A Polish soldier patrolling the European Union’s eastern border with authoritarian Belarus has deserted and asked for political asylum there, Polish and Belarusian officials said on Friday. Tensions on the Poland-Belarus border have been high for months as thousands of migrants have tried to cross into EU member Poland in a crisis the West and […]
By Paul RICARD A month after it was first detected in southern Africa, Omicron is now known to be far more contagious than previous variants of Covid-19 but appears to cause a less severe illness than its predecessors.What isn’t clear is how the newest variant will change the face of the pandemic. Just how severe […]
China’s economically important Zhejiang province wrestled on Tuesday with a Covid outbreak that has left half a million people quarantined and some districts under business shutdown. Zhejiang, a major industrial and export hub on the country’s east coast, reported 44 of China’s 51 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total since late last […]
By Francesco Fontemaggi US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged China to cease “aggressive actions” in the Asia-Pacific, speaking during a visit to the region, as Washington seeks to bolster alliances against Beijing. President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to reset relations and reassert its influence in Asia after the turbulence and unpredictability […]
Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts but also troubling trends reshaping people’s lives. Musk — who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world’s wealthiest person — wields impact on Earth with his […]
By Paul HANDLEY The Congressional investigation into the January 6 assault on the US Capitol by a mob loyal to Donald Trump is increasingly focusing on the former president and his top aides — and what they did before the riot.Last week, an appeals court ruled that Trump cannot block the release to investigators of […]
China branded US democracy a “weapon of mass destruction” on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes. China was left out of the two-day virtual summit — along with countries including Russia and Hungary — and responded by angrily accusing US President […]
By Sebastian Smith President Joe Biden said Friday that democracy “knows no borders” as he closed a two-day summit on democratic freedoms while fending off a storm of criticism from China and domestic critics alike. Biden’s presidency has focused on restoring America to what Ronald Reagan liked to call a “shining city on the hill,” […]
Chinese human rights lawyers and activists said they have been blocked from leaving their homes this week ahead of events to mark Friday’s UN Human Rights Day. China has seen a dramatic crackdown on civil liberties and freedoms since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, with hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists detained […]
