Author: ALJAZEERA

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Chinese tourists are returning to Malaysia en masse after the COVID-19 pandemic slump, industry figures say, amid expectations arrivals could reach pre-pandemic levels this year following the introduction of visa-free entry. Mint Leong, president of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, estimated that arrivals rose to 60,000 in January, up from about 45,000 last year, and as high as 120,000 in February during the Lunar New Year period. “Chinese New Year will be the best arrivals post-COVID-19,” Leong told Al Jazeera. Leong said he expects Chinese arrivals to reach 3.5-4.5 million this year, with the average tourist…

Security Council expected to vote on Friday on US-drafted ceasefire resolution with talks to continue in Qatar.The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote as soon as Friday on a United States-drafted resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as the European Union called for a “humanitarian pause”, adding to the pressure on Israel to end its five-month-long bombardment of the Palestinian territory. Washington, Israel’s staunchest ally, has been gradually hardening its tone following its early solid support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war in Gaza. The latest draft resolution marks a further toughening of Washington’s…

San Francisco-based social media platform’s shares close at $50.44 in long-awaited initial public offering.Shares of Reddit soared nearly 50 percent as the social media platform made its long-awaited stock market debut. Investors pushed Reddit’s value close to $9bn after it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, with the company’s share price peaking at $57.80 before closing at $50.44. Reddit, founded in 2005 by entrepreneurs Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, had priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $34 a share. The strong market debut makes Reddit’s IPO one of the biggest by a social media company…

NewsFeedUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire is the best way to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. He spoke in Cairo following a meeting with Arab leaders that focused on a truce deal between Israel and Hamas as well as the release of captives.Published On 21 Mar 202421 Mar 2024 Source link

Department of Justice is joined by 15 states and the District of Columbia in alleging that Apple stifles competition.The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a landmark civil antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant Apple, alleging that the company has stifled competition to boost its revenues and illegally monopolize the US smartphone market. The 88-page suit was filed Thursday in a New Jersey federal court with 16 state and district attorneys general joining the DOJ. At issue is Apple’s most popular product, the iPhone, which is the linchpin of the company’s $2.7 trillion valuation. With more than a…

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that only the expansion of land crossings for aid deliveries into Gaza could help prevent famine in the densely populated Palestinian enclave. “Recent efforts to deliver food by air and sea are welcome, but only the expansion of land crossings will enable large scale deliveries to prevent famine,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. Children are dying from the effects of malnutrition and disease, and from a lack of adequate water and sanitation, Tedros said. “The future of an entire generation is in serious peril,” he said. “Once again,…

Political parties trade blame for economic slump that follows aggressive interest rate hikes to tame inflation.New Zealand has slipped into its second recession in less than 18 months, according to government figures. New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.1 percent during the October-December period, following a 0.3 percent contraction in the third quarter, New Zealand’s official statistics agency said on Thursday. On a per capita basis, the economy fared even worse, with GDP shrinking 0.7 in the last quarter of 2023, according to government figures. Economists traditionally define a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The…

EXCLUSIVEInvestigation draws up a list of those killed in Hamas attack, but also finds certain claims repeated by Israeli politicians untrue.Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has carried out a forensic analysis of the events of October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an incursion into Israel that has transformed the politics of the Middle East. October 7 reveals widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the fence from the Gaza Strip and draws up a comprehensive list of those killed. But the investigation by the I-Unit, which examined hours of footage from CCTV, dashcams, personal…

Taichung, Taiwan – When Hao Pengfei retired last year, it felt nothing like he had expected it would when he was a younger man. “I used to think that retirement is more about relaxation and hobbies and less about stress and concerns,” Hao told Al Jazeera from his home in China’s eastern city of Nanjing. Hao worked as an administrator in a state-owned manufacturing company until he turned 60 last year. Although Hao would have liked to continue working, he was mandated by company policy to retire at 60. But Hao did not stay retired for long. With mortgage payments,…

Amman, Jordan/sky above Gaza – A hulking military cargo plane sits on the tarmac of a Royal Jordanian Air Force base in the early morning light. Two maintenance engineers unlock a compartment in the aircraft’s fuselage and disappear behind a metal hood that shelters a complex nest of wires. The two men, who graduated together from the military academy five years ago, chat with warm familiarity as they perform final preflight checks. Two Jordanian cargo planes will take off for an aid airdrop over Gaza around midday, followed by four other aircraft from Germany, Egypt and the United States. They…