Author: AFP

Greens, far-right among big losers in Irish vote

DUBLIN: Ireland’s general election concluded late-Monday after three days of vote-counting, with the incumbent centre-right parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael set to retain power following coalition expected to take place in coming weeks. With all 174 seats in the lower chamber of parliament decided since Friday’s vote, Fianna Fail,

US urges push for Syria de-escalation

BEIRUT: The United States called Monday for de-escalation in Syria, where an Islamist-led rebel alliance has wrested swathes of territory from the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government in a lightning offensive. The European Union also called on “all sides to de-escalate”, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was

US lawmakers back COVID Chinese lab leak theory

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers concluded a two-year investigation Monday into the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 1.1 million Americans — backing the theory that the virus likely leaked from a Chinese laboratory. A 520-page report from the Republican-controlled House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic looked at the federal and state-level response,

Taiwan’s Lai kicks off Marshall Islands visit

MAJURO (Marshall Islands): Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te arrived in the Marshall Islands on Tuesday, after visiting the United States on the first stop of a Pacific tour that has angered Chinese leaders. The Marshall Islands is one of 12 remaining nations that recognise Taiwan’s claim to statehood after others jumped

Turning debt into dividends

SINGAPORE is a poster child for fiscal prudence. It almost always runs a budget surplus, and its constitution virtually prohibits borrowing to pay for current spending.  All three major credit rating agencies assign it triple-A ratings, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) judges its sovereign debt risks to be low.

Assad seeks to shore up support after Aleppo loss

BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sought to shore up support from his allies Sunday, after a monitor said a shock rebel offensive saw government forces lose control of Aleppo for the first time since the start of the country’s civil war. An Islamist-dominated rebel alliance attacked forces of the Iranian-

Social Democrats overtake PM’s party in Iceland vote

REYKJAVIK: Iceland’s opposition Social Democrats overtook the governing Independence Party of Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson after a snap election prompted by the collapse of his fraught coalition government, public broadcaster RUV reported on Sunday. With all ballots counted, the Social Democratic Alliance led by Kristrun Frostadottir finished first with 20.8

30-strong Japan A-bomb team to collect Nobel prize

TOKYO: Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group Nihon Hidankyo said Monday a 30-strong delegation will collect its Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo after a crowd-funding campaign to pay their travel costs. Those going to the December 10 ceremony will include group co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 92, who witnessed the 1945 Nagasaki bombing

UN chief defends plastic pollution talks after collapse

BUSAN (South Korea): The UN environment chief insisted Monday that talks on a landmark plastic pollution treaty were not a failure, saying important progress was made despite negotiations collapsing without agreement. “It obviously did not fail,” Inger Andersen told AFP, calling the two-year timeline for the deal set in 2022

Crane collapse kills three, injures 10

BANGKOK: A crane collapsed at a construction site just outside Thailand’s capital on Friday, killing three workers and injuring 10 others, police said. The incident occurred early Friday morning in Samut Sakhon, west of Bangkok, when a crane building a flyover collapsed. Three workers died at the scene and 10