After Putin’s 72nd birthday, leader of North Korea Kim-Jong Un recently congratulated him, calling the Russian President his “closest comrade”. Relations between North Korea and the Russian Federation have only gotten closer since the beginning of the Ukraine war back in 2022, something that worries the West. Kim has also said that he would be taking steps to increase North… Read more »
The former boss of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, has been granted bail by a Tokyo court in a surprise decision. The court set bail at one billion yen (£6.8m; $8.9m) and Japanese media reports said he could be released as early as Wednesday. Mr Ghosn has been charged with financial misconduct but has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The court had rejected… Read more »
China’s number two leader Li Keqiang has warned the country faces “a tough struggle,” as he laid out plans to prop up the world’s second-largest economy. Opening the annual session of China’s parliament, he forecast slower growth of 6% – 6.5% this year, down from a target of around 6.5% in 2018. China has struggled with a slowing economy and… Read more »
The chief financial officer of China’s tech giant Huawei is suing Canada over her arrest at the request of the US. Meng Wanzhou was held in December at Vancouver airport on suspicion of fraud and breaching US sanctions on Iran. On Friday Ms Meng filed a civil claim against Canada’s government, border agency and police for “serious breaches” of her… Read more »
China has accused two Canadians of spying, as tensions between the nations grow over the possible extradition of a Huawei executive to the US. Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, were detained in December after Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on suspicion of fraud and breaching sanctions on Iran. Ms Meng is suing Canada over… Read more »
President Donald Trump has said that the US and China are “very very close” to signing a trade agreement, potentially ending the long-running feud between the two countries. Mr Trump told US governors on Monday that both nations “are going to have a signing summit”. “Hopefully, we can get that completed. But we’re getting very, very close,” he said. It… Read more »
Award-winning Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been freed on bail, a day after her arrest on charges of “cyber-libel” drew international condemnation. Ms Ressa is CEO of Rappler, a news website critical of the government. She was arrested at its headquarters on Wednesday by agents from the National Bureau of Investigation. Press freedom advocates see this as a government attempt… Read more »
A Japanese spacecraft has touched down on an asteroid in an attempt to collect a sample of rock from the surface. The Hayabusa-2 probe was trying to grab the sample from a pre-chosen site on the asteroid Ryugu just before 23:00 GMT on 21 February. The spacecraft reached asteroid Ryugu in June 2018 after a three-and-a-half-year journey from Earth. It… Read more »
A former high-ranking Chinese general has been sentenced to life in jail for corruption, state media reports. Fang Fenghui, ex-chief of joint staff of the People’s Liberation Army, was found guilty of bribery and having huge wealth that he had been unable to account for, according to Xinhua. The 67-year-old accompanied President Xi Jinping in his first meeting with US… Read more »
The world’s largest maker of industrial computers, Taiwan’s Advantech, plans to boost US production to combat the hit from the trade war. Executive director Chaney Ho told the BBC the firm would avoid tariffs – imposed on 40% of its goods – if it assembled more products in the US. The company is one of many rethinking their supply chains… Read more »