CNN — With a grandiose diplomatic flourish China brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in the process upending US calculus in the Gulf and beyond. While the United States has angered its Gulf allies by apparently dithering over morality, curbing arms supplies and chilling relations, Saudi Arabia’s King-in-waiting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, […]
Tokyo Reuters — The Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained ultra-low interest rates on Friday and held off making changes to its controversial bond yield control policy, leaving options open ahead of a leadership transition in April. Though widely expected by most analysts, the decision sent the yen and local bond yields tumbling as some investors […]
CNN — The US transferred an alleged al Qaeda bomb maker from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the Defense Department announced Wednesday, part of the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to close the prison facility. Ghassan Al Sharbi, a 48-year-old Saudi native who has been held in detention at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years, was sent […]
Washington CNN — The Biden administration took action Wednesday against several Iranian officials and entities for committing human rights abuses against women and girls in the latest round of sanctions against Tehran over its crackdown on unrest in the country. As the world marked International Women’s Day, Wednesday’s actions include sanctions against two senior officials […]
Hong Kong CNN — China’s outgoing Premier Li Keqiang has announced the country’s lowest GDP growth target in decades, highlighting the domestic and global challenges the world’s second largest economy still faces despite its decision late last year to ditch draconian anti-Covid measures. Li set a target of about 5% growth for 2023 during the […]
CNN — Colombia plans to fly dozens of its “cocaine hippos” – the descendents of drug trafficker Pablo Escobar’s private menagerie – to new homes in India and Mexico in a bid to control their booming population, according to the local governor. There are now between 130 and 160 of the hippos, according to the […]
Hong Kong CNN — A Chinese city says it has destroyed a billion pieces of personal data collected during the pandemic, as local governments gradually dismantle their coronavirus surveillance and tracking systems after abandoning the country’s controversial zero-Covid policy. Wuxi, a manufacturing hub on China’s eastern coast and home to 7.5 million people, held a […]
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. Hong Kong CNN — The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory […]
New Delhi CNN — Foreign ministers from the world’s biggest economies have convened in New Delhi, setting the stage for a grand test in Indian diplomacy as it attempts to navigate tensions over Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In the second high-level ministerial meeting under India’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency this year, […]
Paris/London CNN — The European Parliament on Tuesday banned TikTok from staff devices over cybersecurity concerns, meaning the Chinese video-sharing app is now barred in all three of the EU’s main institutions. “In view of cybersecurity concerns, in particular regarding data protection and collection of data by third parties, the European Parliament has decided, in […]