Posts by Amelia Frost
Head Of FDA’s Food Division Quits Over Job Cuts
WHITE OAK, MD – JULY 20: A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images Jim Jones, head of the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) food division, reportedly resigned on Monday, citing widespread layoffs that he believes will hinder…
Read MoreStiff And Guarded: US And Russia Face Off In Saudi Talks
Formal, tense and laced with distrust, the highly anticipated Saudi-hosted talks between the United States and Russia on Tuesday carried all the hallmarks of a major diplomatic showdown. The rare encounter marked a dramatic shift in US-Russia relations, following last week’s phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The…
Read MoreTurkey Arrests 282 Despite Reconciliation Bid With PKK
Turkey has detained 282 people in a nationwide swoop on those with suspected “terror” ties, the interior minister said Tuesday, despite a parallel government bid to end the bloody four-decade Kurdish conflict. Ankara is seeking to revive peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terror group by Turkey and its Western…
Read MorePhilippine Coast Guard Slams ‘Dangerous’ China Helicopter Manoeuvres
The Philippine Coast Guard condemned “dangerous” manoeuvres by a Chinese Navy helicopter Tuesday as it flew within three metres (10 feet) of a surveillance flight carrying a group of journalists over the contested Scarborough Shoal. An AFP photographer on the flight described seeing the helicopter tail the plane before drawing near the left wing, close…
Read MoreFAA Employee Firings Shake Up Air Travel As Trump Administration Targets Probationary Workers
The Trump administration has initiated the dismissal of several hundred Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, creating disruptions during a busy air travel weekend. The layoffs came just weeks after a deadly midair collision between an American Airlines jet and a US Army Blackhawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January. Transportation Secretary Sean…
Read MoreSouthwest Airlines To Cut 1,750 Jobs In First-Ever Mass Layoffs
Southwest Airlines announced on Monday that it will lay off 1,750 employees, or 15% of its corporate and leadership positions — marking the company’s first major layoffs in its 53-year history. The layoffs, set to begin in April, will affect 11 senior leadership roles, including vice presidents and higher-level executives, according to an official statement…
Read MoreIran Mulls Moving Capital To ‘Lost Paradise’ On Southern Coast
Faced with myriad problems including gridlocked traffic and a sinking earth surface in its current capital, Iran is considering a drastic solution — moving it to an altogether different location on the Gulf of Oman. Though the idea of moving the capital has cropped up on various occasions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the proposals…
Read MoreGerman ‘Bureaucracy Monster’ On Everyone’s Election Hit List
German politicians make a lot of laws and regulations but on the campaign trail many rage against the country’s notorious bureaucracy, labelling it a monster that needs to be slayed. Whatever else divides them, almost all candidates in the February 23 vote agree with the popular idea that Europe’s biggest economy needs to slash back…
Read MoreJapan To Allow Taiwan As Place Of Origin In Family Registry
Japan will allow people from Taiwan to list the island as their place of origin in the country’s family registry instead of China, a justice ministry official said Tuesday. When a Japanese citizen marries someone from overseas, the spouse’s nationality and name are recorded in the registry system that local governments must maintain by law.…
Read More‘They Knew’: Victims Of Paedophile French Surgeon Blame Systemic Failure
A French surgeon to stand trial over raping or sexually assaulting almost 300 patients, mostly children, practised for decades right up until his retirement despite a conviction for owning abusive images of children and colleagues sounding the alarm, an AFP investigation shows. Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, is already in jail after a court in 2020…
Read MoreTech Rally Helps Hong Kong Lead Asian Markets Higher
Hong Kong resumed its tech-led rally on a healthy day for Asian markets Tuesday as a meeting between President Xi Jinping and China’s top business leaders fanned hopes that a years-long crackdown on the private sector is coming to an end. The Hang Seng Index’s gains extended an impressive start to the year, with the…
Read MoreJapan Targets 60% Emissions Cut By 2035 From 2013 Levels
Japan set fresh climate targets on Tuesday, pledging to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent in the next decade from 2013 levels. Under the Paris Agreement, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure to the UN for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a detailed blueprint for how to achieve this.…
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