BEIJING (AFP) --  Beijing on Friday lashed out at a claim by the US intelligence chief that China is the "greatest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide", calling it a "hodgepodge of lies". The war of words comes as relations between the two superpowers have spiralled to their lowest point in decades and as Washington unveiled travel restrictions for members of the Chinese Communist Party. US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a Wall Street J

Foreign Affairs Dec. 4, 2020

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Washington issued new entry rules for Chinese Communist Party members traveling to the United States, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing the State Department. The new policy -- which took immediate effect on Wednesday -- caps visas of Communist Party members and their immediate families to one month and a single entry into the country, the report said. "For decades we allowed the CCP free and unfettered access to US institutions and businesses while these sa

World News Dec. 3, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A major Asia-focused tech conference announced Thursday it is ditching Hong Kong in favour of Malaysia in a fresh blow to the Chinese financial hub's push to attract tech talent. The annual RISE Conference brings together CEOs, startups and investors and has been held in Hong Kong over the last five years. But organisers said they would move their annual conference to Kuala Lumpur in 2022. "Hosting RISE in Kuala Lumpur is going to expand the event into an exciting regi

World News Dec. 3, 2020

ROME (AFP) -- Global food commodity prices rose sharply in November to their highest level in nearly six years, the UN food agency said Thursday, due in part to adverse weather conditions. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said prices of the most globally traded foodstuffs were up across the board, putting extra pressure in particular on 45 countries that need outside help feeding their populations. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 105 points during the month, up 3.9 percent from Oc

World News Dec. 3, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Three young Hong Kong dissidents including Joshua Wong were remanded into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to inciting a rally during last year's pro-democracy protests, deepening the crackdown against Beijing's critics. Hong Kong was convulsed by seven straight months of huge and often violent democracy rallies last year in which millions took to the streets. Beijing has refused demands for free elections and authorities have pursued democracy supporters with crimin

World Nov. 23, 2020

LONDON (AFP) -- A coronavirus vaccine developed by drug firm AstraZeneca and Oxford University has shown 70 percent effectiveness in trials involved 23,000 people, they said in a statement on Monday. The announcement comes after other trials of drugs developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna announced effectiveness above 90 percent. The results ranged between 62 and 90 percent efficacy depending on the vaccine dosage, according to Monday's statement. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot s

World Nov. 23, 2020

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been quarantining without symptoms, a spokesman said Friday. "Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result," his spokesman said. "He's been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended COVID-19 guidelines," the spokesman said of the 42-year-old. Trump Jr's positive test follow

World News Nov. 21, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong's legislature will resign "en masse" if Beijing's top law-making committee moves to disqualify four of their colleagues for violating the semi-autonomous city's Basic Law, the convener of the bloc said Monday. The threat came ahead of a meeting of one of China's top law-making bodies, with Hong Kong media reporting that it was considering disqualifying four of the semi-autonomous city's legislators. Hong Kong's democracy camp ha

World News Nov. 9, 2020

BUDAPEST (AFP) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Monday a partial lockdown aimed at curbing a surge in coronavirus deaths that has sparked predictions of overwhelmed hospitals. The measures, due to start Wednesday, include an extension of an existing night-time curfew, a ban on gatherings, and closures of bars, restaurants and cultural venues, Orban said in a Facebook video. Sporting events must be played behind closed doors, while secondary schools and universities must move

World News Nov. 9, 2020

Joe Biden said Friday as he closed in on winning the US presidency he would he waste no time in addressing the Covid pandemic upon taking office. "I want everyone, everyone to know on day one we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action," Biden said in a late night address from his hometown Wilmington, in Delaware. Biden expressed confidence that he would defeat President Donald Trump as vote counting dragged on from Tuesday's election but stopped short of declarin

World News Nov. 7, 2020

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba on Thursday reported solid 30 percent year-on-year revenue growth for the July-September quarter, providing some much-needed good news amid turmoil over its Ant Group affiliate's abandoned IPO. Hangzhou-based Alibaba said revenue -- a key measure of the internet giant's business health as well as overall Chinese consumer spending -- rose to 155 billion yuan ($23 billion).The announcement comes ahead of China's November 11 "Single's Day&qu

World Business Nov. 5, 2020

READING (AFP) -- Donald Trump visits five swing states Sunday in a punishing finale to a frantic weekend sprint against challenger Joe Biden just days ahead of the US presidential election. The candidates and their top surrogates barreled through crucial states in the industrial Midwest and coastal southeast on Saturday, pressing closing arguments. Trump will rally voters Sunday with an exhausting schedule in toss-up states Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida while Biden focu

World News Nov. 1, 2020

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- Millions of census-takers began knocking on doors across China on Sunday for a once-a-decade head count of the world's largest population that for the first time will use mobile apps to help crunch the massive numbers. Around seven million community workers and volunteers will drive the two-month data-collection effort, visiting homes ranging from residential skyscrapers in downtown Shanghai to remote Tibetan mountain villages. China conducts the census every ten years to det

World News Nov. 1, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Seven pro-democracy Hong Kong politicians were arrested Sunday over protests and scuffles that broke out in the legislature earlier this year, the latest prosecutions targeting Beijing's opponents in the deeply divided city. The seven politicians -- four of them sitting lawmakers -- were arrested on charges of "contempt" and "interfering" with members of the city's Legislative Council in early May, police said. The chamber passes semi-autonomous Hong Kong

World News Nov. 1, 2020

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump said he was "medication free" and revealed more details of his fight with Covid-19 in a televised interview aired Friday, one week after he was hospitalized with the virus. The president appeared on Fox's Tucker Carlson Tonight for what the White House described as an on-air "medical evaluation" conducted remotely by Fox contributor doctor Marc Siegel. "Right now I'm medication-free, I'm not taking any medications as of, yo

World Oct. 10, 2020