China, Pak extend currency swap deal
Beijing: The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, on Thursday extended a currency swap agreement with the State Bank of Pakistan. According to a statement from the Chinese bank, the swap was sized at 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion).
Ukraine bans Russian news agency
Kiev: Ukraine on Thursday banned Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency, a week after one of its journalists was detained in Kiev and accused of treason. According to the new sanctions list, the RIA Novosti office as well as the Interselekt company which carried out all the agency’s economic activities in Kiev are banned for 3 years.
‘No missile involved in MH17 plane crash’
Moscow: Moscow rejected an international investigation that found a Russian missile downed flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, saying no such weapon had ever crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border.