China’s top legislative body is set to pass a new anti-sanction law on Thursday, giving substantive legal backing and protection to the country’s retaliatory measures against punitive actions by Western governments on Chinese officials and companies.State media announced on Monday night the latest move by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee to counter the United States and its allies who have been piling pressure on Beijing over such issues as Hong Kong’s freedoms and the…

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced on Monday he will fly into space next month on the first human flight launched by his Blue Origin rocket firm.“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of travelling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Bezos said on his Instagram account.Blue Origin said Bezos and his brother Mark will travel on the first crewed flight of the company’s New Shepard capsule.The company is auctioning off the third spot, and that bidding is…

Gunmen ambushed and killed five people helping to organise elections in southern Mexico, prosecutors said on Sunday, part of a wave of violence linked to the polls.The attack happened on Saturday when electoral authorities were delivering ballot boxes and other voting materials to a community in the Pueblo Nuevo Solistahuacan municipality in the state of Chiapas.Armed individuals arrived at the scene and attacked poll organisers, wounding one person, the state prosecutor’s office reported…

A group of politicians across Europe and North America launched coordinated legislative actions on Monday, calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.Spanning 11 countries and parliaments, the actions look to pressure governments, elected officials and heads of state to decline invitations to next year’s Games, citing “gross violations of human rights” by the Chinese government.In the United States, a resolution supported by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs…

The oldest male chimpanzee living in an accredited North American zoo died on Saturday at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. He was 63.The chimpanzee, named Cobby, had been a hand-reared performing chimpanzee before he was brought to the San Francisco zoo in the 1960s. Although the zoo said in a news release that the chimpanzee’s cause of death had not been determined, the animal had recently been ill and zoo officials believe old age was a factor.The International Union for Conservation of…

Kamala Harris, on her first foreign trip as vice-president, is looking to deepen diplomatic ties with Guatemala and Mexico, two Latin American nations key to the Joe Biden administration’s efforts to stem the spike in migration at the US border.Harris, who was switching planes after a technical issue forced Air Force Two to return 30 minutes into the flight on Sunday afternoon, is seeking to secure commitments for greater cooperation on border security and economic investment, but corruption in…

Three people are dead and at least six others injured following a shooting at a Florida graduation party, the latest in a string of such violence in the Miami area, police said Sunday.One of those killed was a police officer, Miami-Dade police Director Freddie Ramirez told news outlets. He said the party at a strip mall lounge was ending when one or more vehicles “pulled up and began to fire into the crowd.”The identities of those killed and wounded were not immediately released on Sunday. The…

The second baby for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is officially here: Meghan gave birth to a healthy girl on Friday.A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan said Sunday the couple welcomed their child Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Their daughter weighed in at 7lbs, 11 oz.Her first name, Lilibet, is a nod to the Queen’s nickname. Her middle name is in honour of her grandmother and Harry’s mother. The baby is the eighth in line to the British throne.No photos of the newborn or the…

Pope Francis said on Sunday that he was pained by the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Catholic school for indigenous students in Canada and called for respect of the rights and cultures of native peoples.However, Francis stopped short of the direct apology some Canadians had demanded. Two days ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Catholic Church must take responsibility for its role in running many of the schools.Speaking to pilgrims and tourists in St…

Mark Meadows, who served as chief of staff in Donald Trump’s White House, pressed the Justice Department to investigate several conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, according to reports.The New York Times first reported on Saturday that in emails between December and January to then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, Meadows pressed him to investigate the baseless theories that the presidential election was stolen from Trump due to mass fraud or foreign meddling.Among the claims,…

The trade relationship between the two largest economies in the world has a “significant imbalance” and the Biden administration is committed to levelling it, according to the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.“There are parts of this trade relationship that are unhealthy and have over time been damaging in some very important ways to the US economy,” Tai told reporters on Saturday in response to a question about whether the US would continue with a trade deal signed with China in January…

Security concerns raised by the US about Huawei Technologies are not necessarily shared by other developed countries as the Chinese firm continues its plan to build a 5G equipment plant in France, according to a new report.In a study released on Wednesday, the London-based think tank the Overseas Development Institute concluded that “a common security policy towards Chinese investment in digital infrastructure is unlikely”.The study also said “growing concerns about technology dependence are…

Former US president Donald Trump on Saturday sharply attacked infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, demanded reparations from China and denounced an investigation into his finances in a speech in North Carolina.It was Trump’s first speech in months, and he took the opportunity to frame next year’s midterm elections as a battle for the “survival of America” while keeping followers guessing on his own plans for 2024.Speaking in Greenville, North…

A federal judge has overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, calling it a “failed experiment” that violates people’s constitutional right to bear arms.US District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled on Friday that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the US Supreme Court.“Under no level of heightened scrutiny can the law survive,” Benitez said. He…

President Joe Biden turned to his old boss, former President Barack Obama, on Saturday to help him encourage Americans to sign up for “Obamacare” health care coverage during an expanded special enrolment period in the pandemic.Biden used his weekly address for a brief Zoom chat with Obama to draw attention to the six-month expanded enrolment period that closes on August 15. Meanwhile, the government released a report that claims that nearly 31 million Americans – a record – now have health…

The Department of Justice said on Saturday it would no longer seek source information from reporters in leak investigations after recent revelations that former President Donald Trump’s administration had secretly obtained phone and email records from a number of journalists.CNN and The Washington Post have said the Trump administration had secretly tried to obtain the phone records of some of their reporters over work they did in 2017.The New York Times reported that the Justice Department…

Foreign keyboard criminals with scant fear of repercussions have paralysed US schools and hospitals, leaked highly sensitive police files, triggered fuel shortages and, most recently, threatened global food supply chains.The escalating havoc caused by ransomware gangs raises an obvious question: Why has the United States, believed to have the world’s greatest cyber capabilities, looked so powerless to protect its citizens from these kind of criminals operating with near impunity out of Russia…

The building has stunning Manhattan skyline views, its spa offers deep-tissue massages, and the fancy restaurant off the lobby serves up prime steaks. Best of all, many flats at the Trump World Tower are selling at a deep discount – assuming the buyer doesn’t mind the name over the door.“Fifty per cent of the people wouldn’t want to live in a Trump building for any reason … but then there are guys like me,” says Lou Sollecito, a car dealer who recently bought a two-bedroom unit with views of…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday urged the Catholic Church to “take responsibility” and release records on indigenous residential schools under its direction, after the discovery of remains of 215 children in unmarked graves. He warned that his government was prepared to take “stronger measures,” possibly including legal action, to obtain the documents demanded by victims’ families if the church fails to comply. Canada has been convulsed by the discovery of the remains at the…

Canada’s official opposition party wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use his time at the G7 Leaders’ Summit to take a stand against China and call for the 2022 Winter Olympics to be moved from Beijing.Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole sent the letter on Friday as Trudeau is set to convene with other world leaders in the United Kingdom next week.As the leader of the host nation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to focus the meeting on efforts to fight Covid-19 and making an…