[ AFP ] New fighting in east Myanmar displaces around 100,000: UN

An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced by new fighting between Myanmar’s military and rebel groups in the east of the coup-stricken country, the UN said Tuesday. Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the generals ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February, accusing it of fraud during 2020 elections. Fighting…

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[ NZ Herald ] Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi faces bribery charge – with up to 15 years in jail most severe penalty yet

The Anti-Corruption Commission in military-ruled Myanmar has found that ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi accepted bribes and misused her authority to gain advantageous terms in real estate deals, government-controlled media reported Thursday. Suu Kyi’s lawyers already denied the allegations when they were first raised three months ago by the military regime that toppled her…

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[ Global News ] Alberta finance minister defends $1.3B loss on Keystone XL pipeline as ‘calculated decision’

Alberta’s finance minister says the province’s $1.3-billion investment of taxpayers’ money in the now-defunct Keystone XL oil pipeline project was a prudent gamble given the potential payoff in profits and jobs. … Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative government, in early 2020, committed $1.5 billion in direct financing and $6 billion more in loan guarantees to…

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Wired: Singapore Was Ready for Covid-19—Other Countries, Take Note

” Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea all share the characteristic of using their experiences with prior outbreaks to build a system—and then sustaining it. None of them had to deal with the fear of being a first-mover, of being the first city or country to institute seemingly severe countermeasures. Their countermeasures were already…

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The Republic of China, in brief.

Seventy years have passed since the “Great retreat” of the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China to the island of Taiwan (Formosa). Expelled from the mainland, its rule reduced to Taiwan and a few minor islands off the coast of the mainland. Since then, the Republic of China (ROC) has been politically divided into two camps. The…

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