When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
India

Arms Race? After Pakistan, India Tests Its Own Nuclear Missile

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (India), AFP

Worldcrunch

BALASORE – India today test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni-IV with a strike range of about 4000 kilometers (2,480 miles), reports The Economic Times.

Flash: India test-fires its long range strategic missile Agni-IV from a test range off Odisha coast.

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) September 19, 2012

The missile test comes two days after Pakistan tested its own nuclear-capable missile on Monday. Pakistan, has fought three wars with India since their 1947 independence.

"The Agni-IV was tested for its full range of 4,000 kilometers and it was a success," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Gupta told the AFP.

Gupta insisted India"s test was not "country-specific:" "We are a peaceful nation which has never attacked any country in thousands of years," the DRDO spokesman added.

The Agni-V left India knocking at the door of a select club of nations with (ICBMs), which have a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres.

Currently, only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- possess a declared inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capability says the AFP.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

How A Xi Jinping Dinner In San Francisco May Have Sealed Mastercard's Arrival In China

The credit giant becomes only the second player after American Express to be allowed to set up a bank card-clearing RMB operation in mainland China.

Photo of a hand holding a phone displaying an Union Pay logo, with a Mastercard VISA logo in the background of the photo.

Mastercard has just been granted a bank card clearing license in China.

Liu Qianshan

-Analysis-

It appears that one of the biggest beneficiaries from Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to San Francisco was Mastercard.

The U.S. credit card giant has since secured eagerly anticipated approval to expand in China's massive financial sector, having finally obtained long sought approval from China's central bank and financial regulatory authorities to initiate a bank card business in China through its joint venture with its new Chinese partner.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Through a joint venture in China between Mastercard and China's NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, dubbed Mastercard NUCC, it has officially entered mainland China as an RMB currency clearing organization. It's only the second foreign business of its kind to do so following American Express in 2020.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the development is linked to Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting on Nov. 15 with U.S. President Joe Biden in San Francisco, part of a two-day visit that also included dinner that Xi had with U.S. business executives.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest