Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

The Japanese yen has hit a new 15-year high against the dollar in New York trading, despite hints that Japan's government will take action to stop its strength.

On Tuesday, the yen climbed to 83.4 versus the dollar in New York, after earlier reaching 83.35, the strongest level since May 1995, adding to concerns that the currency's rise was holding back exports and the general health of the Japanese economy, Xinhua reported.

A year after moving back from a gas pipeline project with Iran and Pakistan, India has again expressed interest in buying Iran's natural gas, but this time via a sea pipeline.

India has expressed willingness to restart negotiations through an international firm, to independently import natural gas from Iran via a sea pipeline, Deputy Oil Minister and Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Owji said.

China's Ministry of Commerce says the nation's exports to Iran have crossed the $5 billion mark, up roughly 50% year on year.

China exported $5.44 billion worth of goods to Iran during the first two quarters of 2010, registering a 48.6 percent increase compared to the similar period last year, Fars News Agency quoted the Chinese Ministry of Commerce as saying.

The governor of Afghanistan's Central Bank says he will not allow Kabul Bank, considered as the country's biggest private financial institution, to collapse.

The comments by Abdul Qadir Fitrat follow the resignation on Monday of Kabul Bank's two top top executives -- chairman Sherkhan Farnood and chief executive officer Khalilullah Fruzi -- amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The two each own 28% of the bank's shares.

Iranian and Chinese officials have stressed the need for the establishment of a joint investment committee in an effort to expand relations, a report says.

"The two sides need to define mechanisms for the expansion of relations in the committee," IRNA reported Chinese Deputy-Commerce Minister Chen Jian as telling Iran's Ambassador to Beijing Mehdi Safari on Thursday.

India's economy has registered its fastest growth in more than two years in the last quarter due to an expansion in manufacturing and services, official data shows.

India's economy grew 8.8 percent in the 2010 April-June quarter compared with the same period last year, India's Central Statistical Organization said in a statement released in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The Bank of Japan is holding an emergency meeting to decide on easing monetary policy in an effort to curb a surging yen amid mounting political pressure.

"Today... the chairman of the Policy Board decided to call an unscheduled monetary policy meeting," Japan's central bank said in a statement on Monday.

Iran says it is negotiating a deal with China to launch a railway project which will link the Iranian capital, Tehran, to northwestern provinces in the country.

The project is estimated to cost between USD 1.5bn and USD 2bn and is expected to be completed within the next 2.5 years, Fars News Agency quoted Iranian Minister of Road and Transportation Hamid Behbahani as saying on Saturday.

Japan's consumer prices have continued to fall for the 17th straight month, driving stocks lower on concern that the nation's economic recovery is uncertain.

The nationwide core consumer price index dropped 1.1% from a year earlier in July while household spending increased less than forecast, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed Friday, Reuters reported.

The yen has retreated from fifteen-year highs against the US dollar amid reports of Japanese authorities' resolve to curtail the currency's climb.

The Japanese money was trading at Y84.72 against the greenback at about lunchtime in Tokyo, and has been steadily retreat since then, The Financial Times newspaper reported on Thursday.