Global News

Gerhard Schröder says Russia wants negotiated end to Ukraine

Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said after he visited Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week that the Kremlin is open to talks to end the war in Ukraine. “The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution,” Schröder said in an interview with the German magazine Stern. Schröder has been harshly criticised in recent months…

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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan amid threats of Chinese retaliation

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday, marking a significant show of support for Taiwan despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit. Pelosi’s stop in Taipei is the first time that a US House speaker has visited Taiwan in 25 years. Her trip comes at a low point in US-China relations and despite warnings from the…

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UK PM race: Liz Truss forced into U-turn over key policy proposal

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, seen as a frontrunner in the race with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister, was on Tuesday forced into a sharp U-turn over a key policy proposal after widespread criticism. On Monday night, Truss said she would save 8.8 million pounds by introducing regional pay…

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Kenya election 2022: Kikuyus split between Ruto, Odinga

In Kenya’s vote-rich Kikuyu community, opinion is sharply divided over outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to back his one-time rival Raila Odinga, rather than his deputy William Ruto, as his successor in the tightly-contested election set to take place on 9 August. Mr Kenyatta – who has reached the constitutional limit of two terms in power – was long regarded…

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US kills al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in drone strike in Afghanistan

The United States killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike, President Joe Biden said Monday in a speech from the White House. “I authorized a precision strike that would remove him from the battlefield, once and for all,” Biden said.Zawahiri, who just turned 71 years old, had remained a visible international symbol of the group, 11 years…

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ECONOMIST: Abe Shinzo’s legacy encompasses the Indo-Pacific

He adopted his favourite mantra from Margaret Thatcher, according to Taniguchi Tomohiko THE JAPANESE government has decided to hold a state funeral by the end of September for Abe Shinzo, the late former prime minister. There is only one precedent for this in the country’s post-war history: Yoshida Shigeru, a former prime minister, was given a state funeral in 1967.…

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Why China could win the new global arms race

China is building up its armed forces at a rapid pace, most recently with the launch of a new aircraft carrier. Many Western observers now believe a profound shift in the global balance of military power is under way. President Xi Jinping has ordered China’s armed forces to modernise by 2035. They should, he says, become a “world-class” military power,…

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Dollar surge slowing global trade, worsening debt crises worldwide

The surge in the dollar is adding to the stresses afflicting the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has said, by slowing world trade and piling pressure on indebted developing countries. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of its peers, has risen around 16% this year as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates faster than…

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Burkina ex-leader Compaore apologises to family of slain Sankara

Burkina Faso’s former President Blaise Compaore, sentenced in absentia to life in jail for the 1987 assassination of revolutionary icon Thomas Sankara, has apologised to the ex-leader’s family. “I ask the Burkinabe people for forgiveness for all the acts I may have committed during my tenure, and especially the family of my brother and friend Thomas Sankara,” he said in…

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Bangladesh seeks $4.5bn IMF loan as forex reserves shrink: Report

Bangladesh has sought a $4.5billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country’s leading newspaper reports, joining South Asian neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka in seeking help to cope with mounting pressure on their economies. Known for its big garment-exporting industry, Bangladesh has sought the funds for its balance of payment and budgetary needs, as well as for efforts…

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