Author: Reuters

Japan’s exports drop for ninth straight month

TOKYO: Japan’s exports slipped for a ninth straight month in August as the Sino-US tariff dispute hit demand from China and other Asian trading partners, heightening risks for the world’s third-largest economy. The negative reading adds some pressure to the Bank of Japan to expand stimulus at its policy meeting

US factory output rebounds

WASHINGTON: US manufacturing output increased solidly in August, boosted by a surge in the production of machinery and other goods, but the outlook for factories remains weak amid rising headwinds from trade tensions and slowing global economies. Manufacturing production rose 0.5 percent last month after an unrevised 0.4 percent drop

Air pollution leads to school closures

PALANGKA RAYA (Indonesia): Schools in two cities in the Indonesian part of Borneo island will be closed for a week after smoke from forest fires caused air quality to hit “dangerous” levels, a local government official said on Sunday. Indonesia and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are regularly hit by

Rescued tigers from Thai temple perish

BANGKOK: More than half of the tigers that Thai authorities confiscated in 2016 from an infamous Tiger Temple tourist attraction have died from a viral disease because their immune systems were weakened by inbreeding, media reported. The Buddhist temple west of Bangkok was a tourist destination where visitors took selfies

Protesters greet Trump in Baltimore

BALTIMORE: Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Baltimore on Thursday as President Donald Trump made his first visit to the city since he blasted it as “disgusting” and “rodent-infested” in hotly debated tweets in July. Trump gave a speech to Republicans from the House of Representatives holding an annual retreat

New storm hits ravaged Bahamas

NASSAU: A new storm brought rain and wind to the hurricane ravaged Bahamas early yesterday, with the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warning it could turn into a tropical storm. Early yesterday, it was a tropical disturbance over the central Bahamas, packing winds of 45km per hour and was expected

Kenya to introduce first malaria vaccine

NAIROBI: Kenya yesterday added the world’s first malaria vaccine to the routine immunization schedule for children under two, becoming the third country in Africa to roll out the vaccine for the disease that kills one child globally every two minutes. Malaria is a top killer of children under five in

99 couples say ‘I do’ on 9.9.19

KUALA LUMPUR: Ninety-nine couples tied the knot in a mass wedding ceremony at a Chinese temple here yesterday, the ninth day of the ninth month that is considered an auspicious date by the Chinese. The ceremony at the Thean Hou temple is an annual event for couples seeking a Buddhist

WHO challenged to eradicate malaria

LONDON: Malaria can be eradicated within a generation and the World Health Organisation (WHO) should not shy away from this “goal of epic proportions”, global health experts said on Sunday. In a major report that contradicted the conclusions of a WHO-led malaria review last month, 41 specialists said a future

Dorian regains strength as it crawls up US coast

NASSAU (Bahamas): Hurricane Dorian left stretches of the Bahamas looking as if they had been carpet bombed, and was regaining strength as it ground up the US Atlantic coast, possibly making landfall later yesterday in South Carolina. In the United States, South Carolina was preparing for a record storm surge,