World

China doubled down on imports of Iranian and Venezuelan crude in 2021, taking the most from the U.S.-sanctioned regimes in three years, as refiners brushed off the risk of penalties to scoop up cheap oil. Crude processors in the world’s biggest importer were observed to have bought 324 million barrels from Iran and Venezuela in 2021, about 53% more than the year before, according to data from market intelligence firm Kpler. That’s the most since 2018, when China took 352 million barrels from the two nations. Chinese buyers, particularly private refiners, have benefited from Washington’s tough line on Iran and Venezuela, continuing to buy their oil long after their counterparts elsewhere in Asia ceased purchases. The risk that non-U.S. entities may lose access to the U.S. financial system...

A Myanmar junta court on Monday convicted Aung San Suu Kyi of three criminal charges, sentencing her to four years in prison in the latest in a slew of cases against the ousted civilian leader. The Nobel laureate has been detained since Feb. 1, when her government was forced out in an early morning coup, ending Myanmar’s short-lived experiment with democracy. The generals’ power grab triggered widespread dissent, which security forces sought to quell with mass detentions and bloody crackdowns in which more than 1,400 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group. A source with knowledge of the case said the 76-year-old was found guilty of two charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie-talkies and one of breaking coronavirus rules. The walkie-talkie cha...

China has relied on coercion, including kidnapping and pressuring families, to force some 10,000 “fugitives” to return from overseas, according to a new report that sheds light on a campaign that has stoked diplomatic tensions around the globe. Chinese efforts to repatriate accused criminals netted 9,946 people since President Xi Jinping launched the initiative more than seven years ago, official data compiled by Safeguard Defenders shows. The statistics were released Tuesday as part of a broader report on the program by the Madrid-based human rights group, which found most returns China calls “voluntary” relied on covert or extrajudicial means to force those targeted to come back. The repatriation push peaked at 2,041 in 2019 before the pandemic curbed travel and diplomatic exchanges ar...

:Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe says Friday's signing of England full back Kieran Trippier from LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid shows that the club still has a "huge pull". Trippier became Newcastle's first signing since the club's takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in October and more are expected to follow in the January window. "It is a sign that the club has a huge pull, not talking financial, Kieran hasn't come for that, he's come for the club and the challenge and the longer term vision," Howe, who also signed Trippier when he was Burnley manager, said. "It is a massive thing for the club. "Hopefully with his signing, other players around the world will share his dream and vision." Newcastle have won only once in their opening 19 Premier League games and sit...

LONDON : World shares extended on Tuesday (Jan 4) a bright start to 2022 as markets from Europe to Asia shrugged off worries the Omicron coronavirus variant could choke the global economic recovery, while the dollar rose after US bond yields jumped. The Euro STOXX 600 gained as much as 0.9 per cent to hit a record of 494.55 points, topping its previous all-time high scaled a day earlier. Indexes in Germany, France and Britain rose between 0.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent. Travel and leisure stocks jumped over 3 per cent, with Ryanair adding 10 per cent and British Airways-owner IAG gaining over 12 per cent, reflecting expectations that Omicron's impact on the industry would be less severe than initially feared. "As far as markets are concerned Omicron is in the rear view mirror," said Coli...

SINGAPORE: Myanmar has "all the ingredients for civil war", Cambodia, chair of Southeast Asia's regional bloc, has warned ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Hun Sen to the crisis-wracked country. Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup last year, with more than 1,400 people killed in a crackdown on dissent by security forces, according to a local monitoring group. Hun Sen, whose country this year holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, will visit Myanmar on Friday (Jan 7) and Saturday in an effort to defuse the crisis. But Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn warned the outlook was dire. "The political and security crisis in Myanmar is deepening, and has led to (an) economic, health and humanitarian crisis," he said. "We feel that ...

European Commission proposals to bring shipping into the bloc’s carbon market contain exclusions for small commercial and military vessels that would leave millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions unregulated, a study by a nongovernmental organization showed on Thursday. With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. So far, the industry has avoided the EU’s system of pollution charges. Under proposals announced in July 2021, shipping would be added to the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) from 2023 phased over a three-year period, a move designed to spur emissions cuts from the sector. A study by environmental group Transport & Environment (T&E) said that the proposals, which will be nego...

JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, has allowed 37 loaded coal vessels to depart after they secured approvals from authorities, the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs said on Thursday (Jan 13). In a statement, the ministry said an export ban implemented on Jan 1 had been eased for miners that had met a requirement to sell a portion of their output for local power generation after the state utility procured enough coal at power stations to ensure 15 days of operations. "I request that this is supervised closely so this also becomes a moment for us to improve domestic governance," Luhut Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said in the statement. The 37 vessels included 14 ships whose clearance was announced...

NEW YORK: COVID-19 cases surged in New York City and around the United States over the weekend, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country's testing infrastructure ahead of holiday travel and gatherings. The spike is alarming public health officials, who fear an explosion of infections after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The fast-spreading new Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become dominant in the United States with lightning speed. The variant now accounts for 73 per cent of US coronavirus infections based on sequencing data for the week ended Dec 18, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. With the new variant in circulation, COVID-19 cases are now doubling in one and a half to three da...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will begin a visit to Myanmar on Friday for talks with its military rulers, triggering protests across the conflict-torn nation by opponents of the coup who fear Sen’s trip will provide more legitimacy to the country’s junta. His visit will be the first by a head of government to Myanmar since the army overthrew the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 last year, sparking months of protests and a bloody crackdown. Cambodia is current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has been leading diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar and which adopted a five-point “consensus” peace plan in April. Some other ASEAN countries including Indonesia have expressed frustration at the junta’s failure to implement ...