Crisis-Hit Lebanon Names New Government
Lebanon ended a painful wait by unveiling a new cabinet line-up, but the government was promptly scorned by protesters and faces the Herculean task of saving a collapsing economy. More than a month after he was designated with backing from the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah and nearly three after his predecessor Saad Hariri resigned under […]
Boeing Says 737 MAX Return Delayed Until Mid-2020
Boeing on Tuesday officially pushed back the timeframe for the 737 MAX to return to the skies, sending shares plunging and overshadowing an earlier announcement of a first flight of the delayed 777X plane. Boeing said it is now targeting the return of the grounded MAX “during mid-2020,” the latest delay in the schedule for […]
Malaysia’s Hand-Made Incense Craftwork A Declining Art
Thousands of giant incense sticks, many decorated with dragon heads, line the walls at a Malaysian business where they are made by hand ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. In the rural town of Kubang Semang, workers spend months using a traditional method to craft the sticks — some as tall as two metres […]
Wuhan Virus Compounds Hong Kong’s Economic Woes
The emergence of a SARS-like virus in China is the last thing Hong Kong’s struggling economy needs, analysts say, as the city reels from the twin storms of the global trade war and months of political unrest. The semi-autonomous financial hub is currently on high alert for any appearance of the new coronavirus, which first […]
China Warns Virus Could Mutate, Spread
A new virus that has killed nine people, infected hundreds and already reached the United States could mutate and spread, China warned Wednesday, as authorities scrambled to contain the disease during the Lunar New Year travel season. The coronavirus has caused alarm for its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 […]
Escobar Of Eggs Faces Justice After 35 Years Of Poaching
Jeffrey Lendrum spent three decades living as the so-called “Pablo Escobar of eggs”, smuggling the fragile shells from the nests of falcons and other birds of prey to wealthy international clients. His racket was smashed in 2018 when customs officers at London’s Heathrow Airport found him in possession of 19 birds of prey eggs worth […]
Venezuela Intelligence Agents Raid Guaido Offices
Agents from Venezuela’s Sebin intelligence service have raided the offices of opposition leader Juan Guaido while he is travelling in Europe, an opposition lawmaker said. “We have just confirmed that Sebin officers are inside the office,” lawmaker Delsa Solorzano told reporters Tuesday after speaking with security guards at Caracas’s Zurich Tower. National Assembly leader Guaido […]
Parliament To Elect Greece’s First Woman President
A trailblazing judge with particular expertise in environmental law and the constitution will become Greece’s first female president on Wednesday. The candidacy of Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou has already won cross-party support and been welcomed by some commentators as a consensus candidate during a difficult time for Greek foreign policy. “The time has come for Greece to […]
Saudi Dismisses Link To Hack Of Amazon Owner Bezos
The Saudi embassy in Washington on Tuesday dismissed suggestions the kingdom hacked the phone of Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, as media reports linked the security breach to a WhatsApp message from an account of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The 2018 intrusion into the device led to the release of intimate images of Amazon […]
South Korean Army To Discharge Transgender Soldier
A transgender soldier who enlisted as a man and underwent a sex change last year will be discharged from South Korea’s army, with the military saying Wednesday she had violated regulations. The country remains deeply conservative about matters of sexual identity and is less tolerant of LGBT rights than some other parts of Asia, with […]
S. Korea Posts Lowest Growth In A Decade For 2019
South Korea’s economy expanded at its slowest pace for a decade last year, hampered by prolonged trade tensions between the US and China and the sluggish semiconductor market, the central bank said Wednesday. The world’s 12th-largest economy grew 2.0 percent in 2019, down from 2.7 percent the previous year and the worst performance since 2009 […]
As Trump’s Impeachment Progresses
President Trump’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz decried his client’s impeachment over the weekend because, he said, there was no crime committed. Impeachment calls for a standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors” – a much debated phrase that dates back to the Constitution and doesn’t necessarily mean the law has been broken. A central plank in […]