By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Transactions using China’s digital yuan hit 1.8 trillion yuan ($249.33 billion) at end-June, the country’s central bank governor Yi Gang said on Wednesday, marking a jump from over 100 billion yuan as of August last year. The numbers cement China’s role as a leader among countries that are developing…
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has said its investigation into killings during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs will be “impartial”, a day after its attempt to block a similar probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was rejected. Amid criticism from victims’ families and rights groups over a lack of accountability, the Department…
(Reuters) -A fire that broke out at the military training grounds in the Kirovske district on the Crimean Peninsula has forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people and a closure of nearby highway, the Moscow-backed governor of Crimea said on Wednesday. “It is planned to temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements – this is…
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Aug. 23, with the southern African country’s extended economic crisis and accusations of a government crackdown against its opponents expected to once again take centre stage. WHO IS RUNNING? There are 11 candidates vying for the presidency. However, the key contest is between incumbent…
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Hollywood’s striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA actors’ union filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Comcast’s NBCUniversal on Tuesday, accusing the company of blocking a picket area. The unions said NBCUniversal infringed its freedom to picket and endangered its members by obstructing a public sidewalk…
By James Pomfret and Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s appointment of a top intelligence official to run Hong Kong’s national security regime underscores its determination to tighten its grip on the financial hub, according to diplomats and analysts. Dong Jingwei, 59, is the highest-level Chinese security official to be appointed to a senior…
By Ed Davies (Reuters) -The U.S. military identified a soldier who made an unauthorised crossing into North Korea on Tuesday as Private Travis T. King and said he was facing disciplinary action before he fled during a tour of the heavily fortified border area. He is believed to be in custody in the North, but…
TAIPEI (Reuters) -There is no reason for China to take “provocative” action in response to brief visits to the United States next month by Taiwan Vice President William Lai, the top U.S. diplomat in Taipei said on Wednesday. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military and political pressure over the…
By Catarina Demony and Andrew Gray (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said on Wednesday he will send the European Union a counter-proposal on the long-delayed trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur in the coming two or three weeks. Lula, who spoke after the two-day EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and…
KABUL (Reuters) – The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a major humanitarian organisation, has paused some of its operations, it said on Wednesday, after a Taliban order halting Swedish activities in the country. The Taliban administration last week said all activities by Sweden in Afghanistan must stop in response to the burning of a Koran in…
