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HONG KONGThe corruption crackdown ordered by Chinese President Xi Jinping is reliant on a secret system of detentions and torture beyond the reach of the formal Chinese criminal justice system, a U.S.-based human rights group said in a report on Tuesday. Human Rights Watch, which released its study in Hong Kong, called for the abolition of the system known as shuanggui, through which it alleges that confessions […]

Submitted by Brian Cloughley via Strategic-Culture.org, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the world’s five «nuclear weapons states», a description officially recognised in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which lays down that «each nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty undertakes not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices…» It is apparent that the word ‘transfer’ involves ownership and not location, […]

A bacteria that carries a transmissible gene resistant to carbapenems, one of the most important classes of antibiotics used against multidrug resistant bacteria, has been found in animals in the United States. Carbapenem Resistant Bacteria In hospitals, carbapenem antibiotics are used as a last line of defense against bacterial infections that are difficult to treat but these drugs are not allowed for veterinary use as a precautionary […]

Anyone checking the exchange rate between China’s renminbi and the US dollar would have got a shock early on Tuesday when an apparent glitch resulted in quotes shown on Google and at least two other currency exchange websites showing an 8 per cent devaluation. When markets opened, the Chinese currency instead rose against its US counterpart, after the central bank set the midpoint of the renminbi’s 4 per […]

President Rodrigo Duterte. RENATO LUMAWAG/ Presidential Photo Human rights group Karapatan on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration seem to be “stalling” the efforts of the peace negotiations as they refuse to release all political prisoners. “Lest the GRP’s use of the political prisoners as trump cards in the peace process will be seen as its vile attempt to set the stage to renege on […]

BANGKOK Floods in Thailand have killed 14 people and badly affected southern holiday islands as the country heads into the December-January high season for tourism, authorities said on Tuesday. A low pressure system has brought heavy rain to parts of the south including the islands of Samui and Pha Ngan in the Gulf of Thailand, and floods have also severed the rail link to the south and […]

MANCHESTER, England — To Pep Guardiola, as to anyone involved in elite sports, the very idea of being second best is anathema. So Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, did not need to pause for thought when he was asked whether, in certain circumstances, there is no difference between coming in second and finishing first. “I prefer first,” he said, without missing a beat. Pushed for an explanation, […]

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GUATEMALA CITY Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen will visit diplomatic ally Guatemala next month, the foreign minister said on Monday, but it was unclear if she would also go to the United States after a phone call with President-elect Donald Trump raised sensitivities in Sino-U.S. relations. Tsai is due to visit Guatemala on Jan. 11-12, Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales told Reuters. He gave no details on what […]

ABU DHABI // As ties between Turkey and the UAE grow increasingly warm, Ankara’s new ambassador — formerly the most senior Middle East official in the Turkish foreign ministry — says his appointment shows his country is serious about improving bilateral ties. “That is my mission here,” Ambassador Can Dizdar, who began his tenure in October, told The National. “I want to increase the pace, and achieve […]

Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi, a digital media accelerator supported by twofour54 Abu Dhabi, showcased eight new start-up companies during its third Demo Day. The Demo Day, held under the patronage of HE Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs of the UAE and Chairwoman of the Media Zone Authority-Abu Dhabi, and twofour54, took place during the UAE Innovation week. In addition to the diverse […]

The World Economic Forum is preparing to welcome Xi Jinping to its annual meeting in January, in what would be the first such appearance by a Chinese president. Mr Xi’s stop-off at the mountain resort will coincide with a state visit to Switzerland and planning is well under way, according to two people who have been involved in the arrangements. The annual meeting is a favourite watering […]

By Kaori Kaneko and Linda Sieg | TOKYO TOKYO Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Pearl Harbor this month, the first by a Japanese leader, will not be to apologise for the Japanese attack 75 years ago that drew the United States into World War Two, Abe’s top aide said on Tuesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the purpose of Abe’s Dec. 26-27 visit was to […]

Microsoft HoloLens is finally heading to seven new countries in addition to the United States and Canada. As of Dec. 2, the device became available for preorder in Australia, Ireland, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Customers living in Japan can also avail of the preorder but they will have to wait a little longer since the device will ship in that location next month. Microsoft […]

Tuesday 02.00 GMT Overview Stocks across Asia were higher, taking their lead from US and European bourses that shrugged off the result of a No vote in Sunday’s Italian referendum on constitutional reform. Hot topic China’s renminbi has become a talking point after a handful of web sites, including Google, generated apparently erroneous quotes for the currency around Rmb7.48 per US dollar — a rate that would […]

HONG KONG Asian stocks opened higher on the back of a strong Wall Street with markets discounting the potential impact of Italy’s referendum vote, while U.S. Treasury yields firmed as robust economic data pointed to an interest rate hike next week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4 percent in early trade with Antiopodean markets leading gains. Korea .KS11 climbed 1 percent in […]

Muscat, December 06, 2016 Bank Sohar endeavours to provide its customers with the highest possible level of banking security at all times. The recent introduction of ‘Chip and Pin’ technology into its Excel Debit Cards comes as part of this commitment and the distribution of these cards to customers is now well under way across the Bank’s branch network. Customers still using the older magnetic stripe cards […]

Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter on Monday announced they had joined forces in an attempt to curb explicit terrorist imagery online. The move follows criticism from Brussels that big US social media groups have made insufficient effort to clamp down on hate speech. In a statement, the technology groups said they were building new technology that would identify extremist content, including terrorist recruitment videos and images of […]

By Swati Pandey and Charlotte Greenfield | WELLINGTON WELLINGTON New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English said on Tuesday he planned to stand for prime minister after John Key’s surprise resignation a day earlier. English, a former Treasury Department analyst who is also deputy leader of the ruling centre-right National Party, is viewed by both lawmakers and political analysts as the front-runner for the top job. “I can […]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday he would name retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The following is a list of Republican Trump’s selections for top jobs in his administration. All the posts but that of national security adviser require Senate confirmation: DEFENCE SECRETARY: JAMES MATTIS Mattis is a retired Marine Corps general known for his tough talk, […]

The great American corporate buyback party was expected to fizzle out next year, leaving a hangover of debt and remorse. Instead, the boom may soon find renewed succour if US companies bring their pile of foreign-based cash back home. A tax holiday for US companies looms under president-elect Donald Trump, with some seeing this wave of cash as the catalyst of an investment boom and faster US […]

A parliament packed with lawmakers who oppose wage cuts and taxes, and who want to keep Kuwait’s sumptuous welfare state intact, is threatening the government’s attempts to close a gaping budget deficit. Opposition candidates won about 24 out of 50 seats last month in a parliamentary election seen by Kuwaitis as a referendum on austerity measures aimed at dealing with the 2016/17 shortfall, forecast at 9.5 billion […]

By Roberta Rampton and Ben Blanchard | WASHINGTON/BEIJING WASHINGTON/BEIJING The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s leader last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing. The statement from a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted concerns about the potential fallout from Trump’s unusual call with Taiwan President […]

Wall Street rose on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials setting fresh record highs, as services sector data gave further evidence of strength in the domestic economy. U.S. services sector activity hit a one-year high in November, with a surge in production boosting hiring, following on the heels of Friday’s employment report that showed strong job gains last month. U.S. stocks have climbed since the Nov. 8 […]

By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – California lawmakers planned on Monday to introduce legislation that would help protect undocumented immigrants under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on hard-line promises of mass deportations. The bills, if passed, would provide free legal services to undocumented immigrants facing deportation and assist them in criminal court, according to the California Democratic lawmakers introducing the proposals. […]

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