Kathmandu / AFP Nepali opposition lawmakers filed a no-confidence motion on Wednesday against Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli after former rebel Maoists quit his coalition, triggering fresh political turmoil in the quake-hit nation. The former guerrillas announced on Tuesday that they were withdrawing support for Oli’s government, leaving his coalition without a majority. After Oli refused to resign, opposition ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan’s Emperor Akihito plans to abdicate in favour of his eldest son within a few years, Japanese media reported on Wednesday. The 82-year-old monarch has told those close to him that the role should be occupied by someone who can fulfil the emperor’s duties as stipulated in the constitution, public broadcaster NHK reported, without citing a ...

  Tehran / AFP Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers is holding a year after it was agreed but more needs to be done to ensure its full implementation, a top Iranian negotiator said on Wednesday. “The total process has been relatively satisfactory despite the difficulties that we see in the implementation,” Hamid Baeidinejad told a press conference in Tehran ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey has condemned as unacceptable an exhibition at the European Parliament on a Kurdish militia force in northern Syria, accusing the EU body of showing propaganda for a “terrorist” group. The exhibition in Brussels contains images from Syria of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group the West sees as allies in the fight ...

  WASHINGTON Can we get globalization right? It has emerged as an all-purpose scapegoat for our economic woes — lost jobs, depressed wages, large trade deficits, greater income inequality, anxieties about the future. The reality is otherwise: Although globalization is genuine, it’s been distorted and its ills exaggerated. I have written about this before, but because the issue is so ...

  Stronger Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai reflects the UAE economy is healthy and has weathered the storms of lower oil prices and the global economic slowdown. The General Index for Consumer Confidence in Abu Dhabi’s economic performance during Q1 of 2016 recorded about 115 points on average, which means consumers are positive about the ...

China’s claim of jurisdiction over pretty much the entire South China Sea boils down to this: Dudes, we’re back. That is, after a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign powers and 67 years of rebuilding since the Communists took power, the country is ready to reassert dominion over a body of water that has been in its sphere ...

  Whilst the brotherhood of European Union countries has shrunk by one, the community of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) states grew by two. Whilst it is by no means confirmed that India and Pakistan are full members of the regional security organization, their membership is all but assured as long as they are able to ratify the relevant documents through ...

  As Theresa May takes over as U.K. prime minister, her first job is to steer the British economy past the shock of Brexit. But almost as important is the largest rewiring of British foreign policy since World War II — including its relationship with its closest ally and former colony. May becomes the 12th head of government since Winston ...

  Mark Gilbert Have you heard? The platforms of London’s St. Pancras train station and the departure lounges of its airports are packed with anxious investment bankers, ordered by their employers to relocate following Brexit. Of course, that isn’t happening at all; the U.K. decision to leave the European Union hasn’t prompted an overnight exodus. But the banks that warned ...