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  Qatar says talks stall with Saudi to defuse Gulf crisis

  Agence France-Presse . Doha | Updated at 01:21am on February 17, 2020

  Talks between Doha and Riyadh to resolve a two-year regional spat have stalled, Qatar’s foreign minister said, after a flurry of diplomacy late last year...

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  40 Americans on cruise ship in Japan infected with coronavirus: official

  Agence France-Presse . Washington | Updated at 01:14am on February 17, 2020

  A senior US health official said on Sunday that more than 40 US citizens on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan were infected with coronavirus...

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  Saudi women smoke in public to ‘complete’ freedom

  Agence France-Presse . Riyadh | Updated at 01:00am on February 17, 2020

  Rima settles in a chair at an upscale Riyadh cafe, looks around carefully, and seeing no one she recognises, drags on her electronic cigarette and...

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  Aviation industry tries to go green

  Agence France-Presse . Singapore | Updated at 12:23am on February 17, 2020

  From an emissions-reducing model jet that looks like something from a sci-fi movie to electric aircraft and sustainable fuel, the aviation industry is ramping up...

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  Coronavirus could damage global growth in 2020: IMF

  Agence France-Presse . Dubai | Updated at 12:22am on February 17, 2020

  The coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year, the IMF head said on Sunday, but a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow....

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  SE Asia feels the burn as virus keeps China tourists at home

  Agence France-Presse . Luang Prabang | Updated at 12:20am on February 17, 2020

  Elephant parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese...

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  Lebanese national carrier to only accept US dollars

  Agence France-Presse . Beirut | Updated at 12:19am on February 17, 2020

  Crisis-hit Lebanon’s national carrier will only accept payments in US dollars from Monday, according to state media. Lebanon is in the throes of an economic...

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  Bangladesh crab farmers feel pinch as coronavirus halts exports

  Agence France-Presse . Dhaka | Updated at 12:17am on February 17, 2020

  Thousands of tonnes of Bangladesh crabs earmarked for Chinese dining tables are being left to rot because the coronavirus has halted exports. The Bangladesh crab...

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  UK issues rare danger to life warning over Storm Dennis

  Agence France-Presse . London | Updated at 12:05am on February 17, 2020

  Storm Dennis swept across Britain on Sunday with the army drafted in to help deal with heavy flooding and high winds, officials warning it could...

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  India women facing sedition charges over school play get bail

  Agence France-Presse . New Delhi | Updated at 12:04am on February 17, 2020

  Two women held for two weeks by Indian police on sedition charges over a school play which allegedly criticised a contentious citizenship law have been...