BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese authorities said on Tuesday (July 5) they could dip into the nation’s pork reserves, even as they ordered suppliers to slaughter more pigs to rein in the cost of the staple meat, after prices soared by almost a third year-on-year. Beijing’s top economic planner was forced to respond after pork prices […]
ISTANBUL (REUTERS) – Six million first-time voters are set to effectively decide whether to extend President Tayyip Erdogan’s rule into a third decade or to opt for something they have never known – Turkey under a different leader. Less than 12 months away from perhaps the biggest election in the country’s modern history, a big […]
BEIJING (REUTERS) – Heatwaves are predicted to sweep through northern China in the next two weeks, with more than 250 million people expected to grapple with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. For four to six days, the regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, and the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Gansu and […]
BEIJING (REUTERS) – Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He had a “constructive” exchange over macro economies and global supply chains via a video call with United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday (July 5), China’s commerce ministry said. The two sides had a “pragmatic and frank” exchange of views on topics including the macroeconomic situation and […]
A police officer holds up police tape at the scene of a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, on July 4, 2022. (NAM Y. HUH / AP PHOTO) HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – Police announced they had captured a suspect in a shooting on Monday […]
Pope Francis recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican on July 3, 2022. (ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP PHOTO) VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this […]
Demonstrators hold "Justice for Jayland" signs as they gather outside Akron City Hall to protest the killing of Jayland Walker, shot by police, in Akron, Ohio, July 3, 2022. (MATTHEW HATCHER / AFP) AKRON, Ohio – Video released on Sunday showed eight police officers in Akron, Ohio, were involved in a shooting that killed an […]
TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) – Japan’s ruling coalition parties are set to win a majority in a July 10 election for the Upper House of Parliament, with the main opposition party failing to pick up support from voters worried about rising prices, a major poll showed. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner […]
Argentina’s Economy Minister Martin Guzman speaks during the annual meeting of the Argentina Business Association in Buenos Aires on June 7, 2022. (JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) BUENOS AIRES – Argentina's economy minister Martin Guzman, the architect of a recent major debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), resigned on Saturday as deep splits emerged […]
UDAIPUR/MUMBAI (REUTERS) – Indian police made fresh arrests in the case of the execution of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, a murder that stoked unease between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority and led to a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent tensions from escalating. Three senior police officials said on Saturday (July […]
MELBOURNE (REUTERS) – Australia’s Victoria government released a plan on Saturday (July 2) aiming to wean the country’s biggest gas-consuming state off the fossil fuel, halve carbon emissions by 2030 and drive down household energy bills. The state, where 80 per cent of homes use gas for heating, cooking and hot water, wants to encourage […]
This file photo dated April 20, 2021 shows an exterior view of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. (PETER DEJONG / FILE / AP) NEW YORK / BERLIN / ROME – Coronavirus vaccines tweaked to include the Omicron variant strain can improve protection when used as a booster, the European Medicines Agency and other […]
A woman has her body temperature checked as she waits in line to receive an injection of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination point in a public services office in Moscow, Russia, on Feb 10, 2021. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) ROME / HELSINKI / JUBA / BERLIN / COPENHAGEN – Russia said on Friday it was […]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a media conference at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022. (PAUL WHITE / AP) LONDON – Britain will boost defense spending to 2.5 percent of its gross domestic product by the end of this decade, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, making a new […]
MOSCOW (BLOOMBERG) – President Vladimir Putin offered to have Russian Railways invest in Indonesia’s new capital, in a sign of warming ties with South-east Asia’s biggest economy as the United States and its allies seek to isolate Moscow. Mr Putin said Moscow could take part in President Joko Widodo’s plan to move Indonesia’s capital to […]
SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat congratulated the leaders of China and Hong Kong on Friday (July 1), as Hong Kong marked the 25th year of its return to Chinese rule. In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, PM Lee said Hong Kong “has benefitted from […]
KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Thousands of foreigners are resorting to camping out at the country’s main airports and ferry terminals as they scramble to leave the country before enforcement against illegals starts on Friday (July 1). At the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, many were seen sleeping in the car park […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo shake hands after a joint news conference after their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on June 30, 2022. (ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO, POOL / AP PHOTO) MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Thursday discussed the current situation in […]
A medical staffer takes a nasal swab for a COVID-19 rapid test at a testing site in Rome on Dec 30, 2021. (ANDREW MEDICHINI / AP) ROME / HELSINKI / JUBA / BERLIN / COPENHAGEN – Italy on Thursday updated coronavirus heath protocols in the workplace, as the main pandemic indicators in the country continue to rise. The […]
In this file photo taken on Nov 16, 2020, an Ethiopian refugee child who fled fighting in Tigray province, sleeps in a hut at the Um Raquba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref state. (EBRAHIM HAMID / AFP) NAIROBI – The World Health Organization said Thursday it's intensifying its operations to the looming health crisis in […]