Hong Kong, China | AFP | Hong Kong police Monday warned for the first time in months of unrest that they may use “live rounds” after pro-democracy protesters fired arrows and threw petrol bombs at officers at a besieged university campus, as the crisis engulfing the city sharply escalated. Protests …
Read More »Brexit will make Britain ‘second-rate player’: EU’s Tusk
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Britain will be a “second-rate player” after Brexit, unable to compete with big powers like the US, China and EU, outgoing EU Council president Donald Tusk warned Wednesday. The former Polish premier said Brexit supporters were deluded if they thought leaving the EU would bring a …
Read More »China export drop beats forecasts in October but more pain tipped
Beijing, China | AFP | China’s exports suffered their third month of decline in October, and while the drop was less than expected there were warnings Friday of more pain to come as the US trade war rumbles on. While tensions between the world’s top two economies are beginning to ease, …
Read More »Lost their way: Chinese orienteering team caught cheating at World Military games
Beijing, China | AFP | A cheating Chinese orienteering team was disqualified after losing its moral compass and using secret paths and markings during the Military World Games in China. The home team bagged some of the top spots in a middle-distance competition, which sees runners navigating their way across …
Read More »Trump says ‘phase 1’ China trade pact on track for November
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Monday said progress in developing the text of a partial trade pact with China means he will likely be able to sign it next month. Trump remains upbeat on the chances Beijing and Washington will seal the mini-deal he announced …
Read More »Experts caution African countries on loans from China
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | China’s loans to African countries have been questioned with experts saying China is here to actualize self-interests. This featured prominently in discussions at the 2019 Kampala Geopolitics Conference in Makerere University. Ingo Badoreck, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) director Rule of Law programme in West Africa …
Read More »Kakooza Mutale, Onyango-Obbo give geopolitics conference dramatic climax
Kampala, Uganda | LOUIS JADWONG | Veteran Ugandan journalist, publisher and analyst Charles Onyango-Obbo has explained why the world will not just sit back and watch as resource-rich Africa does nothing productive with its assets. Quoting former Ugandan politician Eriya Kategaya, in what Obbo described as the ‘Kategaya doctrine’, and his …
Read More »China wants centralised digital currency after bitcoin crackdown
Beijing, China | AFP | As Facebook readies to launch its answer to bitcoin, China is set to introduce its own digital currency — one that could allow the government and the central bank to see what people spend their money on, according to analysts. Far from the libertarian ideals of …
Read More »Xi Jinping warns that attempts to split China risk ‘smashed’ bodies
Beijing, China | AFP | President Xi Jinping has warned that any attempts to split China would result in “bodies smashed and bones ground to powder”, amid four months of anti-Beijing unrest in Hong Kong. Xi issued the dire message during a weekend visit to Nepal, according to a …
Read More »Trump announces ‘very substantial’ but partial China trade deal
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday hailed a breakthrough in his drawn-out trade war with China, saying the two sides reached an initial deal that included a surge in purchase of American farm products. With the agreement — which also covers intellectual property, financial services and …
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