WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve is poised to hold its fire this week, leaving benchmark US interest rates untouched as central bankers await firm indications of where the world’s largest economy is headed. But as policymakers gather for their third meeting of the year on Tuesday, President Donald Trump is still hammering the
HEFEI (China): A ground-breaking fusion reactor built by Chinese scientists is underscoring Beijing’s determination to be at the core of clean energy technology, as it eyes a fully-functioning plant by 2050. Sometimes called an “artificial sun” for the sheer heat and power it produces, the doughnut-shaped Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak
Malawi on Tuesday rolled out the world’s first licensed malaria vaccine in a landmark campaign against a disease that each year kills hundreds of thousands of people, especially African children. After more than three decades in development and almost US$1 billion in investment, the new vaccine began to be distributed
COLOMBO (Sri Lanka): Fifteen people including six children have died during a Sri Lankan security forces operation in the aftermath of the Easter attacks, as three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up, police said yesterday. The three men set off explosives, also killing three women and six children inside what
TOKYO (Japan): Two kitchen knives have been found at the school desk of Japan’s Prince Hisahito, grandson of Emperor Akihito, with security camera footage showing a suspicious man trespassing on the grounds, media reported yesterday. The incident comes as authorities are beefing up security ahead of the popular emperor’s abdication
PARIS (France): The second largest Emperor penguin colony on Earth has suffered a “catastrophic” breeding failure after nearly all chicks born over three years died as their icy Antarctic habitat shrinks, researchers said Thursday. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) used satellite imagery to study the behaviour of the Halley Bay
NEW YORK (United States): A drawing by late South African leader Nelson Mandela of the door of his prison cell on Robben Island – where he was held for 18 years – will be put up for auction in early May in New York. Bonhams, which will host the sale
BEIRA (Mozambique): A powerful cyclone pounded northern Mozambique on Friday, leaving one person dead and wrecking homes and communications, barely a month after the country was hit by one of the worst storms in its history. Cyclone Kenneth, a Category Three storm on the hurricane scale, made landfall in Cabo
Tripoli (Libya): Migrants and refugees have been shot and wounded in a detention centre south of Tripoli as Libyan fighters battle for control of the capital, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Friday. Clashes between Libya’s Tripoli-based unity government forces and fighters of military commander Khalifa Haftar have raged since April
MONGLA (Myanmar): Bentleys and BMW convertibles roll up to the “Venetian Casino” in Mongla on the Myanmar-China border, a melting pot of sex, drugs and gambling on a frontier that has also become a “supermarket” for illegally traded wildlife. This area of Myanmar is largely self-governed – lying within the