Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian government spending rose in the March quarter to make a much needed contribution to economic growth, data showed on Tuesday, helping offset a steep drag from net exports.

Spending on operational items rose 1.0% in the first quarter from the previous quarter to an inflation-adjusted A$135.7 billion ($90.61 billion), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported.

Total investment in fixed assets by the... (continue reading...)

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Tuesday said he will work hard to make historical memory last forever and reach out to everyone who cares about Chinese democracy, on the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end the student-led pro-democracy demonstrations, are a taboo topic in China and the... (continue reading...)

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets were mildly weaker on Tuesday as global investors consider the prospect the U.S. economy's 'exceptionalism' is starting to unwind as manufacturing activity in the world's largest economy further weakened.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild gains. The index is up 1.6% so far this month.

By Takaya Yamaguchi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government will warn of the pain a weak yen may inflict on households in this year's long-term economic policy roadmap, a draft seen by Reuters showed, as policymakers grow increasingly concerned about the currency's declines.

The reference to the weak yen's impact will likely keep the Bank of Japan (BOJ) under pressure to raise interest rates or slow its huge bond buying - moves some markets... (continue reading...)

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Caledonia's pro-independence political party has told French President Emmanuel Macron it can't persuade protesters to remove roadblocks across the French Pacific territory because activists aren't convinced Macron will drop a contentious electoral reform.

At least seven people have died in protests against the constitutional amendment that would expand New Caledonia's electorate to include recent... (continue reading...)