Did China Mobile rumours lead Australia to make a wrong call over Digicel?

In an Australia increasingly wary of China’s influence in its backyard, claims a Chinese state-run firm was angling to purchase the South Pacific’s No. 1 phone carrier set off immediate alarm bells.In Australian media, unnamed government sources expressed fears that China Mobile’s purchase of Digicel’s Pacific network would give Beijing free rein to...

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Ten dead and 44 injured in Croatia motorway bus crash

A bus swerved off a motorway and crashed in Croatia early on Sunday after the driver apparently fell asleep, killing 10 people and injuring at least 44 others – some of them seriously, authorities said.The crash happened about 6am near the town of Slavonski Brod on the highway between the Croatian capital of Zagreb and the Serbian border, a key artery...

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Death toll in India monsoon climbs to 159 as rescuers search for dozens still missing

The death toll from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India climbed to 159, officials said on Sunday, with rescuers searching for dozens more missing.The country’s western coast has been inundated by torrential rains since Thursday, with the India Meteorological Department warning of further downpours over the next few days.Flooding...

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Ethiopia’s Amhara state calls on ‘all young people’ to take up arms against Tigrayan forces

Ethiopia’s Amhara state on Sunday called on “all young people” to take up arms against Tigrayan fighters who are battling the federal government military and forces from all of Ethiopia’s other nine regions.The call for mass mobilisation against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters – who Amhara’s military said were now attacking the state...

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Tunisia’s President Kais Saied sacks Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspends parliament

Tunisia’s president dismissed the government and froze parliament on Sunday in a dramatic escalation of a political crisis, prompting huge crowds to fill the capital in his support, but his opponents labelled the moves a coup.President Kais Saied said he would assume executive authority with the help of a new prime minister, in the biggest challenge...

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Fires ravage Italy’s Mediterranean island of Sardinia, forcing evacuations

Fires raged Sunday on Italy’s Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where nearly 400 people were evacuated overnight. No deaths or injuries have been reported.Firefighters said several homes were damaged in the island’s western interior region. Civil protection authorities said a preliminary survey indicates 10,000 acres have been consumed by flames around...

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‘The virus is winning’: China’s rebuff of WHO’s new coronavirus investigation alarms experts

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Phelim Kine, Carmen Paun and Ryan Heath on politico.com on July 25, 2021.  Leading US infectious disease experts are warning that China's rejection of a World Health Organization plan for another Covid-19 investigation inside the country threatens to deny the...

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UK health minister apologises for urging Britain not to ‘cower’ from Covid-19

Britain’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Sunday apologised after he tweeted that the country need not “cower” in the face of coronavirus, having himself recovered from a bout of Covid-19.Javid, who replaced Matt Hancock as health minister last month after his predecessor stepped down for breaking pandemic rules by kissing an aide in his office, had...

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South China Sea: calls to honour Hague ruling 5 years on, but Beijing digs in

Five years ago, Beijing blithely dismissed an international tribunal’s landmark ruling that found its sweeping claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis.Liu Zhenmin, China’s then foreign vice-minister, said the decision handed down at The Hague in July 2016 was “just a piece of waste paper” that China would not recognise or enforce. “You may...

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China and Pakistan to upgrade security after fatal bus blast ‘test’ of ties

China and Pakistan have pledged to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation and upgrade security measures to better protect Chinese workers and investment in the South Asian country in the wake of what Beijing has called the biggest ever terrorism attack against its citizens overseas.The promises came days after a bus blast in Pakistan killed 13 people...

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