SOME VULNERABILITIES: As producers of high-technology products, a new report says Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore will be more affected than other Asia-Pacific nations
Economic growth in developing nations in the Asia-Pacific region will fall slightly this year to 7.7 percent, the UN said yesterday, but buoyed by booming India and China, it will likely weather a slowdown in the US.

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Biofuels are not only hurting poor consumers in Asia by driving up crop prices, they are also failing to help the region's farmers who have not been able to adapt their production to cash in on the boom, according to a UN report issued in Geneva yesterday.

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COMMITMENT: An announcement is expected within the next few days on whether Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will begin commercial production
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) said yesterday that it had ordered up to 25 of Japan's first domestically developed jet airplane from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government is prepared to provide billions of dollars to help build a Brazilian refinery that will process Venezuelan crude when it starts operating in 2010.

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The maker of the popular photo-editing software Photoshop yesterday launched a basic version available for free online.

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