International

By Thomas URBAIN The Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing’s announcement that it will delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange marks the end of a cushy relationship between Wall Street and Chinese tech giants, who are under siege from authorities in Beijing and regulators in America.Only five months transpired between Didi’s going public […]

Two hippos in a Belgian zoo have tested positive for Covid-19, their keepers announced Friday, stressing that the giant animals do not appear to be in danger. The infections at Antwerp Zoo are not the first time that zoo animals have tested positive during the pandemic, but most cases are thought to have been in […]

By Alberto PEÑA Chile’s parliament is set to approve a long-awaited bill to legalize same-sex marriage Tuesday, joining just a handful of countries in majority Catholic Latin America with similar laws.The bill will also enable married same-sex couples to adopt children.Chile, which legalized same-sex civil unions in 2015, has been awaiting this bill since 2017, […]

The American dictionary of reference Merriam-Webster on Monday revealed “vaccine” to be its word of the year for 2021, reflecting both the hopes and deep divisions sparked by vaccination as the world wrestled with year two of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The word vaccine was about much more than medicine in 2021,” the dictionary — which […]

It looks like a normal car but the white taxi by the kerb has nobody driving it, and communicates with customers digitally to obtain directions and take payment. Beijing this week approved its first autonomous taxis for commercial use, bringing dozens of the so-called “robotaxis” to the streets of the Chinese capital. The vehicles can […]

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s chosen successor on Tuesday announced his withdrawal from the 2022 presidential race, saying it was “not yet my time”. Senator Christopher Go, a close aide to the president, entered the contest for the country’s highest office two days before the November 15 deadline, after previously registering for the vice presidential race. […]

By Nina LARSON The world could see the Covid pandemic begin fading next year into an endemic disease like others humanity lives with, unless glaring inequality in vaccine access drags it out and worse variants emerge. Even as countries scramble to address a new worrying virus variant and Europe battles a winter resurgence, health experts […]

A rare joint opinion article by the ambassadors of China and Russia has sharply assailed President Joe Biden’s plans for a virtual summit of democratic countries — from which they were pointedly excluded. Calling the US plan “an evident product of its Cold-War mentality,” ambassadors Anatoly Antonov of Russia and Qin Gang of China said […]

The US military will reinforce deployments and bases directed at China and Russia, even while maintaining forces in the Middle East adequate to deter Iran and jihadist groups, the Pentagon said Monday based on the results of a review. The US Defense Department will be upgrading and expanding military facilities in Guam and Australia, underscoring […]

Singapore and Malaysia eased coronavirus travel restrictions on one of the world’s busiest land borders Monday after nearly two years, allowing some vaccinated people to cross without quarantine. Before the pandemic, about 300,000 people used to commute across the border from Malaysia every day to the neighbouring city-state, to work in areas ranging from public transport […]

The Philippines will welcome back fully-vaccinated tourists from most countries next week, the government said Friday, over 20 months after shutting its borders to keep out the coronavirus. Falling Covid-19 infections and rising vaccine coverage will allow the country to revive its battered tourism sector with the December 1 reopening, President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Karlo […]

Two Myanmar-China border crossings have re-opened for trade after the movement of goods was suspended for almost seven months due to Covid-19 restrictions, officials said. Five shipping containers of produce were exchanged on Friday at the Kyin San Kyawt border gate, around 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) from the northern Myanmar city of Muse. Min Thein, […]

The Chinese army has carried out a “naval and air force combat readiness patrol” near the Taiwan Strait following a contentious visit to the island by a group of American lawmakers, a spokesperson said. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soared over the fate of democratic self-ruled Taiwan, which China has vowed to one day […]

The United States praised South Africa Saturday for quickly identifying the new Covid strain called Omicron and sharing this information with the world — a barely veiled slap at China’s handling of the original outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with South Africa’s international relations and cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor, […]

Greenland has withdrawn an iron ore mining licence from a Chinese firm in the vast autonomous Danish territory, the local government said Wednesday. Now-bankrupt British company London Mining had been awarded the contract in 2013. But Hong Kong-based General Nice Group acquired the permit a year later when it bought the assets of the British […]