EU seeks bigger role in Asia’s ‘theater of tensions’
TOKYO — European Union (EU) leaders said on Thursday that the EU wants to become a bigger actor in Asia, which they termed a “theater of tensions,” as they warned of an increasingly assertive China.
Biden seeks to keep China in focus by welcoming ASEAN leaders
WASHINGTON -— President Joseph R. Biden will host Southeast Asian leaders in Washington this week, seeking to show his administration remains focused on the Indo-Pacific and the long-term challenge of China despite the Ukraine crisis.
Biden eyes new ways to bar China from scooping up US data
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has drafted an executive order that would give the Department of Justice vast powers to stop foreign adversaries like China accessing Americans’ personal data, according to a person familiar with the matter and excerpts seen by Reuters.
Vietnam leader interested in Biden economic framework, but needs to study details
WASHINGTON — Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said on Wednesday that Hanoi was interested in helping the United States realize the aims of...
How Wall Street banks made a killing on SPAC craze
NEW YORK — Investment banks have raked in billions of dollars by feeding the frenzy for blank-check companies, and they have done so largely...
Ukraine halts some Russian gas flows
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Flows of Russian gas to Europe through a key transit point in Ukraine dried up on Wednesday, while Kyiv claimed battlefield gains over invading Russian forces, including the recapture of four villages around the second city of Kharkiv.
President Biden says Fed targeting inflation, China tariffs under review
WASHINGTON — United States President Joseph R. Biden, under pressure to tame high inflation, told Americans on Tuesday that he understands their plight and that he and the US Federal Reserve are working to solve what he called his administration’s top domestic priority.
New Zealand to open int’l borders fully to visitors by end-July
WELLINGTON — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday the country will fully reopen its international borders from 11:59 p.m. on July 31, with cruise ships also welcome back to local ports on the same day.
Russia downed satellite internet in Ukraine -Western officials
By James Pearson
NEWPORT, Wales - Russia was behind a massive cyberattack against a satellite internet network that took tens of thousands of modems offline at the onset of Russia-Ukraine war, the United States, Britain, Canada, Estonia...
As property market cools, New Zealand’s recent home buyers tighten belts
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON - When Aarti and Gaurav Kathuria were saving for their first home, a three-bedroom townhouse in Auckland, they cut back on eating out and other expenses...
China says military warned US warship as it transited Taiwan Strait
SHANGHAI/TAIPEI - China's military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a US warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills...
WHO chief says China’s zero-COVID policy not ‘sustainable’
By Jennifer Rigby and Josephine Mason
LONDON - The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday China's zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy is not sustainable given what is now known of the virus, in rare public comments by the...