President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog delivers a speech following a meeting with Nato Secretary general at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Jan 26, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) JERUSALEM — Israel's president floated a compromise plan on Sunday to spare the country what he described as a "constitutional collapse" and possible violence, […]
In this file photo dated to May 19, 2022, a couple watch as the sun sets over the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The Australian government has restored the family reunion pathway for refugees who came to the country by boat. (PHOTO / AP) CANBERRA – The Australian government has restored the family reunion […]
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe (fifth, left) attends the 75th Independence Day ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AP) COLOMBO – Sri Lanka's economy is expected to grow again from the end of this year and the government wants the country to exit bankruptcy by 2026, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament […]
Richelda Extremadura (right) executive director of Lila Pilipina, an organization of former comfort women and their supporters, assists alleged Filipino "comfort women" as they display Origami paper cranes to symbolize peace during a forum to demand justice, compensation and apology from the Japanese government for their war crimes, Jan 22, 2016 at suburban Quezon city, […]
The jaw-dropping price tags on the government’s mega development projects have raised public concern, with some challenging the authorities’ decision-making process in advancing projects such as the Lantau Tomorrow Vision and Northern Metropolis. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced recently that the budget for building three artificial islands off Lantau has ballooned by […]
After the three elections of the Election Committee, the Legislative Council, and the chief executive were successfully held, the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” has been largely realized in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Recently, the HKSAR government said it intends to delete the requirement of “political neutrality” for civil servants from the […]
In this Nov 24, 2021 file photo, armed Houthi fighters attend the funeral procession of Houthi rebel fighters who were killed in recent fighting with forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government, in Sanaa, Yemen. (PHOTO / AP) ADEN, Yemen – At least eight people were killed on Friday in an attack launched by the Houthi […]
Television journalists are seen outside the premises of the Supreme Court in New Delhi, India, Jan 22, 2020. (ANUSHREE FADNAVIS / REUTERS) NEW DELHI – Senior officials in India's government have said they want to have a bigger role in choosing judges, a demand several lawyers and judges say threatens the independence of the judiciary. […]
Zheng Yanxiong, former director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (OSNS), is set to drive Hong Kong forward after taking the reins at the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR last week. Having succeeded Luo Huining, Zheng empathetically […]
The recent appointment of Zheng Yanxiong, the former head of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as the new director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR sheds light on the central authority’s governing policies on Hong Kong. […]
Washington, D.C., Jan 17, 2023 – (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – The Government Blockchain Association (GBA) is pleased to announce the publication of the Blockchain Maturity Model (BMM) (bit.ly/3Xe9gC2) Overview Document. It is available for download at bit.ly/3Xe9gC2, and provides an in-depth look at the content, structure, use, and maintenance of the GBA BMM. The […]
Staff of the election office and scrutineers are seen at the Fijian Elections Office National Count Centre in Suva on Dec 15, 2022. (SAEED KHAN / AFP) SYDNEY – Fiji's military chief warned lawmakers on Tuesday against making "sweeping changes" less than a month after contested elections that removed the government of Frank Bainimarama, who […]
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg holds a press conference upon his arrival in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on June 8, 2022. (ALAA MOHAMMAD / AFP) SANAA/UNITED NATIONS – UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg arrived in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday to push the militia for truce renewal. Grundberg was […]
In a recent interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Ken expressed serious concern about the new, reportedly tougher China strategy the German government is working on, and which may soon be finalized. He said that from what he had been told, the so-called Internal Guidelines on China being compiled by […]
Military personnel in ceremonial uniform lower the Sri Lanka national flag at Galle Face Green in Colombo on July 23, 2022. (ARUN SANKAR / AFP) COLOMBO – Sri Lanka's Election Commission said on Wednesday that applications for postal voting from eligible voters for the 2023 local elections would be accepted on Jan 5-23. Chairman of […]
An Israeli flag flies in a street in front of the Ibrahimi Mosque or the Tomb of the patriarchs, in the West Bank town of Hebron, on May 26, 2022. (HAZEM BADER / AFP) JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right Israeli government unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would allow parliament to overturn […]
For the many Hong Kong rebels who fled to the United Kingdom to escape prosecution after the 2019-20 riots, it’s a case of catch-22 or deja vu. During the past two years, they have been lured to the UK by the promise of security and a better life. But this has proved to be an […]
On Nov 28, 2022, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA) failed to respect the overriding status of the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong and the vital importance of safeguarding national security by “mechanically” following the judicial procedures of the common law. Accordingly, it rejected the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government’s […]
In this Nov 24, 2021 file photo, armed Houthi fighters attend the funeral procession of Houthi rebel fighters who were killed in recent fighting with forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government, in Sanaa, Yemen. (HANI MOHAMMED / AP) ADEN, Yemen – A new wave of fighting erupted between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi rebel […]
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, Türkiye, on Aug 8, 2022. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ANKARA – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that the next contact with the Syrian government as part of a road map for dialogue between the two countries will be between […]
Professor Lo Chung-mau, the secretary for health, recently released a Primary Healthcare Blueprint for Hong Kong. Strengthening primary healthcare is clearly the right direction to go. As Lo says, Hong Kong has put too much emphasis on a cure and too little on prevention. This is costly on two counts. First, effective prevention is much […]
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on Feb 10, 2021. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ANKARA — Türkiye's Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador on Monday and voiced "dissatisfaction" with French authorities' attitude […]
China’s changes in COVID controls come at an appropriate moment amid the long fight An elderly resident receives a shot of COVID-19 vaccine at home during a medical service for senior citizens in Dongcheng District of Beijing, May 10, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA) China’s National Health Commission issued optimized COVID-19 control regulations on Dec 7, […]
Election Commission officials prepare to open the ballot boxes for counting during Fiji's general election in the capital city Suva on Dec 14, 2022. (SAEED KHAN / AFP) SUVA — Fiji will have a new government as the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), one of the opposition parties, decided on Tuesday to work with the […]
When Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered his maiden Policy Address in October, a top item on his agenda was to establish, within this year, a new government think tank called the Chief Executive Policy Unit (CEPU). Besides monitoring public opinion and researching local issues, the CEPU will study national policies and international trends to […]
People gather at the scene near an explosion at a weapons warehouse in the city of Lawdar in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, July 5, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP) ADEN, Yemen – Gunmen of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch targeted military vehicles of the country's government forces in the southern province of Abyan on Friday, a […]
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold up their cards during a rally against the government's labor policy near the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea on Dec 3, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP) SEOUL – As their walkout entered its third week, South Korean truckers realized their bid to widen and make […]
Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister and the head of Likud party, speaks to his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party's headquarters in Jerusalem, Nov 2, 2022. (OREN ZIV / AP) JERUSALEM – Israeli former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asked President Isaac Herzog for an […]
Has the United Kingdom suddenly reversed its policy of condemning Beijing’s imposition of security laws in Hong Kong? For years, there has been a relentless campaign of British criticism of Beijing’s actions. British government spokespersons, MPs from all the political parties, and virtually the whole UK press and media have stood as one in expressing […]
Anwar Ibrahim speaks to reporters outside the National Palace after an audience with Malaysia's king in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. (FL WONG / AP) KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia's newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday his administration will review a plan for a state-owned 5G network introduced by a previous government, as it […]