SYDNEY (Reuters) – A measure of Australian consumer sentiment showed a setback in July as renewed coronavirus lockdowns in the country’s second-largest city darkened the mood after two months of gain. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment fell 6.1% in July from June, when it had bounced 6.3%. The index had taken a nosedive […]
Nepal PM says Ayodhya as Lord Ram’s birthplace is a recent creation, as he accuses New Delhi of ‘cultural encroachment’. Nepali Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli has said that Hindu deity Ram was born in the Himalayan nation and not India, as he accused New Delhi of “encroaching on cultural facts” amid frayed diplomatic […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Time is pressing on EU member states to reach a deal on proposals for a long-term budget and a stimulus plan, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday, adding that Germany would push for a compromise at a summit of leaders this week. “It would be desirable to reach a quick result but […]
ROME (Reuters) – Investors and unions signalled risks ahead of an Italian cabinet meeting late on Tuesday that was expected to consider whether to strip Atlantia of its toll road licence following a bridge disaster in 2018. Fondazione CRT, which owns nearly 5% in Atlantia (ATL.MI), and a key foreign shareholder in motorway unit Autostrade […]
At least 1.5 million people are affected, as rivers threaten to burst their banks, officials say. A third of Bangladesh is underwater after some of the heaviest rains in a decade, officials said. Almost four million people have also been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia. The monsoon – which usually falls from June to […]
BEIJING (REUTERS) – A Beijing law professor who has been an outspoken critic of China’s President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party was fired by his university after being released from a nearly week-long detention, his friends said. Prof Xu Zhangrun, a constitutional law professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University, returned home on Sunday […]
TOKYO (REUTERS) – A US business body has asked Japan to eliminate “double standard” re-entry rules and treat all residents returning to the country equally during the Covid-19 pandemic regardless of their nationality. Japan allows its citizens to return to the country on condition they take a polymerase chain reaction test and observe a period […]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Investor sentiment in Germany worsened somewhat in July, the ZEW economic research institute said, showing Europe’s largest economy has a long path to recovery from the coronavirus crisis despite a slew of more positive data. An indicator tracking investors’ economic sentiment slipped to 59.3 points, down from 63.4 points the previous month, […]
SINGAPORE – The family of a pharmaceutical company executive, who died at the age of 44 following a liposuction procedure in 2013, lost a substantial source of financial support as a result of her death, her husband has said. He made the claim in a medical negligence suit in the High Court against the surgeon […]
BANGKOK – Thai Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday (July 14) apologised for lapses with regard to two cases that sparked panic about renewed community transmission of Covid-19 in the kingdom after more than a month of being in the clear. The two cases involved a nine-year-old daughter of a Sudanese diplomat and an Egyptian military […]