WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is arranging a phone call on Monday with top regulators to discuss financial markets amid a rout on Wall Street. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will host the call with the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets, known colloquially as the “Plunge Protection team.” WASHINGTON HAS A PLUNGE PROTECTION TEAM? […]
The death toll following the tsunami caused by the Anak Krakatau volcano has risen to at least 373, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency says. Saturday saw giant waves crash into coastal towns on the islands of Sumatra and Java. It is thought that volcanic activity set off undersea landslides which in turn generated the killer waves. […]
Ousted in a 1999 military coup, Nawaz Sharif became Pakistan’s prime minister for a record third term after staging a triumphant comeback in parliamentary elections in 2013. It was also a historic moment for Pakistan as it was the first transition from one democratically elected government to another since independence in 1947. But his last […]
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sent back to jail after a fresh corruption conviction. The anti-corruption court in Islamabad gave Sharif a seven-year term for investments beyond his declared assets. Sharif, who denies wrongdoing, was jailed in July in a different corruption case but bailed on appeal when the Islamabad High Court […]
Rescuers in India say they are hoping for a miracle to save 15 workers trapped inside a flooded coal mine in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya. The men were trapped 11 days ago when sudden flooding blocked their exit. Officials hope they have found an air pocket in the main shaft to survive. Rescuers have […]
UNITED NATIONS (XINHUA) – China will become the second largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget starting next year, surpassing Japan. China’s contribution will rise to 12.01 per cent in the next three years from 7.92 per cent for the 2016-2018 period, according to a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on Saturday […]
Former road sweeper Tan Lye Heng, 83, has two pillows. Both have become flat over time so he stacks them up when he sleeps. Despite doing so, he still gets neck pain and some sleepless nights. As he is unable to control his mouth muscles, he salivates on the pillows, which have become smelly. Mr […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s finance ministry said on Monday that it will adjust import and export tariffs for some products starting from Jan. 1. It will not levy export tariffs on 94 products including fertilizer and iron ore, the ministry said in a statement on its website. For imports, China will levy temporary tariffs on […]
BUKIT KAYU HITAM, Kedah -Malaysia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya said on Monday (Dec 24) that Jakarta has assured Kuala Lumpur its soldiers won’t repeat an incident on Dec 11, when five Malaysians from Sarawak were accused of stealing wood on the Kalimantan side of the border and held hostage by several members of the […]
SYDNEY (AFP) – A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit in waters off the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Monday (Dec 24), the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake struck at a moderate depth of 100 km with the epicentre some 85 km north of the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa. There were […]