Author: Press Room

China will likely moderately step up fiscal and monetary policy, but it does not necessarily benefit other countries as much as during the global financial crisis. The massive stimulus package at that time was 4 trillion yuan, equivalent to 11 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008. It was a big boost to China’s domestic demand mainly through credit expansion and infrastructure investment but with a cost of higher government debt. Other countries benefited as China imported more goods and commodities, cushioning the global shock in demand. Things are different this time for two reasons. First, the Chinese government is…

new video loaded: Starmer Vows to Assemble ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to Help UkrainetranscriptBacktranscriptStarmer Vows to Assemble ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to Help UkrainePrime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said he would work with other European leaders to develop a plan for ending the war in Ukraine. They hope the effort will win the backing of President Trump.“Through my discussions over recent days, we’ve agreed that the U.K., France and others will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. Then we’ll discuss that plan with the United States and take it forward together. We will go further…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with King Charles III, the country’s head of state, on Monday where he will discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state.The king has come under criticism in Canada for being silent about Trump’s threats to annex Canada.Trudeau said in London on Sunday he will discuss matters of importance to Canadians with Charles and said “nothing seems more important to Canadians right now than standing up for our sovereignty and our independence as a nation.”Charles is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia, according to a current official and two former officials briefed on the secret instructions. The move is apparently part of a broader effort to draw President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into talks on Ukraine and a new relationship with the United States.Mr. Hegseth’s instructions, part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia, have not been publicly explained. But they were issued before President Trump’s public blowup in the Oval Office with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday.The precise scope and duration…

With about two weeks left of winter, Alberta’s wildfire season – and funding for fire preparedness – have already begun. The province’s wildfire season officially begins on March 1 and runs until Oct. 31. According to provincial numbers, Alberta kicked off the season with 10 active wildfires, down from 60 at the same time last year.This week’s Alberta budget had $7.5 billion allocated over three years for municipal infrastructure support, which included $47 million for wildfire management for communities. Broken down, it includes $22 million for wildfire enhancements, $19 million for a facility upgrade program and $6 million for management…

This is going to hurt.The pragmatist in Sydney coach Dean Cox is never one to waste time with pretence.”I said that to the players. Pre-Christmas, I said, this is going to be clunky,” Cox told AAP.”It’s going to not feel right at times. We’re going to get exposed, and I don’t know when it’ll all gel.”Figuring out how to guide an AFL team after a heartbreaking grand final loss as a first-year coach can be a bit like that.Even more so when the team had also been belted in a grand final only two years previously, and have lost four…

BERLIN: German election winner Friedrich Merz’s conservatives and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) held “open and constructive” talks towards forming a coalition, a joint statement said on Friday (Feb 28) without giving details. Parliamentary arithmetic means the centre-left SPD is the most likely ally to help Merz’s conservatives form a new governing majority, but there is ill-feeling between the parties after a bruising election campaign. Investors are watching what price the SPD will demand to join a government and whether parties will agree to a massive new defence fund and reforms to borrowing limits known as the “debt…

Firefly says it is the first private company to make a ‘fully successful’ soft landing on the moon.Firefly Aerospace, a United States-based private space company, has successfully landed its Blue Ghost spacecraft on the moon for a two-week research mission amid a race between a handful of private firms. The touchdown took place at 3:35am US East Coast time (08:35 GMT) on Sunday in the Mare Crisium region, a prominent lunar basin visible from Earth. Firefly becomes the second private firm to achieve a moon landing with the company declaring itself the first to make a “fully successful” soft landing.…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked “emergency authorities” to bypass Congress and send $4 billion in weapons to Israel, the second time in a month that the Trump administration has skirted the process of congressional approval for sending arms to the country.Mr. Rubio did not explain in a statement announcing the decision on Saturday why he was using an emergency authority. He said only that the Trump administration would “continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”State Department officials told the two congressional committees in the House…

A senior military leader of the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, was killed in a precision airstrike in Syria carried out by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, according to a press release.Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay was killed in an airstrike that CENTCOM says is part of its efforts to “disrupt and degrade” terrorists’ plans to harm civilians or military personnel from the U.S. and its allies. CENTCOM announced on March 1 that it had killed Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, a senior leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din. (CENTCOM)TRUMP CONGRATULATES US MILITARY AFTER AIRSTRIKE THAT KILLED OFFICIAL OF AL-QAEDA…