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by Anuj Chopra RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia hosts the G20 summit Saturday in a first for an Arab nation, but the scaled-down virtual format could limit debate on a resurgent coronavirus pandemic and crippling economic crisis. The two-day meeting of the world’s wealthiest nations follows a bitter US election the results of which remain disputed by President Donald Trump and comes amid criticism of what campaigners call the group’s inadequate response to […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan has grounded all of its F16 fighter jets for safety checks as rescuers continue to search for one that went missing during a training exercise, authorities said Wednesday. The decision removes around 150 planes from Taiwan’s skies, leaving the democratic island relying on an even more limited fleet to warn off Chinese jets that have been buzzing it at an unprecedented rate in recent months. The air force said a […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning Americans from investing in Chinese firms deemed to be supplying or supporting Beijing’s military and security apparatus, earning a sharp rebuke from China. The order listed 31 companies Thursday it said China was using for the “increasing exploitation” of US investment capital to fund military and intelligence services, including the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction. US-China […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden on Friday nearly a week after he was declared winner of the American election. US-China ties have grown increasingly strained in recent years under the administration of incumbent Donald Trump, and relations are as icy as at any time since formal ties were established four decades ago. “We respect the choice of the American people. We express our congratulations to Mr Biden and Ms […]
by Anuj Chopra RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged Thursday to strike extremists with an “iron fist”, after a bombing against a gathering of Western diplomats was claimed by the Islamic State group. The bomb blast struck a World War I commemoration at a non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah on Wednesday, just two weeks after a guard at the French consulate in the Red Sea city was wounded by a […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is 92 percent effective according to initial test results, its developers said on Wednesday, as Moscow races against its competitors in the West. The calculations were based on results from 16,000 individuals who received both doses of the vaccine, Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research centre and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement. “The Sputnik V vaccine had an efficacy rate […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The “travel bubble” agreed between Hong Kong and Singapore will be opened on November 22, their governments said Wednesday, in a rare piece of good news for the pandemic-battered tourism industry. A quota of 200 residents from each city will be able to travel on one daily flight to the other, Hong Kong’s commerce minister Edward Yau told a press conference. Only those who have been in Hong Kong or […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech on Tuesday stood by the safety of its Covid-19 vaccine after Brazilian regulators halted trials in the South American country citing an “adverse incident” involving a volunteer recipient. “We are confident in the safety of the vaccine,” Sinovac said in a statement, adding that the adverse incident was “unrelated to the vaccine”. © Agence France-Presse
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan on Monday said Chinese “obstruction” had prevented it from attending a key World Health Organization meeting focused on the coronavirus, accusing the global body of prioritizing politics over health. The self-ruled island of 23 million has seen remarkable success in combatting the pandemic — with only seven deaths and fewer than 600 confirmed cases — as many parts of the world report surging numbers of infections and deaths. But it […]
WILMINGTON, United States (AFP) — Kamala Harris on Saturday shattered barriers to become the first woman vice president and, in a symbolism-heavy victory speech, told girls she would not be the last. Introducing President-elect Joe Biden in an optimism-fueled outdoor rally, Harris — also the first Black woman and Indian-American as vice president — sported a white suit in recognition of the suffragist movement that fought to give US women the vote a century […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the White House, pledging to work together to ensure “peace, freedom and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region that is increasingly dominated by China. Beijing’s expanding military presence in the region has worried several of its neighbors, and Washington has vowed to stand up against its territorial claims. Japan is also caught in the tensions between the United States […]
by Luana SARMINI-BUONACCORSI with Raziye Akkoc in Ankara BAYRAKLI, Turkey (AFP) — A three-year-old girl was pulled from rubble Tuesday, 91 hours after a powerful earthquake hit western Turkey, offering a ray of hope for grieving families as the death toll soared past 100. But only hours after Ayda Gezgin was miraculously recovered in the hard-hit town of Bayrakli, rescuers found the body of her mother Fidan, 38, in the same room of their destroyed […]
