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THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Riot police fired tear gas Friday at farmers attempting to block the main access road to the international airport in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, as protests escalated over delays in the payment of European Union-backed agricultural subsidies.Irate farmers have deployed thousands of tractors and other agricultural vehicles at border crossings and key points along highways across the country, periodically stopping traffic and threatening to completely blockade the roads, as well as airports and ports. Police are enforcing traffic diversions in several parts of northern and central Greece to skirt the blockades, while farmer roadblocks at the…

The last time Sugeng Widodo spoke to his wife, Indonesian domestic worker Sri Wahyuni, something did not feel right for him.It was around 1pm Hong Kong time on November 26, just a few hours before a devastating fire would rip through Wang Fuk Court in the city’s Tai Po district, killing at least 159 people.Wahyuni, 42, would be among the dead – her body found in a room on a fourth-floor flat at the estate, hugging her employer, a 93-year-old woman, according to Widodo, citing information provided to him by Hong Kong’s police.“Usually, we would speak for around 30 minutes…

Sun Hung Kai Properties’ (SHKP) luxury residential projects in North Point and Mid-Levels have attracted well-heeled buyers, including a granddaughter of Hang Seng Bank’s co-founder, who snapped up a flat for HK$72 million (US$9.3 million), according to official records.Magdalene Ho Mai-ting bought the flat in Dynasty Court in Mid-Levels, one of Hong Kong’s upmarket neighbourhoods, according to Land Registry records, which showed the deal was registered on Wednesday.Ho is the granddaughter of entrepreneur and philanthropist Ho Sin-hang, one of the founders of Hang Seng Bank, one of Hong Kong’s largest banks, according to local media.The 1,806 sq ft, three-bedroom flat…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration set forth a new national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The document released Friday by the White House is sure to roil long-standing U.S. allies in Europe for its scathing critiques of their migration and free speech policies, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and raising doubts about their long-term reliability as American partners.It reinforces, in sometimes chilly and bellicose terms, Trump’s “America First” philosophy, which favors nonintervention overseas, questions decades of strategic relationships and prioritizes U.S. interests…

NEW DELHI: India’s government is reviewing a telecom industry proposal to force smartphone firms to enable satellite location tracking that is always activated for better surveillance, a move opposed by Apple, Google and Samsung due to privacy concerns, according to documents, emails and five sources. A fierce privacy debate erupted in India this week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was forced to rescind an order requiring smartphone makers to preload a state-run cyber safety app on all devices after activists and politicians raised concerns about potential snooping. For years, the Modi administration has been concerned its agencies do not…

A steep increase in hardware component costs will raise the overall prices of personal computers, laptops, tablets, and other devices globally. This is likely to affect the spending capacity of individuals and businesses across Pakistan, and may even slow down digital adoption across the country. Globally, demand for major hardware parts used in computers and related devices, including Random Access Memory (RAM) and Solid-State Drives (SSDs), is rising significantly due to the installation of these components in AI-based data centres. As a result, the prices of RAM and SSDs surged by 100% and 500% in 2025 and are expected to…

Deterrence to prevent war in the Indo-Pacific is important to the “America first” strategy and rebalancing economic relations with China, the US said in a national security document released on Friday.The White House said in the latest National Security Strategy (NSS) report that the US would prioritise reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence.Such a policy must be “accompanied by a robust and ongoing focus on deterrence to prevent war in the Indo-Pacific”, the report said.“A favourable conventional military balance remains an essential component of strategic competition,” it said.“There is, rightly, much focus on Taiwan, partly because Taiwan provides…

Country Garden Holdings has cleared a major hurdle this week after securing approval for both its onshore and offshore restructuring plans, offering the embattled developer a lifeline amid mainland China’s property downturn.Sources said the Hong Kong High Court on Thursday endorsed a proposal allowing the indebted developer, once the country’s largest homebuilder by sales, to extend repayment of US$17.7 billion in offshore debt. The creditors now have the option to swap their debt for shares, receive convertible bonds or accept new notes.The company also disclosed that onshore bondholders had agreed to extend nine bonds worth 13.8 billion yuan (US$1.95 billion)…

AD Ports Group, a UAE-based logistics company, announced on Friday that Karachi Gateway Terminal Multipurpose Limited (KGTML), part of Noatum Ports, the international ports operating arm of AD Ports Group, and Louis Dreyfus Company Pakistan (Private) Limited, a subsidiary of leading global merchant and agricultural goods processor Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), has inked a long-term commercial agreement to develop and operate a modern clean bulk handling and storage facility for agricultural goods at Karachi Port. Under the agreement, KGTML will invest in the design and construction of a highly efficient, food-grade clean bulk facility, including a handling and conveyor system…

Lights on in skyscrapers and commercial buildings on the skyline of the City of London, UK, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. U.K. business chiefs urged Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to ease energy costs and avoid raising the tax burden on corporate Britain as she prepares this year’s budget. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesEurope-listed shares are set for a broadly higher open on Friday, with next week’s Federal Reserve policy decision in focus. Futures tied to the pan-European Stoxx 50 were last seen trading around 0.2% higher. Those tied to London’s FTSE 100 were marginally higher, while DAX and CAC…