Author: News Desk
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South Africa: China’s President Mr. Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa as he makes a state visit to the country next week. “At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, President Mr. Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and pay a state visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ms. Hua Chunying said in a statement. The visit marks the Chinese President’s second international trip of 2023, after he travelled to Russia in March. Mr.…
United States: Lawyers for former US President Mr. Donald Trump have asked a judge to decline the government’s suggestion to hold his trial in early January of 2024, on the federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Instead, they proposed postponing the trial date until April 2026. Lead prosecutor Mr. Jack Smith is advocating for a January 2 start date for the trial, which is one of four criminal cases that Mr. Trump is currently confronting during his White House reelection campaign. “The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment,” the…
Niger: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced that most of its member states are ready to participate in a standby force that is intended to intervene in Niger following a coup there. The defence chiefs of the 15-member regional bloc met in Accra as part of the latest efforts to overturn the removal of Niger’s President Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, who was deposed in a July 26 coup. “All member states except those under military rule and Cape Verde are ready to participate in the standby force,” ECOWAS commissioner Mr. Abdel-Fatau Musah stated. “Democracy is what we…
South Korea: A South Korean lawmaker has stated that North Korea may launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or take other military action in protest at a major summit between the United States, South Korea, and Japan. US President Mr. Joe Biden is due to meet South Korean President Mr. Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Fumio Kishida at Camp David on August 19. The move is part of an effort to enhance ties between Seoul and Tokyo amid nuclear threats from North Korea and China’s increasing assertiveness. North Korea has previously criticised deepening military cooperation among the three…
Israel: Israel said that the US has approved the “landmark” sale of the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile defence system to Germany. The missile is jointly produced by Israel and the US. The Arrow 3 system is an interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles above the Earth’s atmosphere. Israel’s Defence Ministry commented in a statement that the US State Department had received the US government’s approval for Germany to procure the Arrow 3 system. “The Israeli Ministry of Defence, the German Federal Ministry of Defence, and Israel Aerospace Industries will sign the landmark $3.5 billion defence agreement, marking Israel’s largest…
Lithuania: Lithuania will temporarily close two of the country’s six border crossings with Belarus due to “geopolitical circumstances.” The move comes as concerns grow in the region over the presence of thousands of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries on Belarusian territory. Belarus, Russia’s staunchest ally, reacted promptly to the announcement by criticising what it called Lithuania’s “far-fetched” decision to close two of its border checkpoints. “This decision is one of the preventive measures to contain threats to national security and possible provocations at the border,” Lithuania’s Interior Minister Ms. Agne Bilotaite stated. Mr. Bilotaite did not mention the threats in the…
Singapore: Singapore police have reportedly arrested 10 people and seized $735 million, including luxury homes, cars, and cash, as part of their biggest anti-money laundering probe. The police force said in a statement that they have raided across the city-state looking for groups suspected of laundering proceeds from “overseas organised crime activities, including scams and online gambling.” Those who were arrested had passports from China, Turkey, Cambodia, Cyprus, and Vanuatu and were aged between 31 and 44. According to the police, the group was “suspected to be involved in laundering the proceeds of crime from their overseas organised crime activities,…
United States: Surgeons in the United States have successfully transplanted a pig kidney into the body of a brain-dead human patient who has functioned normally for more than a month. It comes as part of scientists in the country experimenting with ways to use animal organs to save human lives. This particular experiment was done by surgeons at the New York University Langone Transplant Institute. They have announced that the milestone is the longest a pig kidney has functioned in a person, albeit a deceased one. “We have a genetically edited pig kidney surviving for over a month in a…
China: Human Rights Watch has stated that racist content targeting Black people is widely circulated on China’s social media platforms, where it is being used to attract traffic and generate profit. The rights group reviewed hundreds of videos and posts from 2021 on platforms including Weibo, a short messaging app, and Douyin, the Chinese TikTok, and found that content often portrayed Black people through “offensive racial stereotypes.” “Such content was also circulated on the video-sharing platforms Bilibili and Livestream, the video app Kuaishou, and the social media and e-commerce site Xiaohongshu,” the group said, noting that the companies had failed…
Australia: The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Anthony Albanese, has announced that the national cabinet has agreed to give states and territories a “new home bonus” of up to $3 billion if they assist in achieving a revised goal of constructing 1.2 million new homes within the next five years. The new goal involves building an extra 200,000 homes beyond the target set in the National Housing Accord, which was agreed upon by states and territories last year. “All governments recognise the best way to ensure that more Australians have a safe and affordable place to call home is to boost…