SYDNEY: The Australian government has proposed relocating hundreds of residents from the Cocos Islands within decades due to rising sea levels, igniting backlash from locals. The Cocos Islands, a group of 27 atolls located 2,936 kilometers west of Australia, face increasing threats from coastal erosion and rising sea levels caused by
BEIJING: China saw a 20.5 per cent drop in marriages last year, with only 6.1 million couples registering in 2024, down from 7.7 million in 2023, highlighting ongoing demographic challenges. This decline comes amid the country’s third consecutive year of population decrease, with China’s 1.4 billion population aging rapidly—nearly a
WASHINGTON: United States (US) President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports into the country, German news agency (dpa) reported on Sunday. “Any steel coming to the US is going to have them. A 25 per cent tariff,” Trump told
BANGKOK: Five Thai farm workers held hostage in Gaza for over a year arrived in Bangkok yesterday, greeted by tearful families. Released on January 30 as part of a ceasefire deal, they landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 7.30 am (0030 GMT). The five — Watchara Sriaoun, Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham,
LONDON: Hundreds protested on Saturday at the site of Beijing’s planned new embassy in London, citing human rights and security concerns. If approved, the embassy would be Europe’s largest, critics warn it could facilitate the harassment of dissidents. Protester Iona Boswell, a social worker, argued there was “no need for
PARIS: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was fitted with an electronic tag on Friday after being convicted of corruption, prosecutors said — a first for a former head of state. France’s top court ordered Sarkozy, 70, to wear the tag for a year after he was found guilty of attempting
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday raged against eco-friendly paper straws promoted by his predecessor Joe Biden, and pledged that the United States would return to plastic ones. The move is his latest on green issues since returning to power, after pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement and ordering
WASHINGTON: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and US President Donald Trump struck a warm tone in their first meeting on Friday, with Japan avoiding Trump’s tariffs — for now. At the White House, both leaders vowed to counter Chinese “aggression” and announced a solution for a blocked US Steel deal.
WASHINGTON: Hundreds of US government websites, including USAID’s, were offline on Monday, an AFP review found. The outage affected over 350 federal sites from a list of nearly 1,400 provided by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Impacted agencies included the departments of defense, commerce, energy, transportation, labor, as
BEIJING: China has eased some travel restrictions on Uyghurs but still imposes “severe controls” on those seeking to go abroad or visit family in Xinjiang, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released on Monday. Beijing is accused of detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang—allegations