WASHINGTON - The hole in the US government budget remained in the stratosphere for 2010, lending more ammunition to opposition Republicans less than three weeks before mid-term elections.

BEIJING - German auto giant BMW has recalled more than 21,000 luxury sedans from Chinese customers to fix the faulty brake system, while British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has announced the recall of its 30 Discovery 3 TDV6 diesel vehicles.

WASHINGTON - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday that China has made progress in recent weeks in easing its undervalued currency, which has increasingly become an irritation in China's trade relations with the US and other Western economies.

MOSCOW - Russia and Venezuela agreed Friday to jointly build what would be the South American country's first nuclear power plant.

SEDRUN - Swiss engineers broke through a final 180 cm of rock deep in the Alpine mountains Friday, linking the world's longest rail tunnel.
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