Category Archives: WORLD NEWS

Making working people in Britain better off will be at the “forefront” of the chancellor’s mind during her visit to China, the Treasury has said, following criticism of the trip amid trouble on the financial markets at home. Rachel Reeves will meet her opposite number in Beijing this weekend to explore trade and investment opportunities in a bid to achieve the government’s main goal of growing the UK economy to raise living standards. However, her visit has been overshadowed by UK borrowing costs hitting a 16-year high and a fall in the value of the pound. The Conservatives accused Reeves of having “fled to China”, but the government has defended the trip. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the rise in borrowing costs was “a global trend that we’ve seen affecting

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ’s repeated rebuffs by US president-elect Donald Trump may drive him towards Beijing, analysts say, sparking concerns that closer Sino-Japanese ties might complicate Washington’s Asia-Pacific policy. When Trump declined a request to meet Ishiba in November, it was widely seen as a snub to the Japanese leader. Additionally, when Ishiba suggested visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, this was also firmly rejected, with the president-elect’s team citing the 1799 Logan Act for avoiding contact with foreign leaders before his inauguration on January 20. Critics of that explanation highlight Trump’s recent meetings with leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , French President Emmanuel Macron , and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a private meeting with Prince William . Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

The world’s largest gathering of humanity begins in India on January 13 with the opening of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival organisers expect to attract up to 400 million pilgrims. Organisers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a temporary country from scratch – in this case, one more populous than the United States and Canada combined. “Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” festival spokesman Vivek Chaturvedi said. Around 150,000 toilets have been built and a network of community kitchens can each feed up to 50,000 people at the same time. Construction takes place on the banks of river Ganges in the city of Prayagraj ahead of

Jan 10 – The US has announced an increased $25m (£20.4m) reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the day he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office. The inauguration ceremony was overshadowed by recrimination from the international community and Venezuelan opposition leaders. Rewards have also been offered for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. A new reward of up to $15m for Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino has also been offered. The UK also issued sanctions on 15 top Venezuelan officials, including judges, members of the security forces and military officials. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said those sanctioned were responsible for “undermining democracy, the rule of law, and human rights violations”. Foreign

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong and Macau affairs has called on the two cities to best unleash the benefits of the “ one country, two systems ” governing principle, lauding it as China’s wisdom and a solution for the world to promote harmony and inclusion. Xia Baolong also said on Thursday that seven expectations Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out for Macau last month served as a reference for Hong Kong, and that the business community should act as a key driving force through the testing times of economic transition. In two speeches in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return to Chinese administration in December, Xi called on the city to play a bigger role on the international stage, embrace diversity and inclusiveness, and avoid complacency.

President John Dramani Mahama has said despite the economic crisis that have plagued Ghana in recent years, his tenure would mark the beginning of new opportunities for Ghanaians. In his inaugural speech as he took office yester­day as the sixth president of the Fourth Republic, President Mahama assured that his administration would work to fulfil his electioneering campaign of resetting the country. President John Dramani Mahama with the sword of office at the inauguration ceremony yesterday. Photo. Ebo Gorman . “We are a people buffeted by severe economic crisis and hardships. In the last few years, we have legged from crisis to crisis but there is hope on the horizon. Today should mark the beginning of new opportunities. An opportunity for us to make a difference in our governance and

Belarus, which has been seeking closer economic ties with China, is often portrayed as a loyal ally of Russia even though its strongman president, the 70-year-old Alexander Lukashenko, has a history of fluctuating relations with the Kremlin, including feuds with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. These days, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994 , seems increasingly focused on dealings with China, hardly missing an opportunity to praise the country and its leadership. As far back as in 2016, Lukashenko declared in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Belarus would be “a reliable friend of China forever”. In April 2019, he told Xi that Beijing “can always count on our support in any area”. In the years since, Lukashenko has referred to the friendship as “ironclad” and publicly

The Next Drug Epidemic Is Blue-Raspberry Flavored How Galaxy Gas became synonymous with the country’s burgeoning addiction to gas. By Ezra Marcus , a freelance reporter who writes about crime and culture Photo: Quinn Batley This article was featured in One Great Story, New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly. In early 2023, Alex took a job at Cloud 9, a strip-mall smoke shop off Atlanta’s I-85. He had recently graduated from college and wanted something laid-back; the shop, with its graffitied ceilings and cheesy blue-light displays, seemed like the ideal register job for a stoner with a music degree. It didn’t take long for him to realize that many of his customers weren’t there for rolling papers or vapes. They were coming instead for

Jan 7 – Meta is replacing its independent fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram with a “community notes” system, similar to the approach adopted by X (formerly Twitter). Under this model, users will contribute to contextualizing and clarifying the accuracy of posts. Announcing the change in a video alongside a company blog post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the use of third-party moderators had proven “too politically biased” and signaled a return to the company’s focus on “free expression.” Joel Kaplan, Meta’s new head of global affairs, replacing Sir Nick Clegg, said the reliance on independent fact-checkers had been “well-intentioned” but often resulted in “unfair censorship” of users. However, critics argue the move is politically motivated and could have dangerous implications. Ava Lee, from the campaign group Global Witness, said

To avoid President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s ban on the industry, illicit Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) are splintering into smaller “guerilla-style” networks, analysts warn, raising fears that they will continue to undermine national security and influence domestic politics. Philippine officials have been scrambling to close remaining Pogo hubs since the president issued an order for the entire industry to be shut down by the end of 2024, prompting a flurry of raids across major cities and provinces. Pogos are gaming firms that mainly cater to overseas Chinese clientele, but raids by local authorities have uncovered their numerous links to alleged transnational crimes including human trafficking and online scams, leading to Marcos Jnr calling for a ban on all Pogos in July. Foreign Pogo workers were notified that their visas would