Author: admin@primenews

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is wrapping up her second trip to China, where she raised American concerns about Chinese overproduction, warned against support for Russia and, unexpectedly, caused a stir on Chinese social media over her travel style and chopstick-wielding skills. Over the span of four days, Yellen had wide-ranging meetings with Chinese leaders, local officials, academics, students and American executives both in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou as well as the capital Beijing. The visit, her second to China in nine months as treasury chief, is aimed at addressing escalating trade disputes between the world’s largest economies as the…

The US jobs market is on fire. Consumer spending is strong. And the economy is growing at a brisk pace. But there is a growing threat to that sunny economic backdrop: surging oil prices. US oil prices are rapidly approaching $90 a barrel. Global oil prices are flirting with $92 a barrel amid worries about a wider war in the Middle East. And this has lifted gasoline prices to their highest levels in five months. The risk is oil prices keep climbing, hurting consumer spending and undoing the meaningful progress on inflation. That could cause the Federal Reserve to delay interest…

China’s crisis-hit property market has been dealt a fresh blow as major real estate developer Shimao Group has been hit with a winding-up petition. State-owned China Construction Bank (Asia) filed the petition in Hong Kong over Shimao’s failure to repay loans worth HK$1.58bn ($201.8m; £159.7m). It is rare for a Chinese bank to take such legal action against one of the country’s developers. Similar cases against other property firms were launched by overseas-based creditors. Shimao said in a stock exchange filing it would “vigorously” oppose the lawsuit. Its shares, which have lost a third of their value since the start of the…

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk after the multi-billionaire said he would reactivate accounts on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the judge had ordered to be blocked. Mr Musk posted on the platform that the restrictions had been lifted because the court order was unconstitutional. He also called for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to “resign or be impeached”. If X fails to comply with the order, it will be fined 100,000 reais ($19,774; £15,670) a day. In his decision, Justice Moraes wrote that Mr Musk had launched a disinformation campaign against the Supreme Court. The…

A Houston-bound Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Southwest Airlines returned safely to Denver International Airport on Sunday after an engine cover fell off and struck the wing flap, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said it will investigate. In recorded air traffic control audio, one of the pilots said that “several passengers and flight attendants heard something loud hit the wing.” In a statement to CNN, Southwest said passengers would take another plane to Houston and would be approximately three hours behind schedule. “We apologize for the inconvenience of their delay but place our highest priority on ultimate…

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) says it is “considering multiple proposals” to host the event in 2026, amid continued uncertainty over its long-term future. Last week, Singapore joined Malaysia in ruling out a bid, after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew as the original host in July because of rising costs. However, in its first public statement since the news, the CGF said “significant progress had been made”, and it was “excited by the early concepts, which aim to reset and reframe the Games”. It claimed it was working with a number of Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) over “further detailed assessments”, with an aim…

Rwanda’s president said the international community “failed all of us”, as he marked 30 years since the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people. President Paul Kagame addressed dignitaries and world leaders who had gathered in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, to commemorate the bloodshed. “Rwanda was completely humbled by the magnitude of our loss,” he said. “And the lessons we learned are engraved in blood.” On this day in 1994, extremists from the Hutu ethnic group launched a 100-day killing spree, in which members of the Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates were slaughtered. The mainly Tutsi forces who took power following…

Airline regulators in the US have begun an investigation after an engine cowling on a Boeing 737-800 fell off during take-off and struck a wing flap. The Southwest Airlines flight returned safely to Denver International airport at about 08:15 local time (15:15 GMT) after originally departing to Houston. The aircraft had 135 passengers and six crew members on board and rose to about 10,300 feet (3,140m) before landing. The incident comes amid manufacturing and safety concerns at Boeing. Southwest Airlines said its maintenance teams would review the Boeing 737-800 after its cowling, which covers the plane’s engine, fell off. The…

New Zealand has tightened work visa rules in response to “unsustainable” migration levels, say authorities. Low-skilled applicants now have to fulfil English-language requirements and are allowed to stay on for three years – down from five previously. “Getting our immigration settings right is critical to this government’s plan to rebuild the economy,” said Immigration Minister Erica Stanford. A near-record 173,000 people migrated to New Zealand last year. Under the tightened rules, applicants for most work visas now have to fulfill minimum skills and work experience requirements. Authorities have also decided to axe earlier plans to add 11 roles, such as…

Two people have been arrested in Nigeria over an alleged sextortion attempt against an Australian schoolboy who took his own life. Australian police say the teenage victim had traded explicit images with a person online before they began making threats and demanding money. After a global investigation, the pair allegedly responsible were tracked down in Nigeria, where they will face court. Police say sextortion – particularly of young people – is dramatically rising. Details of the boy’s age or where he lived in New South Wales (NSW) have not been released publicly to protect his family’s privacy. New South Wales…