BEIRUT / AP Kurdish-led Syrian fighters have launched a new advance on the northern town of Manbij, a key IS stronghold, with the aid of US-led airstrikes, a spokesman for the fighters and a monitoring group said on Wednesday. The United Nations meanwhile said it was looking into “every possible means” to deliver life-saving aid to besieged Syrians now ...

  Kampala / AFP Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye’s treason trial began on Wednesday with the prosecutor saying he could not be brought to court for security reasons. Besigye, who claimed fraud after coming second in February’s presidential election, was arrested last month for holding a mock swearing-in ceremony and charged with treason. He is being held at the maximum ...

London / AFP A coroner on Wednesday ordered a re-examination of the deaths of 21 people in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, one of Britain’s worst ever terror attacks, after claims that police failed to act on two warnings. Coroner Louise Hunt ordered new inquests for the victims killed in the twin attacks, which were widely blamed on the Provisional ...

WASHINGTON Hong Kong television commentator Wu Jun observed recently that despite Donald Trump’s anti-Beijing rhetoric, he “could in fact be the best president for China.” The Chinese analyst is right: A Trump presidency could open the way for China’s strategic dominance in Asia and elsewhere. Wu’s comment was focused on Trump’s mercantilist style, evoking a world in which Trump and ...

  Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) stern caution on Wednesday is another fresh warning that the global economy could slip into recession if the top and emerging economies do not step up spending on development. The wariness follows weak recovery since the global economic crisis in 2008 and signs of global economic growth slowdown sparked by poor performance ...

  Dingding Chen SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter recently made some controversial comments about China’s actions in the Asia-Pacific, especially the South China Sea, saying that China is “erecting a great wall of self-isolation” there. Not surprisingly, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying refuted Carter’s comments by referring to them as reflective of a ‘Cold War’ ...

While some parts of Asia are setting the pace for the global Internet, other areas are being left far behind. For example, while Indonesia may have over 90 million people on the Internet, this number is far short of the true potential in a country with a population of over 250 million. The “digital divide” is real and it encompasses ...

Each time the European Union’s sanctions against Russia come up for renewal, there’s speculation that some countries might break ranks and vote against the trade and financing restrictions. There will probably be no deserters this time around either; but a softening of the sanctions is on the cards in the near future. In December, the sanctions, which include travel bans ...

  Eric Mack SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS Last year, a survey of 1,000 20-somethings worldwide found young adults most admire Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis among public figures. But the name coming in third on that list wasn’t Barack Obama or a historical figure like Gandhi, both of whom appear further down in the poll results. The man who ranks ...

  South Korea is faced with periodic environmental disasters in the form of pollution blowing from China. In the winter, the source is typically excessive burning of coal used in China for heating. In the spring, yellow dust from the deserts of northern China and Mongolia are blown across Northeast Asia, picking up soot and carcinogens from China-based industrial processes ...