China accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday of making "wrong and thus regrettable" statements that were unhelpful for keeping the two countries' relationship "on the right track". . "That allegation is wrong and thus regrettable," the embassy said in a statement posted on its website.
India imposed a ban on many single-use plastics on Friday in a bid to tackle waste choking rivers and poisoning wildlife, but experts say it faces severe headwinds from unprepared manufacturers and consumers unwilling to pay more.. - Industry lobbying - Around half of India's regions have already sought to impose their own regulations but as the state of rivers and landfill sites testifies, success has been mixed.
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks Friday in Paris with Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, seeking to repair ties badly damaged by the ditching of a submarine contract.. It will be the first formal meeting between the Australian and French leaders since former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison ripped up in September last year a contract with France to build a dozen diesel-powered submarines.
The International Criminal Court marks its 20th anniversary on Friday, with the Ukraine war giving the tribunal new impetus after two decades of criticism and controversy.. The ICC is holding a special 20th anniversary conference on Friday to mark the occasion, with speakers including its current president Piotr Hofmanski and prosecutor Khan.
It is hard to come by but ever-present on the mind of average Argentines: the US dollar, whose value relative to the feeble peso is a barometer for an economy in crisis.. "The Argentine saves in dollars and when a crisis hits, he sells.
Jose Mario Licona and his family spent 18 hours in a refrigerated truck being smuggled to the Mexican-US border -- a journey he feels lucky to have survived.. "When you make a deal, the first thing you ask (the smugglers) is not to be put in a container, but during the journey they do what they want," Licona told AFP in a shelter in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
The US Justice Department will investigate the New York police agency that inspired the hit TV show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," over its treatment of sexual assault victims.. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is part of the wildly popular "Law & Order" TV franchise, and has been on air on NBC since 1999.
Ecuador's government and Indigenous leaders signed a deal Thursday to cut fuel prices and end cost-of-living protests that partly paralyzed Ecuador for 18 straight days.. The protesters called for fuel price cuts, jobs, food price controls and more public spending on healthcare and education. - $50 million per day - Talks started on Monday but were cut short the following day after the killing of a soldier the government blamed on protesters.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping was set to preside Friday over tightly choreographed celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain, with once annual demonstrations silenced and a massive security presence in force.. Friday also marks the halfway point of the 50-year governance model agreed by Britain and China under which the city would keep some autonomy and freedoms, known as One Country Two Systems.
A Bulgarian woman dubbed the "Crypto Queen" after she raised billions of dollars in a fraudulent virtual currency scheme was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list Thursday.. But on Thursday she was no longer on the list.
