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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, May 18

Xinhua, May 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the move to refuse grants from the European Union (EU) if the grants make a provision for EU to interfere with Philippine internal affairs.

In a news conference held at the Malacanang presidential palace on Thursday, Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said it was Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez who recommended the move. (Philippines-EU)

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HANOI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese derivative market will start operating on June 2 with the Future Contract of Share Indexes set to launch first, according to the Vietnam State Securities Commission (SSC) on Thursday.

The Government Bond Futures will be introduced later on, reported local Dau tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment) Thursday. (Vietnam-Securities market)

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SYDNEY -- A 24-hour bus strike in Sydney created chaos for commuters, leaving hundreds of thousands stranded on their way to work on Thursday.

More than 1,200 drivers chose to take industrial action after the New South Wales State government announced it would privatise around 200 bus routes in Sydney's inner west Tuesday. (Australia-Bus strike)

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Wednesday registered protest with a UN observer group over the recent "ceasefire violations" by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region, the military said in a statement.

"United Nations Military Observers at the UNMOGIP (UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan) were invited to General Headquarters (GHQ) to register a protest over unprovoked Ceasefire Violations (CFV's) and targeting of civilian population by Indian Army on 10th, 13th and 16th May 2017," the Pakistani military statement said. (Pakistan-UN observer group-Protest)

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TOKYO -- Japan's economy grew an annualized real 2.2 percent in the January-March quarter, marking the fifth successive quarter of expansion, the government said Thursday.

The preliminary reading for the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter came in ahead of median economists' estimates for an expansion of 1.7 percent and followed a 1.4 percent annualized rate of expansion logged in the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said. (Janpan-Economy) Endit