SYDNEY: Australia on Monday (May 25) began the first hearings of a powerful inquiry into the causes of catastrophic bushfires that swept across the country, killing 33 people, destroying some 2,500 homes and razing an area the size of South Korea. Fuelled by three years of drought, which experts have […]
South Korean households are piling up debt for various reasons, from overspending on credit cards to unemployment to gambling losses. The programme Undercover Asia looks at the causes — and the effects. SEOUL: He was earning 620,000 won (S$710) a month, but Koo Young-gyu had four credit cards that gave […]
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a closed bar during the lockdown imposed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus in Cambrai, France. PARIS: French authorities reported the smallest daily rise in new coronavirus cases and deaths on Sunday (May 24) since before a lockdown began on Mar […]
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday (May 22) stepped up threats to strip Hong Kong of special trading privileges as it led Western nations in anger over China’s proposed national security law. US lawmakers are pressing for tough action over Hong Kong, which has become the latest front in soaring […]
LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to reduce Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported. Johnson has asked officials to make plans to reduce China’s involvement in British infrastructure to zero by 2023, the […]
WASHINGTON: The United States said on Friday (May 22) it would add 33 Chinese firms and institutions to an economic blacklist for helping Beijing spy on its minority Uighur population or because of ties to weapons of mass destruction and China’s military. The US Commerce Department’s move marked the Trump […]
GENEVA: South America has become “a new epicentre” of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said Friday (May 22), following a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections. “In a sense, South America has become a new epicentre for the disease. We have seen many South American countries […]
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Transportation Department said late Friday it had granted tentative approval to 15 airlines to temporarily halt service to 75 U.S. airports because of the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines must maintain minimum service levels in order to receive government assistance but many have petitioned to stop service to airports […]
BANGKOK: Thailand has given businesses another year to comply with a new personal data protection law due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their preparations. The Personal Data Protection Act became law in May last year with a one-year transition period. It was intended to imitate the European […]
WASHINGTON: A range of business groups have made an 11th-hour appeal to US President Donald Trump as he weighs whether to restrict temporary work visas, warning of negative economic consequences if he blocks the flow of skilled foreign workers into the United States. More than 300 US companies, business associations […]