Australia must resist temptation to pigeonhole Beijing over its response to Pelosi’s Taiwan trip In the aftermath of the visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Australia-China relationship is once again inflamed. This follows a modest thawing in bilateral ties after the new government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, […]
The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a statement concerning the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong in 2020. The European External Action Service echoed the statement with no further investigation the next day. To the 1.4 billion Chinese on the mainland and many Hong Kong residents, the public statement was appalling […]
The flags of Iran flutter during a sandstorm in the south of the capital Tehran on July 4, 2022. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) DUBAI – Iran said on Saturday its security forces had arrested a network of agents working for Israel before they were able to carry out sabotage and "terrorist operations", state media reported. […]
Smokes rise after Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb outside a military station in Semdinli near the border with Iraq, on Oct 9, 2016. Citing a statement by the Turkish Armed Forces, the Anadolu Agency said the attack was the work of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (STRINGER / IHLAS NEWS AGENCY / AFP) BAGHDAD/ANKARA/TEHRAN […]
By targeting China in its official summit statement for the first time, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is attempting to disrupt the relative peaceful seas in the Western side of the Pacific. At the end of its summit on June 30, NATO unveiled its “Strategic Concept” in which it said that the allies face systemic […]
BEIJING, June 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via SEAPRWire.com) — JD.com, Inc. (the “Company” or “JD.com”) (Nasdaq: JD; HKEx: 9618), a leading supply chain-based technology and service provider, today announced that it renewed the strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent for a period of three years. Tencent will continue to offer the Company prominent Level I and Level II access […]
BEIJING, June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via SEAPRWire.com) — BlueCity Holdings Limited (“BlueCity” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BLCT), a leading online LGBTQ platform, today announced it has called an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “EGM”), to be held on July 29, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing time), at Block 2 Tower B, No. 22 […]
In this file photo taken on Jan 24, 2022, cadets of Indian defense forces stand beside a tableau of indigenous missile and aircraft during a full dress rehearsal for the upcoming Republic Day parade in Chennai. (ARUN SANKAR / AFP) NEW DELHI – India on Wednesday successfully conducted the test-fire of its first indigenously-developed naval […]
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye speaks during a joint press conference with Libya's interim prime minister in the Libyan capital Tripoli, on Feb 14, 2022. (MAHMUD TURKIA / AFP) JERUSALEM / RAMALLAH – Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Tuesday called on the European Union to pressure Israel to stop its violations against the Palestinians […]
SINGAPORE – Singapore's high court has convicted two people over what authorities consider to be the largest market manipulation case in the city-state, a joint statement by the Singapore police and Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Thursday. For almost a decade, Singapore authorities have been investigating suspected trading irregularities tied to a so-called penny-stock […]
Officials prepare the exhibition stands at the venue for the G20 finance ministers and central governors meeting in Jakarta on February 16, 2022, scheduled to take place on February 17-18. (MAST IRHAM / POOL / AFP) PHNOM PENH – Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand are due to host three important leaders' meetings in the Southeast Asia […]
An overturned vehicle lies on the road at the scene of a shooting attack on March 29, 2022 in Bnei Brak, 7km (4.5 miles) east of Tel Aviv. Five people were killed in gun attacks Tuesday near the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, emergency responders said, in the third fatal gun or knife spree […]
Snow covers the Jordanian capital Amman following overnight snowfall, on Jan 27, 2022. (KHALIL MAZRAAWI / AFP) AMMAN – Jordan held governorate and municipal council elections on Tuesday, with strict measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The final turnout of the local elections was 29.6 percent, with more than 1.36 million votes […]
Israeli security forces take position facing Palestinian stone-throwers, during confrontations with them following the Friday prayers in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, Feb 18, 2022. (HAZEM BADER / AFP) BETHLEHEM – Israeli troops killed a Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said, in an incident the […]
Great Britain were on Friday stripped of the silver medal they won in the men’s 4×100 metres relay at last year’s Tokyo Olympics after CJ Ujah was found to have committed a doping violation. Ujah tested positive for the prohibited substances ostarine and S-23, commonly used to build muscle, after the race on August 6. […]
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran on Feb 22, 2021. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Western countries have always stoked tensions in the region, in reaction to an anti-Iran joint statement recently issued by foreign ministers of the Gulf […]
A passenger arrives on an early morning flight at Sydney Airport, Nov 29, 2021. (MARK BAKER/AP) AMMAN / CANBERRA – Australia must loosen COVID-19 restrictions to bolster its economic recovery, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Saturday, even as daily infections rose to a six-week high. "States need to keep calm and carry on. And not overreact […]
Security forces close the heavily fortified Green Zone during a protest outside in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov 6, 2021. (HADI MIZBAN / AP) BAGHDAD – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was unharmed in an assassination attempt carried out by a drone targeting his official residence on Sunday, the Iraqi military said. The media office of the Iraqi […]
A health worker inoculates a woman with a dose of the Covaxin vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a health center in New Delhi on Oct 21, 2021. (PRAKASH SINGH / AFP) AMMAN /ANKARA / RAMALLAH – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the G20 leaders in Rome that India was ready to manufacture more […]
The Marina Bay Sands beyond Merlion Park in the central business district of Singapore. (BLOOMBERG) MELBOURNE – Singapore said only fully-vaccinated people and those who had recently recovered from the coronavirus will be allowed to enter workplaces from January, while those who haven’t taken the shots must test negative daily before they are granted access. […]
High waves break on the seaside promenade in the Omani capital Muscat on Oct 2, 2021, as cyclone Shaheen hits the country. (MOHAMMED MAHJOUB / AFP) Oman has suspended flights to and from Muscat airport and the United Arab Emirates said it was on “high alert” as a storm neared the countries’ coastlines. READ MORE: Powerful cyclone […]
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (left) and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster (right) speak during a press conference in Wellington on September 4, 2021, following the country's first COVID-related death in six months and the day after an IS-inspired attacker injured six people in a knife rampage before being shot dead by undercover police. (MARK […]
This handout photo from Malaysia's Department of Information taken and released on Nov 26, 2020 shows a general view of the Malaysian Parliament in Kuala Lumpur. (KHIRUL NIZAM ZANIL / DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION MALAYSIA / AFP) Malaysia plans to debate and annul its emergency laws in parliament next month, ending a days-long standoff between the […]
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad, Malaysia's king, center, onserves an honor guard during a ceremony at Parliament Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan 31, 2019. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Malaysia’s king has publicly rebuked a government minister for “misleading” the parliament, adding pressure to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s embattled administration. King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad clarified […]
In this picture taken on July 15, 2021, Afghan militia fighters keep a watch at an outpost against Taliban insurgents at Charkint district in Balkh Province. (FARSHAD USYAN / AFP) KABUL – Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Kabul joined hands on Monday to urge the Taliban to halt military offensives across Afghanistan, […]
In this file photo dated July 2, 2008, a Palestinian visitor gestures near a swimming pool of natural water at Ein Fara springs, in the occupied West Bank, north of Jerusalem. The occupied West Bank faces grave water shortages largely as a result of "discriminatory" Israeli policies, an Israeli human rights group said on July […]
The Singapore-registered container ship MV X-Press Pearl carrying hundreds of tons of chemicals and plastics, sinks after burning for almost two weeks, just outside Colombo's harbor on June 2, 2021. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) COLOMBO/ SINGAPORE – Sri Lanka on Thursday readied for the possibility of an oil spill after a cargo ship laden […]
A poster that reads "The great leader is the eternal President of the DPRK" is displayed on a street as the DPRK marks the 109th birth anniversary of late leader Kim Il-sung, known as the "Day of the Sun", in Pyongyang on April 15, 2021. (KIM WON JIN / AFP) PYONGYANG – The Democratic People's […]
A Turkish flag is at half-staff, on Nov 27, 2017 at Taksim square in Istanbul. Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Jan 12, 2018 issued a travel advisory for citizens travelling to the US, urging them to consider increasing terror acts and arbitrary arrests. (YASIN AKGUL / AFP) ISTANBUL – Turkey denounced on Saturday US President Joe […]
Armenian opposition supporters rally to demand the resignation of the prime minister over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan, in Yerevan on March 9, 2021. (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) MOSCOW – The Armenian government said the dismissal of a top army general at the centre of a political crisis had come into force on […]