Malaysia’s prime minister said Friday Hong Kong’s embattled leader should resign over the city’s increasingly violent pro-democracy protests and warned China would take “harsh action” to end the demonstrations. Hong Kong has been rocked by unprecedented protests for nearly four months, with millions taking to the streets angered by what they see as Beijing’s authoritarian […]
by Jerome TAYLOR / Jasmine LEUNG Hong Kong’s leader announced a ban Friday on protesters wearing face masks, invoking colonial-era emergency powers, in a bid to quell months of violent anti-government unrest. Chief executive Carrie Lam said she had made the order under the Emergency Regulations Ordinances, a sweeping law that grants her the ability to […]
Facebook on Wednesday was dealt a major blow in the EU’s top court, which ruled that national courts in Europe can order online platforms to remove defamatory content worldwide. The decision will be seen as a victory for EU regulators, who are ambitious to see US tech giants meet tightened European standards over hate speech […]
A top North Korean negotiator left for Sweden on Thursday ahead of nuclear talks with the United States, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Kim Myong Gil departed Beijing on a flight to Stockholm with three other North Korean officials after arriving in the Chinese capital from Pyongyang earlier in the day, Yonhap added. “(We) […]
by Dmitry ZAKS British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met his senior ministers on Thursday before setting out on a delicate mission to convince sceptical EU leaders to back his new Brexit plan. Johnson is racing against time and facing headwinds across European capitals as he tries to rally support for a new approach to settling […]
Sticking samurai swords, steak knives and even the sharpened handles of badminton racquets through their cheeks, devotees of Thailand’s vegetarian festival go all out during an annual event that is both gleeful and gory. Held on the tourist island of Phuket, the nine-day Taoist “Nine Emperor Gods” festival was in full swing Thursday after kicking […]
India’s 15-year-old women’s cricket sensation Shafali Verma had to get her hair cut like a boy so that she could get into the local academy to train, her father told AFP. Now India’s cricket establishment is relying on Verma, who made her Twenty20 debut for the national team against South Africa last month and will soon […]
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest thanks to petrodollars, is scaling back plans to dump stakes in oil and gas companies, the government has revealed. Originally, the fund — which manages more than $1 trillion in assets — had envisaged pulling out of 134 companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production. Norway […]
Pictures by Yury Kadobnov. Video by Ivana Jurisa by Anna MALPAS In cropped jeans and a cream sweatshirt, Alina Muzychenko would easily blend into a central Moscow crowd. But her bright pink socks are quietly subversive — patterned with a drawing of riot police holding hands. The 34-year-old runs a design label with her husband […]
