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President-toppling Sri Lanka activist girds for new revolt
A Sri Lankan jail witnessed a rare moment of accord last year when both prisoners and guards clamoured to greet its newest inmate: the man who toppled the island nation's president. "Even the prison guards were very supportive.
A year after Sri Lanka unrest, Slave Island hungers
As Sri Lankans flocked to a jubilant street party celebrating their president's ouster, retired accountant Milton Perera sat at home pondering whether his family could afford to eat the next morning. The economic crisis had already forced Perera, his wife, his two children and their extended families to regularly skip meals when AFP first visited their home.
Musk predicts Tesla self-driving cars 'later this year'
Electric car giant Tesla is set to realise fully autonomous vehicles "later this year", CEO Elon Musk said Thursday, in the billionaire's latest forecast for the long-anticipated milestone. Musk has missed his own deadlines for a fully autonomous vehicle -- and Tesla's driver-assistance technology has provoked regulatory probes in the United States.
Asia tracks Wall St lower as Fed minutes warn of more hikes
Markets fell again in most of Asia on Thursday as traders resigned themselves to more US interest rate hikes after minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting showed officials felt more needed to be done to rein in inflation. "The minutes also show that this bias for further hikes is fuelled by an overriding concern over elevated price pressures and a tight labour market."
NGO accuses Chinese renewables firms of abuses in 18 countries
Chinese companies investing in minerals used in the renewable energy industry have been accused of more than 100 human rights and environmental abuses around the world since 2021, according to a report released on Thursday. The accusations concerned 39 Chinese companies, of which only seven have published human rights policies, according to the report.
Yellen heads to China as US seeks to stabilize ties
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is due to arrive in Beijing on Thursday, kicking off a high-level visit aimed at improving communication and stabilizing the tense relationship between the world's top two economies. Yellen's trip through Sunday will be her first to China as treasury secretary, and comes just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a rare visit to the country.
Final Ariane 5 blasts off amid Europe rocket crisis
Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts. The rocket's second-last launch was in April this year, blasting the European Space Agency's Juice spacecraft on its way to find out whether Jupiter's icy moons can host alien life.
Twitter rivals pile up with Meta's Threads launch
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter eight months ago, users irked by the platform's new regime have vowed to move their online presence elsewhere, though the habit has proved hard to break. Threads was for a brief period viewable online, revealing a platform used by a few thousand users, including Zuckerberg and other top executives, in what was clearly a test phase.
Meta launches Twitter rival Threads -- but not in Europe
Facebook behemoth Meta officially will launch Threads, its text-based rival to Twitter, on Wednesday -- but its release in Europe has been delayed over regulatory concerns.
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