GENEVA: Women may have to wait more than two centuries for equality at work, according to a report yesterday showing gender inequality growing in workplaces worldwide despite increasing demands for equal treatment. While women appear to be gradually closing the gender gap in areas such as politics, health and education,
SYDNEY: A dozen koalas have been rescued from the path of bushfires raging near Sydney, conservationists said Tuesday, as devastating blazes increasingly encroach on critical habitat. Rescuers scaled trees this week to retrieve three adult males, five adult females and four joeys, whose habitat is under threat from a fire
HONG KONG: Hong Kong customs announced its largest seizure of methamphetamine in a decade yesterday, 110 kilograms of ice worth some HK$77 million that originated in Mexico. The seizure points towards the growing presence of meth made by Mexican cartels in Asia, a region where the local “Golden Triangle” gangs
SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in appointed an anodyne former parliamentary speaker known as “Mr Smile” as prime minister Tuesday, after a previous cabinet appointment triggered a corruption scandal and mass protests. Chung Sye-kyun — a six-term lawmaker and former commerce minister — earned the soubriquet for his mild demeanour,
HONG KONG: Cash-strapped carrier Hong Kong Airlines has had seven idle planes impounded at the city’s airport after it failed to make payments, authorities said yesterday, with the firm hit by a plunge in tourist numbers caused by long-running protests. The Airport Authority announced the seized planes under an ordinance
PADADA (Philippines): Rescuers in the southern Philippines used heavy equipment and their bare hands yesterday in hopes of finding several people feared trapped beneath a building toppled by a powerful earthquake that claimed at least three lives. Sunday’s tremor cracked schools, toppled homes and injured dozens but largely spared big
SYDNEY: Australia’s biggest city is facing a “public health emergency” over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned yesterday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits. Hundreds of climate change fuelled bush fires have been raging across Australia for months, with efforts
XIAPU (China): It’s dawn in Xiapu county and sunrise over southeastern China is welcomed by dozens of clicking camera shutters. Locals along this rather isolated stretch of coast in Fujian province have drawn their livelihood from the sea since ancient times. But another thriving industry has emerged as steadily rising
JAKARTA: Indonesia has filed a World Trade Organisation lawsuit against the European Union over plans to phase out palm oilbased biofuel for cars, the trade ministry said. The action could escalate a trade dispute between Indonesia — the world’s top palm oil producer — and the EU, which plans to
WASHINGTON: A US court has suspended a law banning makers of vegetarian substitute meals from using the word “meat” to describe their products, as trendy plant-based food companies push back against a wave of restrictions. Livestock farmers have seen the rise of meat substitutes as a threat to their bottom
