US President Joe Biden officially launched his long-awaited economic framework aimed at countering growing Chinese influence in Asia, announcing 12 Asia-Pacific partners who will work on common standards in areas including clean energy and infrastructure. Biden unveiled the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in Japan on […]
‘Billionaire bonanza’: Tax the rich as poverty surges – Oxfam
More than 260 million people could be plunged into extreme poverty this year because of skyrocketing inflation while hundreds have become billionaires whose cumulative wealth rose 30 percent, according to global charity Oxfam International. The COVID-19 pandemic and rising food prices linked to the Russian […]
UN denounces ‘racist’ and ‘homophobic’ coverage of monkeypox
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has warned that stigmatising language used in the coverage on the monkeypox virus could jeopardise public health, citing some portrayals of Africans and LGBTI people that “reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma”. More than 100 […]
‘Palestine an open wound’ says Qatar’s emir at Davos forum
The emir of Qatar has urged the international community to give as much attention to resolving the forgotten and ignored conflicts in the world, stressing in particular the Israel-Palestine conflict, as it has to the war in Ukraine. Addressing business leaders at the World Economic […]
Ruble surges as Russia considers looser capital controls
The ruble’s blistering rebound picked up pace on Monday, ratcheting up pressure on Russia to ease a key capital-flow control that’s underpinned the currency’s recovery. With the gains now threatening to hurt budget revenue and exporters, a decision to cut the share of hard-currency earnings […]
African Union chief announces impending visit to Moscow, Kyiv
Senegalese President Macky Sall has said he is travelling to Russia and Ukraine soon on behalf of the African Union, whose presidency he currently holds. At a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, Sall said that the trip had been […]
Greece prevents about 600 migrants from crossing Aegean
Greece has said it has prevented about 600 migrants from crossing the Aegean into its territorial waters from neighbouring Turkey, according to the state broadcaster and other media. A spokesman for the Greek coastguard on Monday told the AFP news agency that five sail boats […]
Nigeria: Police discover severed head of missing legislator
Police in Nigeria have discovered the severed head of a state legislator who went missing last week in the southeastern state of Anambra, where the government accuses separatists of carrying out a spate of killings and kidnappings. The banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group […]
‘Criminal adventure’: Ukraine war fuels Russia’s brain drain
If a country’s strength is its people, then Russia might be in trouble. According to official statistics, nearly four million Russians left the country in the first three months of 2022. “We were very afraid of being questioned at the Russian border as we heard they […]
Ukraine war: COP26, IEA heads warn of digging in on fossil fuels
The executive director of the International Energy Agency and the president of COP26, the United Nation’s 2021 forum on climate change, have warned against countries investing in fossil fuel infrastracture in light of shortages caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Speaking during a joint […]