WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for a fourth consecutive meeting Wednesday, forecasting higher inflation and cooler growth this year as President Donald Trump’s tariffs begin to take hold and geopolitical uncertainty swirls. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters the central bank would make better decisions if it waited a few months…
YANGON: Myanmar’s deposed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi marked her 80th birthday in junta detention on Thursday, serving a raft of sentences set to last the rest of her life. Suu Kyi was the figurehead of Myanmar’s decade-long democratic thaw, becoming de facto leader as it opened up from military rule. But as the…
STRASBOURG: Compulsory microchipping, as well as bans on ear-cropping and tail-docking, are among a set of new rules to protect cats and dogs that European lawmakers are due to vote on Thursday. The European Union is home to more than 72 million dogs and 83 million cats, according to the European Commission, which so far…
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) on Thursday confirmed two local Zika cases at Woodlands Street 11 and Street 32. In a Facebook post, the NEA said it has commenced wastewater and mosquito surveillance in the surrounding residential areas following each case notification. “This enhanced surveillance has revealed persistent…
DAMASCUS: For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the new government in Damascus has so far remained officially silent on the unprecedented conflict. Iran was one of former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s biggest backers, playing a crucial role in propping up his government by…
ATHENS: Greece’s parliament voted Thursday to investigate a former transport minister over the country’s worst rail tragedy that left 57 dead in 2023. Government lawmakers approved the probe into the actions of Kostas Karamanlis, who has welcomed the investigation as an opportunity to clear his name. Fifty-seven people, most of them young students, were killed…
BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faced mounting calls Thursday to resign after a leaked phone call she had with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen provoked widespread anger and prompted a key coalition partner to quit. The coalition government led by Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party appears on the brink of collapse, throwing the kingdom into…
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and his counterparts in France and the United Kingdom (UK) are planning to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, German Press Agency (dpa) has learned from diplomatic sources. Wadephul had adjusted his originally planned Middle East trip to Lebanon, Syria, and Israel immediately after…
SYDNEY: A Qantas aircraft was damaged after it struck a passenger jet bridge at Brisbane International Airport on Wednesday evening, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the Brisbane Times, Flight QF186 from Queenstown, New Zealand, collided with the jet bridge shortly before 6.40 pm local time after landing. Photos published by the newspaper showed that…
TOKYO: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the Nemuro Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported according to Japan’s weather agency. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the tremor occurred at 8.08 am local time (2308 GMT Wednesday) at a shallow depth off the southeastern coast of the peninsula. It registered a lower…
