HONG KONG – A move by China to shut the United States’ consulate-general in Hong Kong as a way to hit back at the US for booting out the Chinese counterpart in Houston would be akin to a nuclear option, political watchers said. Such an order would be devastating not just to Hong Kong, but […]
SHANGHAI (REUTERS) – Chinese regions as far apart as Sichuan in the southwest and Gansu in the northwest are at heightened risk of natural disasters in the coming days amid another round of torrential rain, the country’s weather bureau said on Thursday (July 23). Parts of the eastern coast, including the Bohai Bay region, Shandong […]
(Reuters) – European shares climbed on Thursday, as investors brushed off simmering U.S.-China tensions and focused on better-than-expected earnings reports from companies such as Unilever, Daimler and Publicis. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7%, with automakers .SXAP surging 3.4% after Germany’s Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) forecast a rise in operating profit at its Mercedes-Benz cars […]
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s communications and multimedia minister said on Thursday (July 23) that all individuals are required by law to have a licence for filming activities, raising a huge question of whether residents of the country are breaking the law every time they post videos on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Live and other social media […]
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The shake-up of the government’s Covid-19 task force was expected. The country has achieved little in its fight against the pandemic. Infections and deaths have doubled after a month of gradually reopening the economy. There have been more than 88,000 officially reported cases and 4,200 deaths, according to […]
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan proposed a second supplementary budget for 2020 worth T$210 billion ($7.13 billion) on Thursday to ease the impact of the coronavirus outbreak as the trade-reliant economy is expected to slow to a five-year low this year. Taiwan, whose largest trading partner is China, cut its estimate for 2020 economic growth to […]
SEOUL (REUTERS) – Barefoot and blonde, Swedish Ambassador Joachim Bergstrom makes an unlikely sight in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, as he practices yoga poses near some of its most iconic landmarks. One of the few Western diplomats who has not evacuated from North Korea amid coronavirus restrictions, Bergstrom has relied on yoga to endure the […]
Australia came tantalisingly close to eliminating its Covid-19 outbreak last month, but is now reimposing restrictions as it battles outbreaks in its two largest cities. The experience has created a fierce divide in Australia over whether to try to suppress or eliminate the virus. The federal government insists on “aggressive suppression”, saying that elimination is […]
MELBOURNE (BLOOMBERG) – Australia’s Victoria state recorded 403 new coronavirus cases as it struggles to stem a second wave that has put the city of Melbourne into lockdown. The daily tally announced on Thursday (July 23) followed a record 484 new cases announced the previous day in Victoria. There were five additional fatalities, State Premier […]
SYDNEY – Australia came tantalisingly close to eliminating its Covid-19 pandemic last month, but is now reimposing restrictions as it battles outbreaks in its two largest cities. The experience has prompted a fierce divide in Australia over whether to try to suppress or eliminate the virus. The federal government insists that its express aim is […]