United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday presented a draft UN Security Council resolution ramping up sanctions on North Korea by cutting oil supplies vital for Pyongyang’s military programs, according to the text obtained by AFP. The council is expected to vote on the new sanctions …
Read More »China opens major economic conference
Beijing, China | AFP | China opened a major economic planning conference on Monday as the country tries to pivot away from its no-holds-barred growth model. The annual Central Economic Work Conference gives leaders the opportunity to review past economic policy and plan for 2018. The pursuit of high growth propelled …
Read More »GLOBAL COMMENT: China factor in Kenya, Zimbabwe
Weighing economic, political ties and future relationships that could prove decisive for Africa COMMENT | HANNAH RYDER | Ask anyone with a basic knowledge of Africa which country is more poised for success – Zimbabwe or Kenya – and he or she will undoubtedly answer “Kenya.” Events of the last week …
Read More »Chinese auto giant to end petrol vehicle sales by 2025
Beijing, China | AFP | One of China’s largest state-owned automakers has said it will phase out sales of all petrol vehicles by 2025, as Beijing considers taking all fuel-burning cars off the country’s roads. Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC) chairman Xu Heyi said over the weekend the company will phase …
Read More »Museveni enters fight over $ 20bn oil deals
French domination sparks fight with Chinese Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Oil companies—Total E&P, Tullow Oil and CNOOC—are locked in a bitter fight for control of Uganda’s oil sector. The coveted prizes are deals worth about $20 billion. The three entered a partnership in 2012 when Tullow Oil, which …
Read More »Chinese electric carmaker to open Morocco plant
Casablanca, Morocco | AFP | Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD on Saturday signed an agreement to open a factory near the Moroccan city of Tangiers to build battery-powered vehicles, officials said. BYD will become the third car manufacturer, after Renault and Peugeot of French, to construct cars in the North …
Read More »China seizes 12 tonnes of endangered pangolin scales
Beijing, China | AFP | Nearly 12 tonnes of smuggled pangolin scales have been confiscated by Chinese officials — the country’s largest-ever seizure of the endangered mammal’s prized parts as it seeks to curb illegal trafficking. The pangolin, whose brown scales have earned it the nickname “scaly anteater”, is the most …
Read More »China taps Africa at Morocco Silk Road investment forum
Marrakesh, Morocco | AFP | A two-day investment forum opened in Morocco’s Marrakesh on Monday as China seeks to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa. “The question is how to accelerate cooperation in the field of investment,” said Wang Yong, vice president of the …
Read More »Blast rocks Chinese megaport city, two dead
Shanghai, China | AFP | A major explosion hit China’s major port city of Ningbo on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring dozens and wrecking buildings, state media and local authorities said. The Ningbo government said on a social media account that the blast occurred in a “vacant lot” …
Read More »From Myanmar to Zimbabwe, China’s global footprint grows
Beijing, China | AFP | China has traditionally rejected US-style interventionism, but its deepening economic involvement in volatile countries like Myanmar and Zimbabwe is thrusting Beijing towards a more assertive global role, analysts say. China’s foreign policy has been guided by its principle of “non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs”, …
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