Voting got under way in Ireland on Friday in a general election in which the two centre-right coalition partners are neck-and-neck with opposition party Sinn Fein after a campaign marked by rancour over housing and cost-of-living crises.Polls opened at 0700 GMT and will close at 2200 GMT as voters choose new members of the 174-seat …
Ireland votes in closely fought general election Read More »
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reappointed on Friday as head of the World Trade Organization, hinged her leadership on breaking logjams at the sclerotic institution through craft, dynamism and sheer force of personality.The World Bank veteran, 70, is a trailblazer. She was Nigeria’s first woman finance minister and is the first woman and the first African to run the …
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: the WTO’s trailblazing motivator Read More »
World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed Friday for a second term, in the shadow of the coming return of Donald Trump and his disdain for international trade rules.Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and the first African to head the WTO, was the only candidate in the race, and had been all but assured a …
A US offer to give Ukraine anti-personnel mines to help battle Russia’s invasion has thrown a landmark global anti-landmine treaty into “crisis”, campaigners said Friday, urging Kyiv to snub the proposal. Ukraine is one of 164 signatories to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of landmines. The United States, …
US landmine offer to Ukraine throws treaty into ‘crisis’: campaign group Read More »
Taiwan said Friday it detected 41 Chinese military aircraft and ships around the island ahead of a Hawaii stopover by President Lai Ching-te, part of a Pacific tour that has sparked fury in Beijing.Beijing insists self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes any international recognition of the island and its claim to be …
Taiwan detects 41 Chinese military aircraft, ships ahead of Lai US stopover Read More »
Jihadists and their Turkish-backed allies shelled Syria’s second city Aleppo on Friday, in a major offensive against government troops that has sparked some of the deadliest fighting the country has seen in years.The violence has killed 242 people, according to a Syrian war monitor, most of them combatants on both sides but also including civilians, …
Syria jihadists, allies shell Aleppo in shock offensive Read More »
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel would do “everything” to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon after Iran’s top diplomat warned it could end its ban on developing one if Western sanctions are reimposed.The renewed war of words between the Middle East foes came as Iran prepares to hold key nuclear talks with European …
Israel PM again warns Iran after top diplomat talks of revising nuclear doctrine Read More »
UK lawmakers will Friday debate and likely vote on whether to advance divisive and emotive legislation to allow assisted dying for terminally ill people in England and Wales.Parliament last debated, and defeated, a euthanasia bill in 2015, but public support for giving terminally ill people the choice to end their lives has since shifted in …
British MPs to debate contentious assisted dying law Read More »
A US offer to give Ukraine anti-personnel mines to help battle Russia’s invasion has thrown a landmark global anti-landmine treaty into “crisis”, campaigners said Friday, urging Kyiv to snub the proposal. Ukraine is one of 164 signatories to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of landmines. The United States, …
US landmine offer to Ukraine throws global treaty into ‘crisis’: campaign group Read More »
Singapore hanged a 35-year-old Singaporean-Iranian man for drug trafficking on Friday, its fourth in less than a month, despite appeals from Tehran to “reconsider” his execution. The United Nations and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect and have called for it to be abolished, but Singaporean officials insist it has helped make …
