£37.7bn). China recently revised down its 2014 economic growth from 7.4% to
7.3%, its weakest for almost 25 years.
In US dollar denominated terms, exports for the
month of August fell 5.5% from a year earlier - slightly less than expected -
while imports fell by 13.8%, leaving China with a surplus of $60.24bn. A fall
in both import and export figures had been expected as China's economy slows,
though analysts said the drop in imports was greater than forecast.
3 Queen Elizabeth II turns Britain’s longest-reigning monarch (San Francisco Chronicle) Queen Elizabeth II has reached a major
milestone by becoming the longest-reigning monarch in Britain's history. She
passes Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, who was on the throne for
63 years and 7 months.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that millions on
Britons would celebrate the queen's "historic moment." "Over the
last 63 years, Her Majesty has been a rock of stability in a world of constant
change and her selfless sense of service and duty has earned admiration not
only in Britain, but right across the globe," Cameron said.
Buckingham Palace marked the event by releasing an
official photograph of the queen taken by Mary McCartney, a photographer who is
the daughter of former Beatle Paul McCartney. Elizabeth came to the throne in
1952 upon the death of her father King George VI. She was touring a remote part
of Kenya when news of her father's death arrived.
Her official coronation came the following year and
was one of the first major public events to be televised in Britain. The
89-year-old monarch has cut back on her international travel and has lightened
her work load somewhat, but she still carries out many royal duties.
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