BEIJING China on Thursday dismissed accusations from Taiwan that it engaged in “dollar diplomacy” to get Sao Tome and Principe to ditch ties with the self-ruled island, saying a petty Taiwan was besmirching China’s good name. The tiny West African state’s decision this week has angered Taiwan, which says the move will not help already strained relations with China. Taiwan says China took advantage of Sao Tome’s […]
The series of scattershot remarks has further unsettled a turbulent period in American foreign policy. It underscores Mr. Trump’s challenge in fashioning a coherent approach to the problems he will inherit in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, especially working with a team that consists of retired generals and an oil executive, few of whom have experience in the daily cascade of crises that confront every White […]
Thursday 08:10 GMT Overview European stock indices are slipping back, following Wall Street’s lacklustre lead as the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved further away from the 20,000-point milestone while the US dollar weakened, also cooling from its strong run. Hot topic European banking stocks are under scrutiny. It comes after news that Monte dei Paschi di Siena is to be rescued by the Italian state using a […]
BEIJING China will ban imports of poultry and related products from countries where there are outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu, the agency that oversees safety of the country’s imports said on Wednesday. China has already banned poultry imports from more than 60 countries. The statement, sent by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to Reuters, comes as South Korea battles its worst-ever outbreak […]
A group of lawyers has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government for failing to prevent the severe smog that has covered the north over the past week, underlining the discontent voiced by tens of millions of citizens online. Beijing and many other cities in north China are entering their sixth day running of pollution “red alerts”, which have closed down schools, roads and factories. More than 350 […]
By Thanarith Satrusayang | BANGKOK BANGKOK Thailand and China are in talks about building military production facilities in Thailand, a Thai defense ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, the latest sign of warming relations between China and America’s oldest ally in Asia. Relations between Thailand and the United States cooled following a May 2014 military coup that the Thai military said was necessary to end months of unrest, […]
Wednesday 02:10 GMT Overview Stocks across Asia were on the rise, with sentiment buoyed by continued gains for Wall Street as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes in on 20,000 points for the first time. Hot topic The Dow Jones rose 0.5 per cent overnight in New York to close a mere 25.4 points shy of the 20,000-point milestone, while the S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent […]
SHANGHAI Northern China was shrouded in smog for a fifth straight day on Wednesday as citizens complained that the state’s emergency measures were still not being implemented properly. Residents in Shijiazhuang, the capital of heavily industrialised Hebei province that surrounds Beijing, complained that schools were still open even though the city remained on red alert with air pollution levels close to record highs. Media reports in central […]
By Sue-Lin Wong | YANJI, China YANJI, China The brightly coloured packages advertising “Walleye Pollock” at the West Market in Yanji, a Chinese city near the border with North Korea, say the fish came from China. But 15 vendors interviewed at the market say the fish came in from North Korea to be processed, packaged and mostly sold in China. They say they buy the […]
BEIJING China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it welcomed an announcement from the small west African country of Sao Tome to end diplomatic relations with self-ruled Taiwan. “We have noted the statement from the government of Sao Tome and Principe on the 20th to break so-called ‘diplomat’ ties with Taiwan. China expresses appreciation of this, and welcomes Sao Tome back onto the correct path of the ‘one […]
By Melissa Fares and David Lawder | WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to put his pick for Commerce Secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, in charge of his get-tough trade policy, a transition team spokesman said on Tuesday. It is a signal of how Trump, who is also interviewing candidates to be the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), plans to elevate […]
Nike Inc (NKE.N), the world’s No. 1 footwear maker, reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by higher demand from Western Europe, Greater China and emerging markets. The company’s shares were up 4 percent at $53.89 in after-market trading on Tuesday. Nike’s net income rose to $842 million, or 50 cents per share, in the second quarter ended Nov. 30, from $785 million, or 45 cents per share, a […]
VATICAN CITY The Vatican said on Tuesday it hoped China’s communist government would give Catholics there “positive signs” that would help them have faith in a push by Pope Francis to heal a decades-old rift with Beijing. Chinese Catholics are divided between those who are loyal to the pope and those who are members of a government-controlled official church. The Vatican has been seeking a compromise with […]
Tuesday 19:45 GMT Overview A robust session for US equities saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average climb to within a whisker of the 20,000 milestone as participants shrugged off geopolitical concerns and focused on the prospect of stronger growth under the presidency of Donald Trump. The “risk-on” mood in the markets left US Treasury prices and gold lower while the yen — viewed by many as a […]
BEIJING China said it will not change its position on opposing the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to people it considers criminals, even though Beijing and Norway had now normalised ties frozen since 2010 when a prominent Chinese dissident won. Liu Xiaobo, 59, was jailed by a Chinese court for 11 years in 2009 on subversion charges for organising a petition urging an end to one-party […]
Why does Apple want to open stores in India? Its sales in China, previously a huge market for growth, are slowing and it doesn’t want to miss out on India’s rapidly-expanding smartphone market. Opening its own stores in India, which is set to become the world’s second biggest market for the devices by next year, could help boost brand awareness and sales. (via WSJ)
It’s a hot July day in Bethlehem, and white-robed pilgrims from Nigeria stand in the courtyard entrance to the ancient church, singing and beating drums. They’ve travelled more than 3,500 kilometres to enter the church’s low wooden door, pass through a nave under restoration and down one of the staircases in the sprawling church, to the grotto. There, they will kneel in prayer and devotion at the […]
In a year replete with extraordinary political upheaval and the wrenching loss of artistic icons, the markets have played their part in contributing to the angst. Here is a look at some of 2016’s most notable one-day wobbles. China cracks It started badly. In China, the mainland’s benchmark, the Shanghai Composite index, had closed 2015 near a four-month high after bouncing nearly 21 per cent from its […]
The United States said on Tuesday it had received an underwater drone “unlawfully seized” by a Chinese vessel last week and called on China to refrain from further efforts to impede its lawful activities in the South China Sea. China had earlier announced it had returned the drone after “friendly” talks between the two countries. The USS Mustin received the vehicle for the United States in international […]
By Michelle Nichols | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action is taken, renewing his plea for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the world’s newest country. “If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities,” Ban told the 15-member […]
Tuesday 02:20 GMT Overview Stock markets across Asia were largely on the back foot, with investors in the Japanese market treading particularly cautiously despite the yen weakening and the Bank of Japan keeping monetary policy meeting steady, as expected. Hot topic Global financial markets were beginning to quiet down in the lead-up to Christmas. Despite attacks in Germany and Turkey on Monday that added to geopolitical unease, […]
SHANGHAI/BEIJING Heavy smog engulfed large parts of northern China for a fourth straight day on Tuesday, with the environment ministry warning that some firms in the region were continuing to flout emergency restrictions and dozens of flights out of Beijing cancelled. Some power plants and chemical producers in the region had not scaled back operations in line with regulations, and drivers in Beijing had also been flouting […]
Jim Cramer looked a little worried this evening, during his Maddening Money programme. All throughout the elections, the establishment elite, globalist shills, underestimated Trump’s desires to make America great again. With today’s electoral college win and Trump’s persistent lack of subservience to China, the shills on Wall Street are starting to wonder if it’s really happening. It really is this time, happening that is. In the brief […]
SYDNEY Investigators searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have recommended extending the search by an additional 25,000 sq km (9,650 sq miles), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Tuesday. The current 120,000 sq km (46,330 sq miles) search area in the Indian Ocean is due to be exhausted by January, with no sign of the missing jet. Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with […]
