LONDON: Global progress in policies to reduce tobacco use slowed for the first time in 12 years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis published on Wednesday (Nov 22) by the Global Tobacco Control Progress Hub, which warned millions of people worldwide likely continued to smoke asContinue Reading
Hours earlier, a warplane struck the vehicle of Iranian-backed fighters after they had fired a short-range ballistic missile at US and allied personnel, the Pentagon said. It was the first time the United States has announced a strike on Iran-backed forces in Iraq since they launched a flurry of attacksContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: United States authorities thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the US and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, a senior Biden administration official said. The U.S. is treating the plot with utmost seriousness and has raised the issue withContinue Reading
WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: The United States is treating a reported plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil with utmost seriousness and has raised the issue with the Indian government “at the senior-most levels”, the White House said on Wednesday (Nov 22). The Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources, thatContinue Reading
NEW DELHI: US authorities thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday (Nov 22), citing unnamed sources. There was no immediate response from India’s foreignContinue Reading
SAN FRANCISCO: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday (Nov 17) that he had invited China’s Premier Li Qiang to visit, as a long-stormy relationship improves. Albanese, who visited Beijing in early November, saw Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the second time this month at a Pacific Rim summit inContinue Reading
SAN FRANCISCO: The United States and China plan further talks on commercial issues next year, the US Commerce Department said Friday (Nov 17) in a commitment to continue high-level engagement despite tensions. The announcement came after the US and Chinese presidents, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, held a summit onContinue Reading
SAN FRANCISCO: President Joe Biden highlighted strong US ties to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum economies on Thursday (Nov 16) and called on CEOs there to treat workers fairly, even as a regional trade deal stumbled over workers’ rights. Before a working lunch and speech to heads ofContinue Reading
SAN FRANCISCO: Promoting trade, protecting supply chains and fighting the climate crisis will feature at the APEC summit of Pacific rim powers opening Thursday (Nov 16) in San Francisco after President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping helped settle regional nerves by agreeing to dial down tensions.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group includes 21 members but lives under the shadow of US-China relations. So the summit opened with a sense of relief after Biden and Xi held a lengthy session of their own at a sumptuous villa outside the city on Wednesday, and emerged pledging to avoid the kind of dangerous rift that could upend the world economy.
They agreed to restore military-to-military links – vital to avoiding dangerous superpower miscommunications – and Xi promised to crack down on production of the ingredients in China for the hugely addictive narcotic fentanyl flooding into the United States.
However, the two sides remain as far apart as ever on the issue of Taiwan, a US-backed democratic island that Beijing says is a sovereign part of China and should return under its full control.
Biden, for his part, said that despite his close relationship with Xi, he still considers the communist leader a “dictator” – a remark that drew fire from the Chinese government.
With the main summit starting in San Francisco, the focus broadened to the hugely dynamic area stretching from the coasts of Canada to Chile and across to Australia, China and Russia.
“We’ve got a few busy days ahead of us. The challenges before us today are unlike those faced by previous groups of APEC leaders,” Biden said after his Xi meeting, mentioning artificial intelligence, climate resilience, supply chains and the role of diplomacy.
SAN FRANCISCO: Being a head of state is a busy job and family life sometimes takes a back seat. Luckily there are other heads of state on hand to remind you when you might have forgotten your wife’s birthday. Chinese President Xi Jinping seems set to avoid a domestic blackContinue Reading