The United States (US) and European Union (EU) led an international outcry Saturday after Israeli police charged the funeral procession in Jerusalem of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and beat pallbearers who almost dropped her coffin.Thousands of people packed Jerusalem's Old City on Friday for the burial of the veteran Al Jazeera journalist, two days after she was killed in an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank.Television footage showed the pallbearers struggling to s

Myanmar's junta on Friday slammed the United States (US) for snubbing it at a regional summit and meeting with opposition leaders, and instead lauded its ties with "powerful" China.Washington has repeatedly denounced the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government last year, and the US government has imposed sanctions on top figures in Myanmar's military.Myanmar was represented by an empty chair at a summit this week between US President Joe Biden and leaders of th

Asian equities were mostly up Friday following a tumultuous trading period on Wall Street, which rebounded at the close after investors calmed down about United States (US) policies to counter surging inflation.World markets have been volatile for much of 2022 owing to China's COVID-19 lockdowns, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and as surging inflation weighed on consumer sentiment.The Federal Reserve (Fed) last week had announced its largest rate hike since 2000 and signalled that si

President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed Southeast Asian leaders to Washington with promises to support clean energy and maritime security, hoping to showcase a United States commitment as China makes wide inroads.Top leaders from eight of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) flew to Washington for the two-day summit, which opened with a closed-door White House dinner of thyme poached chicken and vanilla ice cream.The Biden administration, which took office des

The United States (US) and China have congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr on his win in the Philippine presidential election, as the superpowers jostle to have the strongest ties with the Southeast Asian nation.Marcos, the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator, secured more than half of the votes in Monday's poll to win the presidency by a wide margin and cap a remarkable comeback for his family.He and running mate Sara Duterte, who also won the vice-presidential race in a lands

The United States (US) is preparing a scaled-back version of a trade pact as Southeast Asian nations gather in Washington, where President Joe Biden is seeking to show solid commitment in the face of a rising China.Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet Biden for dinner Thursday at the start of a two-day summit, part of a renewed US focus on Asia after months of intense effort on Ukraine.Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration had

The European Union (EU), the United States (US) and more than two dozen other countries vowed Friday to shore up global food security in a joint statement to the World Trade Organization (WTO).Voicing alarm at the "global effects on food security" triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they stressed "the urgency and importance of maintaining open and predictable agricultural markets and trade".That would "ensure the continued flow of food, as well as products

China sent 18 warplanes, including fighters and bombers, into Taiwan’s air defence zone, prompting the island’s air force to scramble jets in response to the second-largest incursion so far this year.Taipei’s defence ministry said the Chinese aircraft crossed into the island’s air defence zone on Friday, forcing the scrambling of Taiwanese aircraft and the deployment of air defence missile systems to track the Chinese planes. Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own territory, ha

Until a few years ago, major economies were struggling to achieve even mild inflation, with policymakers in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and the eurozone struggling to meet their targets of two percent annual price growth. But with the arrival and persistence of COVID-19, the world changed dramatically.

Pfizer executives said Tuesday they are confident of strong demand for the company's COVID-19 antiviral treatment amid easing pandemic rules as the big drugmaker reported another round of strong earnings.The United States (US) pharmaceutical giant, reporting surging first-quarter profits based on a big jump in revenues from its COVID-19 vaccine, said its Paxlovid treatment for the virus would be a valuable means for governments to limit the severity of outbreaks as they ease social dista