US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin face off on Wednesday in their first meeting since Biden took office with wide disagreements likely and expectations low for any breakthroughs. Both have said they hope their talks in a stately lakeside Geneva villa can lead to more stable and …
Read More »Daily Archives: June 16, 2021
Macau follows Hong Kong with suspension of its Taiwan office
Macau’s government said on Wednesday it would suspend operations at its representative office in Taiwan, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong, which made a similar move last month in response to Taipei’s support for pro-democracy activists there. The gambling hub’s government said that The Macao Economic and Cultural Office …
Read More »Ethiopia U.N. envoy says Eritrea troops to leave Tigray ‘soon’
Eritrean troops in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are expected to “definitely leave soon,” Ethiopia’s U.N. envoy said after a top U.N. official told the Security Council on Tuesday that Eritrea’s soldiers were using starvation as a weapon of war. Outgoing U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock told the 15-member council in a …
Read More »After massed plane incursion near Taiwan, China says must respond to ‘collusion’
China does not tolerate foreign forces intervening in Taiwan issues and has to make strong responses to such acts of “collusion”, the government said on Wednesday after the island reported the largest incursion to date of Chinese aircraft. Twenty-eight Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s …
Read More »Peru leftist Castillo claims election win as Fujimori fights result
Peruvian socialist candidate Pedro Castillo claimed victory in the presidential election on Tuesday after clinging on to a narrow lead as the lengthy vote count ended, although his right-wing rival pledged to fight the result and has yet to concede. Castillo ended the count 44,058 votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori, …
Read More »Sydney records first local COVID-19 case in more than a month
Australia’s most populous city Sydney has recorded its first locally acquired case of COVID-19 in more than a month, stoking concerns of a fresh wave of infections on Wednesday. New South Wales (NSW) state said it is not clear how the unnamed man in his 60s acquired the virus, but …
Read More »Hyundai Motor Group chases local chipmakers to cut exposure to shortage
Hyundai Motor Group is in talks with South Korean chip companies to help it reduce reliance on foreign supplies amid a global shortage that has halted assembly lines at automakers around the world, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Hyundai officials have met with local “fabless” firms – …
Read More »China says no leak at nuclear plant, no change to detection standards
China said on Wednesday that there was no radiation leak at the Taishan nuclear power station and it had not raised acceptable limits for radiation levels around the plant, responding to a CNN report earlier this week. CNN reported on Monday that Framatome, the French company which designed the plant, …
Read More »S. Arabia executes man for offences rights groups say he committed as minor
Saudi Arabia has executed a man for offences rights groups say he allegedly committed while under the age of 18, despite the kingdom’s insistence that it has abolished death sentences for many childhood crimes. Mustafa Hashem al-Darwish was arrested in May 2015 and charged with protest-related offences, many of which …
Read More »Car bomb explosion at Colombia military base injures 36
A car bomb explosion at a military base in the Colombian border city of Cucuta injured 36 people on Tuesday, the defense minister said, casting blame for the attack on leftist rebels. The explosion took place at a base used by the 30th Army Brigade in the northeastern city near …
Read More »Magnitude 6.1 quake hits near Indonesia’s Mollucas islands
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit near Indonesia’s Mollucas islands on Wednesday, Indonesia’s geophysics agency BMKG said. The quake, which struck at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), had no potential to trigger a tsunami, the agency said.
Read More »N.Korea’s Kim says food situation ‘tense’ due to pandemic, typhoons
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said the country’s economy improved this year but called for measures to tackle the “tense” food situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last year’s typhoons, state media said on Wednesday. Kim chaired a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s central committee …
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