JAPAN, AUSTRALIA SET TO INK FREE TRADE DEAL – REPORTS

TOKYO: Japan and Australia will announce a free trade deal Monday, reports said, in a rare opening of Japan’s protected markets, even as talks to ink a huge Asia-Pacific agreement run into trouble.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott were to announce a basic agreement on the long-awaited trade pact—as well as possible defence cooperation—at a press briefing Monday evening, the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun and other major Japanese media said.