POLITICS

Analysts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seems to genuinely dislike the allied drills, and particularly the involvement of U.S. stealth fighters.

Some of the cuts will come from capital markets teams in Hong Kong and mainland China, and most of the rest are expected to be from other teams focusing on China business, both onshore and offshore, the third source said.

"We have grown increasingly concerned about the potential as these months have gone on," said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

In her first international trip since taking office, Meloni meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council chief Charles Michel and European Parliament speaker Roberta Metsola.

The defence ministry justified the resumption by saying it had received guarantees from Ukraine that it would not use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia.

It was under Netanyahu's government that Israel normalised relations in 2020 with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and Morocco.

"President-elect Lula is committed," Kerry told reporters in Washington, pointing to Lula's efforts as president in the century's first decade on the environment.

White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told a virtual briefing that North Korea was attempting to obscure the shipments by funneling them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Twitter users have been watching closely to see whether Musk will reinstate Trump, banned for inciting last year's attack on the Capitol by a mob seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and other deplatformed users.

Activists say dozens have been killed and thousands arrested in a crackdown by the security forces who have been accused of firing on protesters at close range, bludgeoning them with batons and other abuses.

The Ukrainians have been trying to press a more recent counteroffensive past the Russian positions into areas around the Crimea peninsula the Kremlin seized in 2014.

The Ukrainians launched a lightning counteroffensive in September that cleared the Russians out of lands east of the 1.4-million-strong northern city of Kharkiv.

The advice was made by Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a pre-recorded interview that was broadcast to a summit being held in Hong Kong.

China is the last major economy committed to a zero-Covid strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to stamp out emerging outbreaks.

South Korea said in October that a new nuclear test would face an "unparalleled" response from the allies - but it's unclear what measures would not retread old ground.

Stellantis China Jeep joint venture to file for bankruptcy

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa sent a message of condolences to South Korea following the Halloween tragedy in Seoul in which 154 people were killed.

Held under Czech, Ukrainian, EU and NATO flags, the "Czechia against fear" rally brought together participants from both countries to the iconic Wenceslas Square.

"I'm not going to COP27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited," she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London's Southbank Centre.

The United States and South Korea began one of their largest combined military air drills on Monday, with hundreds of warplanes from both sides staging mock attacks 24 hours a day for the better part of a week.

In contrast to mainland China where crypto has been all but banned, Hong Kong is looking to relax regulations and claw back some of the business that has left.

"Ours is not a political calendar," but "we would like to finalise our investigation before two years," said interim ombudswoman Kholeka Gcaleka, whose office is known as the Public Protector.

Sweden conducts new Nord The new inspection comes as Sweden's navy and the owner of the pipeline Nord Stream AG both announced earlier this week that they were conducting their own inspections of the burst pipelines.

The clerical state has been gripped by six weeks of protests that erupted when Amini, 22, died in custody after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress rules for women based on Islamic sharia law.

A triple blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian airspace closure and high fuel prices has taken its toll on the airline, which announced a new strategy last month in order to return to profitability.

The storm unleashed flash floods carrying uprooted trees, rocks and mud overnight in mainly rural communities around Cotabato, a city of 300,000 people on Mindanao island.

"Yes, we would go to 2023 with sufficient financial support for Ukraine," Georgieva told AFP on the sidelines of a conference organised by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

A second activist glued their hand to the wall next to the 1665 work by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer, and an unidentified liquid was thrown, the Mauritshuis museum said.

Amazon's stock tumbled 17% after the bell, wiping out $190 billion in market capitalization after the retail and technology heavyweight projected a holiday slump that would leave current-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates.