It's 15:00 Universal Time. And here is the news from the Voice of America. I'm David DeForest from the VOA News Center in Washington. @ T\n@M]
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The US economy shrank in the last three months of 2008 at a faster rate than first estimated. Friday's report from the Commerce Department said the US growth domestic product shrank at a 6.2% annual pace during the fourth quarter. It was the economy's worst quarterly performance since 1982. Japan, meanwhile, is saying its industrial output plunged to a record 10%. A record 10% in January is another sign that the world's second largest economy is facing its worst economic recession since the World War Two. Japan's exports driven economy is faltering because of plummeting demand around the world. )
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Police and supporters of Pakistani opposition leader Nawaz Sharif clashed in the streets of Pakistan for a third day running Friday as the cabinet met to discuss the growing political turmoil. Riot police fired tear gas at demonstrators in the capital, Islamabad, and in the nearby city of Rawalpindi. 6"Fn$ :l?
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Indian government officials today moved quickly to contradict the assertion of a Pakistani naval chief that there is no evidence that the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai was carried out by gunmen who took a sea route from Pakistan. VOA correspondent Steve Herman in New Delhi reports. AChz}N$C
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A fragile cooperation between India and Pakistan in investigating last November's terror attack in Mumbai has suffered a setback with a statement by the Pakistani naval chief of staff speaking to reporters in Karachi, Admiral Noman Bashir contradicted his own government’s earlier assertion that the attackers used the sea route to infiltrate India's major port city. The Admiral says there is no proof of India's claim that the only arrested terror suspect went by sea from Pakistan to carry out the attack in Mumbai. He further calls the Mumbai siege “a complete failure of the Indian navy.” The comment repeatedly broadcast by Indian TV news channels prompted an immediate reaction from officials here. They were quick to point out not only India but also other countries have concluded that the evidence clearly shows the terrorist infiltrated by sea from Pakistani. Steve Herman VOA News, New Delhi. N;|^C{ uz
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Bangladeshi military officials say troops have uncovered a mass grave believed to hold the bodies of soldiers killed by mutinous border guards in Dhaka. Officials say troops found dozens of bodies as they searched the site where the bloody two-day rebellion began at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles. tV n? cS
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President Barack Obama is expected to announce plans today to withdraw combat troops from Iraq by August of 2010. Congressional officials say Mr. Obama will announce a 19-month withdrawal plan in an appearance today at a military base Camp Lejeune in the southern state of North Carolina. zi-_ l
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A grouping of Southeast Asian nations have signed a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand at a regional summit in Thailand. The agreement signed Friday is expected to boost the combined domestic product to 12 Asian-Pacific nations over the next decade. Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations could not agree on details for a regional human rights body. The region's business and government leaders have urged faster economic integration to cushion the impact of the global economic turndown. We hear more from Heda Bayron in Bangkok. X .t4;
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With exports from Southeast Asia plummeting, the region's business and government leaders are seeking to booster / trade within Asian to compensate for falling demand in the West. At an ASEAN business and investment meeting in Bangkok Friday, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said this week's leader’s summit would push harder for the realization of a common market by 2015. >aVgI<
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"Already we've seen a tremendous growth in intra as in trade and also investment. But the fact of the matter is we have not that enough." !ZBtX
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ASEAN has a combined market of more than 500 million people. In recent years, ASEAN has pushed to expand assess for its products within Asia by signing free trade agreements with Japan, China and South Korea. That trading area will further widen to include Australia and New Zealand, which will sign free trade agreements with ASEAN Friday. India is expected to do the same in April. Heda Bayron for VOA News, Bangkok. (GSP3KKo*G
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Then here look at market activities on Wall Street at this hour. US stock indexes are down. Asian-Pacific stock markets closed mostly lower on Friday.
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I'm David DeForest VOA News. More news on the internet at voanews.com.
