By David Ljunggren and Yew Lun Tian OTTAWA/BEIJING (Reuters) – Canada joined Australia, Britain and the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday, with China calling the boycotts “political posturing” and a sm…
Scholz takes over as German chancellor, ending Merkel era
By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) -Social Democrat Olaf Scholz became Germany’s chancellor on Wednesday, ending 16 years of conservative rule under Angela Merkel and launching his three-way coalition that has pledged to boost green investment and st…
LGBTQ groups cheer Tokyo’s same-sex partnership move as big step forward
By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese LGBTQ rights activists on Wednesday hailed Tokyo’s move to introduce a same-sex partnership system as a huge step in their fight for equality in the only G7 country that does not fully recognise same-sex marriag…
Australian government officials will not attend Beijing Olympics, PM says
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian government officials will not attend the Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing next year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, joining the United States with a diplomatic boycott of the event. Morrison said the…
U.S. officials to boycott Beijing Olympics over rights ‘atrocities’
By Steve Holland, Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina and Gabriel Crossley WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. government officials will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because of China’s human rights “atrocities”, the White House said on Monday,…
U.S. officials to boycott Beijing Olympics over rights ‘atrocities’
By Steve Holland, Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) -U.S. government officials will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because of China’s human rights “atrocities”, the White House said on Monday,…
As U.S. promotes democracy, China touts its own version
By Yew Lun Tian BEIJING (Reuters) – As U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to host more than 100 participants in the initial “Summit for Democracy”, China – which was not invited – has increasingly talked up the advantages of its own “whole-process democ…
Analysis-Japan keen to speed up digital yen launch as China adds geopolitical twist
By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s new political leadership is calling on the country’s financial bureaucrats to ramp up efforts toward issuing a digital currency, pointing to China’s far quicker progress as a potential challenge to the global e…
Ride on, baby: NZ politician cycles to hospital to give birth – for the second time
Green party MP Julie Anne Genter set off for the hospital while already in labour, and gave birth an hour laterNew Zealand MP Julie Anne Genter got on her bicycle early on Sunday and headed to the hospital. She was already in labour and she gave birth …
Biden says U.S. considering diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday, a move that would be aimed at protesting China’s human rights record, including what Was…