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Stock market today: Asian shares turn lower after China economic data weaker than expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday even though the latest data showed China’s economy is weaker than expected, with domestic demand failing to bounce back as much as hoped for after the pandemic. Benchmarks advanced in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul but fell in Shanghai and Sydney.China’s economic recovery after the pandemic faces pressure from sluggish consumer and export demand, a government official said Tuesday, with retail sales and other activity in April weaker than expected.Retail sales rose 18.4% over a year earlier, up 7.8 percentage points from March, official data showed. Other indicators were mixed: Factory output rose 5.6% over a year ago but was off 0.5% from March. Investment in factories, real estate and other fixed assets was up 4.7% in the first four months of 2023, but that was off 0.4 percentage points from the first quarter’s growth rate.“Today’s activity data suggest China is mired in an extended soft patch,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a...

Official: China recovery faces pressure after April activity weaker than expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s economic recovery faces pressure from sluggish consumer and export demand, a government official said Tuesday, after retail sales and other activity in April were weaker than expected.Chinese activity accelerated while U.S. and European economic growth is cooling following interest rate hikes to extinguish inflation. But consumer spending, an important economic engine, is taking longer than expected to recover after most Chinese curbs on business activity and travel ended in December.“The recovery of demand is still insufficient,” said Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, at a news conference. “External demand has weakened” and exporters face a “complex and severe” environment.Growth in retail sales accelerated to 18.4% over a year earlier in April, official data showed, but that was below private sector expectations of up to 35%.Factory output rose 5.6% but was off 0.5 percentage points from March. Investment in factories, real esta...

Unsuccessful Republican candidate in Arizona attorney general race pushes for new trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — The Republican candidate who lost last year’s election for Arizona attorney general returns to court Tuesday to request a new trial in his efforts to overturn the results of the November contest. Attorneys for candidate Abraham Hamadeh were set to appear at an afternoon Superior Court hearing in Mohave County in Arizona’s northwestern corner to claim they have fresh evidence some votes were not tallied in the election won by Democrat Kris Mayes, who was sworn in early this year.Hamadeh wants Judge Lee Jantzen to allow a thorough inspection of all ballots in the election. The case is among several still alive in Arizona courts six months after an election that saw Democrats win the top races in the former Republican stronghold. Former TV anchor Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, also continues to challenge her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs, who took office in January, even though courts have dismissed most of her lawsuit. Lake m...

Youngest Kazakh MP: An inclusive society is an equal society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

Dinara Naumova (pictured), the youngest member of parliament of Kazakhstan, described the changes that have taken place in Kazakh society and politics since the January 2022 unrest, as well as what lies ahead for the future. Naumova took up her seat in the 98-member Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the bicameral parliament of Kazakhstan, following the 19 March election. The 25-year-old politician was born with cerebral palsy to parents who could not care for her, entrusting her to her grandmother. At 18, she dreamt of opening an inclusiveness centre in her village; by 24, it became a reality. The centre now provides services for children with mental and physical disabilities free of charge. She became a member of Respublica, a new political party, weeks before the elections, elected in the Akmola region. Naumova, who spoke to EURACTIV via Zoom in Russian, said that although she does not remember Soviet times, she knows that society did not care about those with disabilities. And there...

Kazakh president outlines defence sector priorities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

The Armed Forces of Kazakhstan must protect the fundamental values of peace and tranquility amid conflicts, President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at a 5 May expanded meeting on the development of the army, the Akorda press service reported, writes Saniya Sakenova in Nation.The role of the army has increased, the president stressed, noting that providing professional training and equipping it with modern weapons and advanced technologies are of paramount importance. Security forces must comply with the new requirements. With the establishment of the Special Operations Command, work is underway to improve the capabilities of the air assault troops, bolster territorial defense forces, form civil defense units and strengthen special forces units.“All this work must be completed in due course,” the President added.Photo credit: Akorda.Tokayev emphasized the role of the domestic military-industrial complex in the full-fledged rearmament and modernization of t...

Erdogan Arrested and Deported International Officials Observing Turkish Election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan swept up and jailed a team of international observers on hand to monitor election day activity in Turkey on Sunday, members of the team told The Intercept in a statement. Following a day-long detention – during which more than a dozen international elected officials and civil society representatives from Spain were placed in solitary confinement and refused bathroom breaks – the officials were escorted to the airport and flown out of the country, landing in Spain on Monday and Tuesday. The delegation had not been granted official observer accreditation by the Erdogan government, but were formally invited by the HDP, the leading Kurdish party and a key member of the opposition coalition. The election held on Sunday was the closest contest Erdogan has faced in the two decades he has been in power. Immediately, the opposition coalition, led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, charged election irregularities, zeroing in on what Kilicdaroglu said was an ext...

Chase Buford leaves Sydney Kings after back-to-back Australian NBL titles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — Chase Buford is leaving his role as head coach of the Sydney Kings after leading the club to back-to-back titles in Australia’s National Basketball League.The club released a statement Tuesday saying it won’t be taking up its option for Buford to return for a third season because the 34-year-old American couldn’t commit exclusively to the job. The Kings have supported Buford’s pursuit of a role in the NBA.“We wish nothing but the best for Chase. This is a difficult decision but one that is made from respect, to Chase and his ambitions, but also the best interests of the Sydney Kings,” Kings chairman Paul Smith said. “Chase has played a monumental role in the success of the club over the past two seasons.”Buford took over at the Kings in 2021 and helped the club break a 17-year title drought in his first season. He remained in charge for the successful title defense in 2022-23.The Kings will start an international search for a head coach to take over for the 2023-...

Dodgers win in 12th on bases-loaded walk, Muncy homers twice to regain major-league lead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor scored on a bases-loaded walk in the 12th inning, Max Muncy homered twice to move back into the major league lead, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins 9-8 on Monday night for their sixth straight win.Trayce Thompson drew a walk on a full count with the bases loaded count off Jorge López (1-1) to give Los Angeles the victory.Will Smith also went deep as the Dodgers led 6-3 thru seven innings before the game saw three ties and three lead changes in the final five innings.Minnesota’s Trevor Larnach hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning. Jorge Polanco had three hits, including a solo shot. Christian Vázquez also had three hits for the AL Central-leading Twins, who have dropped 11 straight to the Dodgers.Phil Bickford (1-1) picked up the win for the Dodgers, allowing one run in three innings.Minnesota trailed 6-3 in the eighth before Larnach tied it on a 2-2 fastball from Yency Almonte to right-center.David Peralta had an RB...

Taiwán concede el derecho de adopción a las parejas del mismo sexo, en su último paso hacia la igualdad matrimonial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

Taipei (CNN) — La asamblea legislativa de Taiwán aprobó este martes un proyecto de ley que concede a las parejas del mismo sexo el derecho a adoptar conjuntamente a un niño con el que ninguno de los dos tiene parentesco, despejando uno de los últimos obstáculos para lograr la plena igualdad matrimonial.Aunque Taiwán se convirtió en 2019 en la primera jurisdicción de Asia en legalizar el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo, la democracia isleña se quedó corta a la hora de conceder la plena igualdad de derechos de adopción a las parejas del mismo sexo. Anteriormente, solo las parejas heterosexuales y las personas solteras podían adoptar niños con los que no estuvieran biológicamente emparentados.Eso creaba una situación en la que si las parejas del mismo sexo querían adoptar a un niño, solo uno de ellos podía registrarse como padre legal del niño, incluso si ambos compartían la carga de criarlo.“Estoy muy contento de que hoy hayamos concedido el derecho de adopción co...

Rishi Sunak demands ECHR reform ahead of Council of Europe summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:12 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak will make the case for reforming the European Court of Human Rights’ power to arbitrarily block U.K. deportation flights, at a Council of Europe summit Tuesday.Ahead of his arrival in Iceland for the European summit — and a bilateral meeting with the court’s President Síofra O’Leary — No. 10 said that the British prime minister will say the “current international [migration] system is not working”. “We need to do more to cooperate across borders and across jurisdictions to end illegal migration and stop the boats,” Sunak will say, according to pre-released remarks.He will take aim at the Strasbourg court, which has used the Rule 39 regulation to block deportations to Rwanda since the U.K. unveiled its Rwanda scheme in 2022.Some of Sunak’s most hard-line Conservative backbenchers have made the case for withdrawing from the court, venting their fury at Strasbourg judges who they feel are a block on U.K. efforts to “stop th...