AVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Multiple threats to the global economy topped the worries of the world’s well-heeled at the annual Davos think-fest, with some flagging the risk of a worldwide recession. Political and business leaders gathering for the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet against a backdrop of inflation at its highest level in a generation in major economies including the United States, Britain and Europe. These price rises have undermined consumer confidence and shaken the world’s financial markets, prompting central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, the repercussions on oil and food markets of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February - which Moscow describes as a “special military operation” - and COVID-19 lockdowns in China with no clear end have compounded the gloom.

 

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BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese premier Li Keqiang has sent a congratulatory note to newly elected Australian leader Anthony Albanese, easing a years-long freeze in high-level contacts between the two countries. Relations between China and Australia have been shattered by a string of rows over human rights, espionage and the origins of Covid-19. But Li’s letter signaled a willingness to improve relations after Albanese’s election, in what is the most significant high-level contact between Beijing and Canberra in at least two years. “The Chinese side is ready to work with the Australian side to review the past, look into the future... to promote the sound and steady growth of their comprehensive strategic partnership,” Li said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency late Monday. Albanese said the letter was “welcome” and said he would “respond appropriately” when he returns from a summit of Quad leaders in Tokyo.

 

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SYDNEY (ABC News) -- The captain of a cargo ship has been charged over his role in the attempted smuggling of 320 kilograms of cocaine onto Western Australia’s shores. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the 51-year-old man from Montenegro carried cocaine, worth about $128 million, on a bulk shipping carrier called Interlink Veracity that he was in charge of. It’s claimed the man loaded the drugs onto the cargo vessel at an overseas port, then travelled into Australian waters. On May 14 the drugs, wrapped in plastic packaging, were dumped into the ocean about 28 kilometers off Port Hedland in WA’s north-west, police said. The packages were then retrieved by two men who had sailed out on a small boat. 

 

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- Flash floods in India’s northeastern state of Assam have killed at least 25 people and displaced over 650,000 from their homes in the past 10 days, officials said on Tuesday. Heavy monsoons are a yearly occurrence in Assam, resulting in flooding and landslides that force residents to flee their homes, often leaving behind their homes and belongings. The Brahmaputra River, one of the largest rivers in the world which flows from Tibet to India and finally into Bangladesh, burst its banks in Assam, inundating more than 1,800 villages in 26 districts this month. Parts of the railway network were devastated. Authorities have also set up 366 relief camps across 20 districts, providing temporary shelter for more than 95,000 people. Roads, homes, and buildings have been inundated by floodwaters in parts of the state. 

 

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BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday said the U.S., Britain and other foreign powers are seeking to sabotage its foreign relations by orchestrating criticism surrounding a trip by the top United Nations official for human rights. China has long held back the fact-finding mission led by Michelle Bachelet, focused on allegations of mass confinement, forced labor and compulsory birth control measures imposed on members of the Uyghur, Kazakh and other Muslim minorities. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin went on the offensive over such criticisms Tuesday, saying “the U.S., Britain and other Western countries have been repeatedly staging political farces around the UN high commissioner for human rights’ visit to China.” “They have first openly pressured and strongly demanded that the high commissioner visit China and Xinjiang, and conducted the so-called investigation with presumption of guilt,” Wang said at a daily briefing.

 

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BRASILIA (AFP) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday dismissed the president of state oil giant Petrobras, who had been in the job for only 40 days. Fuel prices in Brazil have increased more than 33 percent in the past year, according to official figures, driving annual inflation of more than 12 percent and hurting Brazilians’ wallets. Inflation is a central issue as the far-right Bolsonaro seeks re-election in October and trails leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the polls. Without giving specific reasons for the dismissal, the Ministry of Mines and Energy in a statement thanked Jose Mauro Coelho for his service but said: “Brazil is currently experiencing a challenging moment, due to the effects of the extreme volatility of hydrocarbons in international markets.” Coelho was appointed in April to finish the term of his predecessor, Joaquim Silva e Luna, and became the third Petrobras president to be dumped by Bolsonaro with fuel prices soaring.