Protesters in Pakistan slam ‘theft’ of ex-PM Imran Khan’s mandate
Protests have been held in major cities across Pakistan to denounce what they called a “theft” of the mandate of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in the Punjab provincial assembly.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Friday lost a key vote in the local assembly in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province, despite winning...
Evergrande: Crisis-hit property giant faces deadline after bosses quit
Embattled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande is expected to deliver a preliminary restructuring plan this week, following the exit of two bosses.
The firm says its chief executive and finance head have resigned, after an internal probe found that they misused around $2bn (£1.7bn) in loans.
Evergrande has more than...
Lack of biotechnology hampers Pakistan’s capacity to produce COVID vaccine
Pakistan has not been able to produce its own Covid-19 vaccine, partly blamed on lack of a biotechnology plant.
The World Trade Organisation has however, paved the way for the production of jabs using mRNA technology, however, Pakistan does not have a biotechnology plant to manufacture the latest type of vaccines, University of Health...
Taiwan stages Chinese invasion war games with Ukraine in mind 
Taiwan kicked off its largest annual military exercises Monday, with trench warfare and shoulder-launched Stinger missiles deployed against simulated Chinese attacks in drills informed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of being seized by China, which views the self-ruled island as part of its territory to be taken by force if...
Ukraine war quagmire prompting China rethink on Taiwan: CIA chief
The head of the CIA has warned that China appears determined on using force in Taiwan, with Russia’s experience in Ukraine only affecting Beijing’s calculations on when and how – rather than whether – to invade.
Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Wednesday that China probably saw in Ukraine that “you don’t...
China investors call it quits as Xi, ‘zero COVID’ sap confidence
Taipei, Taiwan – For months, Singaporean investor Anndy Lian has been selling off Chinese stocks to reduce his portfolio’s exposure to the world’s second-largest economy.
Once a regular investor in Chinese tech companies, Lian now views China as an increasingly risky bet as the country’s autocratic turn under Xi Jinping and ongoing “zero COVID” lockdowns...
How Uhuru’s Deal With US Has Ignited Battle With China
Kenya risks being caught up in the middle of an economic supremacy battle between China and the United States over control of East Africa’s 5G infrastructure.
Kenya is appearing as a battlefield for Beijing and Washington's bid to dominate not only 5G deployment but also the next industrial spring, with the conqueror exerting greater...
China Steps Up Intimidation, Harassment of Chinese Dissidents in US
WASHINGTON —
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department announced the indictment of one former and one current Department of Homeland Security agent in connection with an alleged Chinese government plot to target U.S.-based critics.
The men, the law enforcement agency said, aided a “transnational repression” scheme to “silence, harass, discredit and...
China has a hand in Sri Lanka’s economic calamity
The beleaguered island nation of Sri Lanka enters a new phase of its rolling crisis Wednesday as the country’s Parliament selects its next president. The panicked departures and resignations of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, two brothers who loomed large over the country’s politics for more than a decade, came amid an astonishing economic...
US ‘will not walk away’ from Middle East: Biden at Saudi summit
The United States “will not walk away” from the Middle East and leave a vacuum to be filled by Russia, China or Iran, US President Joe Biden has told a summit in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea city of Jeddah.
He also told the summit on Saturday that the US is committed to ensuring Iran...