KABUL, Afghanistan — American and Taliban negotiators began a new round of peace talks Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, aimed at securing a lasting peace agreement that would include Taliban guarantees regarding terrorism and a phased withdrawal of American troops. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Twitter early Wednesday that the talks — the sixth […]
SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party (WP) has called for better support for older professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in its May Day message, while setting out four suggestions on how to help Singaporean workers. In a statement on Wednesday (May 1), the WP noted that Singapore’s 1.2 million or so PMETs make up more […]
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s campaign team yesterday released its tally of the vote count in the recent election, confirming that he is on track to be re-elected with a comfortable margin of 12.36 percentage points ahead of his sole challenger, Mr Prabowo Subianto. That result is similar to the interim count by the General Elections […]
TAIPEI (DPA) – Thousands of workers from across Tawian on Wednesday (May 1) took to the streets of the capital Taipei, demanding more paid leave and greater labour security. “We want … additional public holidays, at least 90-day maternity leave, and paid leave to care for sick parents,” Huang Yu-te, secretary-general of the Tainan Confederation […]
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Three teenagers were killed while taking selfies on a railway track in India, the country which researchers say has the worst record for selfie-related deaths. A fourth youth managed to jump to safety before the accident in Panipat city in the northern state of Haryana, a police officer told AFP on […]
PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed the appointment of Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador as the new Inspector-General of Police (IGP). “The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has signed the appointment letter,” he told reporters at the Labour Day celebrations at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) on Wednesday […]
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Gambling revenue in the Chinese territory of Macau fell 8.3 percent in April, the biggest year-on-year drop since June 2016, due to tempered demand from high rollers amid a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. April’s haul slid to 23.6 billion patacas ($2.92 billion), the weakest monthly revenue this year, Macau’s […]
KABUL, Afghanistan — The American military command in Afghanistan has halted regular assessments of how many people and districts the government and insurgents there control, it emerged on Wednesday — eliminating what has long been an important public measure of progress in the war. The military said the assessments had “limited decision-making value” for commanders. […]
BEIJING (AFP) – Top US and Chinese trade negotiators resumed talks on Wednesday (May 1) as they an eye an endgame to a months-long dispute that has hit businesses with bruising tariffs. Vice Premier Liu He, a close aide to President Xi Jinping on economic matters, greeted US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary […]
Strong winds and flooding rain have caused havoc across Victoria and Tasmania. A deep low-pressure centre brought damaging winds and torrential rain to many parts of southeastern Australia on Thursday night and through Friday. Winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour (km/h) were reported near Melbourne, but it was on the island of Tasmania […]