MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed a 5.024 trillion pesos ($98.45 billion) budget for next year, the Southeast Asian country’s largest ever, as it aims to sustain economic recovery and manage COVID-19 outbreaks. The national budget, 11.5% bigger than this year’s spending plan, is Duterte’s last before his single, six-year term …
Philippines’ Duterte signs $98.5 billion budget for 2022 Read More »
By Hyonhee Shin and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s ruling party presidential candidate said he will seek U.S. support to build nuclear-powered submarines to better counter threats from North Korea and proactively seek to reopen stalled denuclearisation talks between Pyongyang and Washington. In an interview with Reuters and two other media outlets, Lee …
South Korea’s ruling party presidential candidate pushes for nuclear-powered submarines Read More »
(Reuters) – A Myanmar insurgent group said it has buried the remains of more than 30 people who were killed and had their bodies set ablaze, as the U.N. Security Council called for accountability and an immediate end to violence in the country. Opposition activists have blamed Myanmar’s army for the Dec. 24 attack near …
Myanmar rebels bury more than 30 people killed in ‘barbaric’ attack Read More »
By Crispian Balmer and Alexandra Alper ROME/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Global COVID-19 infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, Reuters data showed on Wednesday, as the Omicron variant raced out of control and governments tried to contain its spread without paralysing fragile economies. Almost 900,000 cases were detected on average each day worldwide between …
World nations try to balance Omicron restrictions while keeping economies open Read More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to immediately release staff members of the pro-democracy media outlet Stand News who were arrested after a police raid that shut down the publication. “We call on PRC and Hong Kong authorities to cease targeting Hong Kong’s …
U.S. calls on China and Hong Kong to release Stand News employees Read More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will take “drastic measures” if Taiwan makes moves towards formal independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan’s provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to …
China warns of “drastic measures” if Taiwan provokes on independence Read More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico earlier this year slashed its COVID-19 vaccine order with CanSino Biologics by more than half when it became clear that the Chinese company would deliver far less than agreed, three people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Mexico informed CanSino in July it would reduce its order to roughly 14.5 …
Mexico cut vaccine order with China’s CanSino by over half – sources Read More »
By Jonathan Landay and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday named Rina Amiri, a former U.S. government adviser who criticized the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, as a special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights. “We desire a peaceful, stable, and secure Afghanistan, where all Afghans can …
Blinken names former U.S. adviser Amiri as special envoy for Afghan women Read More »
(Reuters) – Airlines in Hong Kong have been told non-mainland China passenger flights will lose all quarantine-related exemptions effective midnight on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. (Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
By Edmond Ng and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong pro-democracy media outlet Stand News shut down on Wednesday after police raided its office, froze its assets and arrested senior staff on suspected “seditious publication” offences in the latest crackdown on the city’s media. The raid raises more concerns about press freedom in …
Hong Kong pro-democracy Stand News closes after police raids condemned by U.N., Germany Read More »
