LONDON -- Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) data released on Friday showed that the British economy is now in a low-growth mode as the uncertainties of Brexit hang over it.

The IHS Markit/CIPS PMI for the dominant services sector, which represents nearly 80 percent of the economy, recorded 51.2 for December.

"This indicates subdued GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2018," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, a London-based financial data analysis firm.

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TOKYO -- Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn will likely appear in a court in Tokyo on Tuesday to hear the reason for his detention with the move coming following his lawyer's request made Friday.

The request was filed with the Tokyo District Court by Ghosn's lawyer and the court is required in principle to hold an open hearing within five days of such an application being submitted.

"He wants to tell judges that he has not inflicted any losses on Nissan," a lawyer representing Ghosn said, referring specifically to new allegations against Ghosn that he had passed on his personal investment losses in the past to Nissan.

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NEW DELHI -- Indian government Friday said the railways across country would be free from unmanned level crossing in the next few weeks.

The information was given by Indian railways minister Piyush Goyal in the upper House of parliament (locally called Rajya Sabha).

"We have eliminated almost all the level crossings in the country, which is evident from the information given about the decreasing number of accidents as against about 50 accidents five years ago, we are down to three accidents in the last nine months up to December," Goyal said.

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday warned Iran's planned space rocket launches as defiance of a UN Security Council resolution, demanding Iran to cease the related activities.

In a statement issued by the State Department, Pompeo warned that Iran's plans to launch three Space Launch Vehicles in the coming months would demonstrate Iran's defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

"We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation," Pompeo said. Enditem

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