SEOUL (REUTERS) – South Korea suspended free flu shots on Tuesday (Sept 22) after reports of problems in storing the vaccinations during transportation, disrupting plans to pre-emptively ease the burden on a healthcare system already strained by coronavirus outbreaks. The country, which has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases since August, planned to procure 20 […]
HONG KONG (REUTERS) – Hong Kong’s Disneyland said on Tuesday (Sept 22) it will reopen on Friday to a reduced number of visitors and limited days, with enhanced health measures after the latest wave of coronavirus infections forced it to close again in mid July. Hong Kong relaxed more coronavirus restrictions last week, including reopening […]
Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has lambasted bad bureaucracy, rent-seeking and systematic inefficiency in Indonesia’s state-owned companies. Speaking on YouTube channel Poin, which has more than 1 million subscribers, Mr Basuki, who is popularly known by his Chinese nickname Ahok, expressed his frustration with the management of state-owned oil company Pertamina for using loans […]
SHANGHAI (REUTERS) – A deal China’s ByteDance has struck with Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc over the future of its video-streaming app TikTok is unlikely to receive Chinese government approval, state-backed newspaper Global Times said in an editorial. ByteDance has said it will create a US subsidiary partly owned by US majors Oracle and Walmart […]
KATHMANDU (AFP) – A famed Nepali Everest climber nicknamed “snow leopard” for his record of summiting the world’s highest mountain a record 10 times without bottled oxygen has died aged 72, officials said on Monday (Sept 21). Ang Rita Sherpa collapsed at his daughter’s home in Kathmandu, his close friend and Nepal Mountaineering Association president, […]
SYDNEY (REUTERS) – The Australian operation of Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said it would continue to cut staff numbers and investment in the country amid strained relations between Beijing and Canberra. In 2018, Australia banned Huawei from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network citing national security risks, a move the […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The coronavirus pandemic will darken the U.S. long-term fiscal outlook for decades to come, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday, releasing new forecasts that show federal government debt in 2050 will be nearly twice U.S. economic output. Without changes to tax and spending laws, the federal debt held by the public […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The coronavirus pandemic will darken the U.S. long-term fiscal outlook for decades to come, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday, releasing new forecasts that show federal government debt in 2050 will be nearly twice U.S. economic output. Without changes to tax and spending laws, the federal debt held by the public […]
SINGAPORE – Australia’s recent bush fire crisis caused nearly A$2 billion (S$1.98 billion) in smoke-related health costs, from premature deaths to emergency admissions for asthma, researchers say, a record for any fire season in the country and a pointer to future health costs as the planet heats up. The fires burnt about 8 million ha […]
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Indonesia’s lawmakers have started to deliberate the controversial family resilience Bill as lawmakers behind the planned legislation, deemed by critics to interfere with citizens’ privacy, submitted it to the House’s legislation body (Baleg) on Monday (Sept 21). Lawmaker Netty Prasetiyani of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) highlighted in […]