By Jessie Pang and Joyce Zhou HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously voted on Thursday to overhaul district-level elections by drastically reducing the number of directly elected seats, which critics said would further shrink democratic freedom in the Chinese-ruled city. Under the amendment, only 88 seats would be directly elected by the public, down…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon holds a strategic U.S. stockpile for germanium but currently has no inventory reserves for gallium, a spokesperson said on Thursday, after China announced export restrictions on the two metals used in semiconductors. “The (Defense) Department is proactively taking steps using Defense Production Act Title III authorities to increase domestic mining…
ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan may meet during next week’s NATO summit in Lithuania, sources briefed on the planning said. A brief Biden-Erdogan meeting is possible at the summit and is being worked on now, one person familiar with the matter said. A “pull aside” meeting between the…
By Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada recorded a surprise trade deficit in May, a sign economic growth may be slowing, as energy and grains dragged down exports and unwrought precious metals and motor vehicles contributed to a surge in imports. The country’s trade deficit with the world was C$3.44 billion ($2.59…
By Alex Lawler and Dmitry Zhdannikov VIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC will likely maintain an upbeat view on oil demand growth for next year when it publishes its first outlook later this month, predicting a slowdown from this year but still an above-average increase, sources close to OPEC said. OPEC’s forecast for 2024 will likely be…
By Guy Faulconbridge MINSK (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed on Thursday a description that he was “Europe’s last dictator”, saying that he was not a dictator but that if he were, he would certainly not be the last. Lukashenko, 68, has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994 and in an interview…
ROME (Reuters) – A man convicted of colluding with the Mafia, who was a close friend of Silvio Berlusconi, said on Thursday he was moved to tears by the late Italian prime minister’s decision to bequeath him 30 million euros ($32.7 million). Marcello Dell’Utri spent more than five years in detention after being found guilty…
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will travel to Mongolia at the end of August, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday, indicating that his health is improving well enough after surgery to be able to go to the remotest area he has ever visited. The Vatican issued a detailed schedule for the Aug….
By Marine Strauss BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A jury in the trial of 10 men accused of involvement in the triple suicide attack at Brussels airport and the city’s metro claimed by Islamic State in 2016, is set to consider its verdict, bringing to an end the country’s largest court case. The Brussels bombings killed 15…
By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) – Police in Hong Kong arrested a man on Thursday suspected of links to pro-democracy activists based abroad, picking him up at the city’s international airport a day after arresting four others for various national security offences. Police had issued arrest warrants days earlier for eight…
