Democracy falls short for people around the world - survey

Only half of the world's population thinks their country is democratic, a survey published on Tuesday found, with many Western Europeans viewing banks and social media as threats to democracy. The survey of over 150,000 people from 57 countries by German polling firm Dalia Research and Alliance

Online sleuths join manhunt after horror attack on woman in China

Chinese police have appealed to the country’s online community for help to track down a man who launched a vicious assault on a woman, in what appeared to be a random attack on the weekend.Surveillance footage from an unknown source shows the woman walking along a street looking at her phone when she

G20 Osaka: Japan closes schools and tightens security as authorities brace for protests at summit

The two-day G20 summit begins in Osaka on Friday and the sheer scale of the event has created a security headache for Japanese authorities. An estimated 30,000 extra people are expected to be in the city – along with more than 32,000 police to keep protesters from getting too close to the world leaders

Hong Kong extradition bill crisis: government’s relationship with pro-establishment camp takes a hit, as Carrie Lam accused of going it alone

Hong Kong’s extradition bill saga has taken a toll on the government’s relationship with the pro-establishment bloc, as a Beijing-friendly lawmaker on Tuesday accused the city’s leader of going it alone without communicating with her allies.Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, vice-chairwoman of the pro-Beijing

Trump 'Hollywood star' vandal charged with Marilyn statue theft

A man who vandalized President Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star last summer was charged Monday with the theft of a nearby statue of Marilyn Monroe. Austin Clay, 25, faces up to three years in jail if found guilty of property theft and vandalism, the Los Angeles County District Attorney

Alphabet unveils vision for high-tech Toronto waterfront project

Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent-company Alphabet Inc., on Monday officially unveiled its plan for a massive technology-driven neighborhood on Toronto's waterfront that it hopes will become a blueprint for the future, but which has already generated controversy. The Lake Ontario site

Russian, North American astronauts return to earth

The first crew to blast off to the International Space Station following a launch accident that deepened doubts over Russia's space programme returned to earth safely on Tuesday. NASA astronaut Anne McClain, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos, and Canadian Space Agency record-holder David

Beijing launches China-Japan stock connect scheme, showcases it as a move to defy rising protectionism

China on Tuesday accelerated the liberalisation of its capital markets, launching yet another stock connect scheme linking Shanghai and Tokyo stock exchanges and in the process took a swipe at the US for its trade protectionism.Under the China-Japan ETF Connectivity scheme, investors will be allowed

Seven migrant deaths reported in 'extreme heat' at U.S. border

The woman and three children may have been dead for days before they were found by U.S. Border Patrol near the Rio Grande in South Texas on Sunday, according to a local law enforcement official, who asked not to be named. To the west, U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio area recovered the bodies

US-China trade war caused ‘dramatic spike’ in trade barriers, WTO warns ahead of G20 summit

Global trade tensions, largely stemming from the ongoing US-China trade war, have led to a “dramatic spike” in barriers to doing business between the G20 nations, according to a new report by the World Trade Organisation.The World Trade Organisation (WTO) calculated that between October 16, 2018 and

China says Africa projects should be sustainable, denounces criticism

Chinese development projects in Africa must be sustainable, the government's top diplomat told senior African ministers on Tuesday, as he denounced "outside forces" who seek to vilify cooperation by accusing China of creating debt traps. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $60 billion

Cambodia charges Chinese nationals over deadly building collapse

A Cambodian court charged seven people on Tuesday, including five Chinese nationals, with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy after 28 people died in a collapsed building on the weekend. Some 26 people were injured after the Chinese-owned building collapsed on Saturday in the coastal town of Sihanoukville

Iran in focus as new Pentagon chief heads to NATO

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper will be ready to update European allies on tensions with Iran as he heads to NATO headquarters this week during his inaugural trip as Pentagon chief, a senior U.S. official said. Esper, whose first full day in the Pentagon was on Monday, led the Army until the

Hackers hit global telecoms in espionage campaign: cyber research firm

Hackers have broken into the systems of more than a dozen global telecoms companies and taken large amounts of personal and corporate data, researchers from a cyber security company said on Tuesday, identifying links to previous Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns. Investigators at U.S.-Israeli cyber

Drone maker DJI denies sending data to China and says US decisions on drone tech need to be fact-based

Chinese drone maker DJI Technologies has published an open letter in which the world’s largest maker of recreational drones denies its devices send flight data to China, following a US Senate committee discussion last week on drone security and supply chain risk.In an open letter to the Senate Committee

Iran says U.S. sanctions on Khamenei mean end of diplomacy - Tweet

Iran said on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions imposed on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials in the country permanently closed the path to diplomacy between Tehran and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing the sanctions on Monday, taking a dramatic

Trump privately talks about ending Japan defence treaty - Bloomberg

Dr M says Malaysia accepts Pedra Branca loss to Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today reminded Asean community members about the need for cooperation on the principles of shared well-being to ensure peace and...

China, US agree to resume trade talks in phone call ahead of Xi-Trump G20 meeting

The top trade negotiators for China and the United States have agreed to resume discussions to resolve their trade dispute, in a phone conversation on Monday ahead of the high-stakes talks between the two countries’ presidents in Japan this week.Vice-Premier Liu He, who leads the trade negotiations for

Trump aide Conway will not testify before Congress - White House

President Donald Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway will not testify before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee this week on her alleged violations of the Hatch Act, the White House told the panel's chairman on Monday. "In accordance with long-standing precedent, we respectfully

Mexico vows to identify thousands of remains, 'worst legacy' of violence

Mexico's government vowed on Monday to identify thousands of human remains that have accumulated in morgues and mass graves during more than a decade of gang violence and stirred anger among bereaved families. The government said it would initially commit 400 million pesos ($21 million) to work

Drones disrupt flights at Singapore airport for second time in a week

Unauthorised drone flying caused the second spate of delays and flight diversions in less than a week at Singapore's Changi airport on Monday night, the city-state's aviation authority said. Around 18 departures and arrivals were delayed and seven flights were diverted from the global transit

China, U.S. trade officials talk ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

Senior Chinese and U.S. trade officials spoke by telephone on Monday ahead of talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump set for later this week, as the world's two largest economies remain locked in a tariff war. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone conversation

Trump 'comfortable with any outcome' from pivotal Xi talks: official

U.S. President Donald Trump views this week's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a chance to see where Beijing stands on the two countries' trade war, and is "comfortable with any outcome" from the talks, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. The much-anticipated meeting

Tax cuts planned by UK's Johnson carry hefty price tag - think tank

Tax cuts planned by Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to become Britain's next prime minister, could cost as much as 20 billion pounds ($25 billion) a year, according to calculations from the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank. Johnson, who is vying for the votes of Conservative Party members