WELLINGTON (AFP) – There were no masks on display as about 1,000 university students gave Jacinda Ardern a rock-star reception during her final Wellington campaign rally this week – and the New Zealand Prime Minister was fine with that. Ms Ardern, also without a face covering, happily posed for selfies alongside dozens of youthful supporters, rubbing […]
SHENZHEN (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) – President Xi Jinping vowed to press ahead with plans to gain the global lead in technology and other strategic industries, despite expanding efforts from the US and its allies to check China’s rise. The Chinese president reaffirmed his commitment to “opening up and reform” as a strategy for gaining economic advantage […]
ACHIN (AFP) – Living in the shadow of a United States military base had provided protection to villagers in eastern Afghanistan, but locals now say the recent withdrawal of foreign troops has left them exposed to militant attacks. “When the Americans were here, there were drones in the air 24 hours a day and there […]
A simmering row in the Philippine Congress that threatened to stall the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic ended yesterday, with lawmakers allied with the powerful daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte officially naming a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. Representative Lord Allan Velasco was elected House Speaker by a majority of lawmakers who […]
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysia’s Palace has postponed a meeting between the King and opposition leaders Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu to a later date, the two party leaders say. In a joint statement, the DAP secretary-general and the Parti Amanah Negara president said they were supposed to have an audience […]
India is pushing ahead with reopening its economy even as it is set to overtake the United States in terms of having the largest number of Covid-19 cases. Cinemas will be allowed to open this week, while the reopening of schools is being widely debated. India has nearly 7.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases, but faced […]
SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) – The mass death of young and old corals in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is threatening the recovery of the largest living structure on Earth. The bleaching of corals off Australia’s northeastern coast due to ocean warming and acidification is happening across all species and to specimens of all ages, according to a […]
NEW DELHI (AFP) – An Indian government unit established to develop soaps and medicinal products from cow dung has branched out with a “chip” it claims can protect people from cellphone radiation. Without explaining how the technology works, the head of the National Cow Commission – set up last year – said the device could […]
(This October 12 story corrects spelling of PanAgora.)Traders wear masks as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas JacksonNEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – A fund trading strategy that tracks hundreds of […]
FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departs her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 8, 2020. REUTERS/Erin ScottWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected President Donald Trump’s latest offer on COVID-19 stimulus on Tuesday, in the latest sign that a bipartisan deal on coronavirus relief remains unlikely ahead […]