TOKYO: When torrential rain flooded his scenic neighbourhood in western Japan, Kentaro Oishi had no hesitation: He jumped in the inflatable normally used for taking tourists white-water rafting and paddled off to rescue stranded locals. The 50-year-old and his three fellow rafters, who usually take holidaymakers on a white-knuckle ride […]
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WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s government said on Tuesday (Jul 7) it has released the first instalment of a NZ$265 million (US$174 million) funding package to help the local sports industry cope with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports Minister Grant Robertson said much of the initial NZ$80 million tranche […]
WELLINGTON: New Zealand police and security services were warned of a threat against another mosque for the same day that a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch in 2019, an Islamic women’s group told an inquiry into the shooting on Tuesday (Jul 7). The Islamic Women’s Council of New […]
LONDON: Arsenal are in talks with Real Madrid over keeping Dani Ceballos at the club, with the playmaker’s loan deal due to expire soon, manager Mikel Arteta has said. Ceballos, who joined Arsenal in July last year, missed over two months with a hamstring injury but scored in stoppage time […]
SYDNEY: Australia’s second-most populated state Victoria is considering a four-week lockdown after recording the biggest one-day surge in new COVID-19 cases, The Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday (Jul 7). The number of COVID-19 cases in the Victorian capital of Melbourne has surged in recent days, prompting authorities to enforce strict […]
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s police have been granted vastly expanded powers to conduct warrantless raids and surveillance – as well as issue Internet takedown notices – under Beijing’s new national security law. The announcement comes as major tech companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter said they were suspending requests from […]
SYDNEY: Australian officials scrambled on Tuesday (Jul 7) to implement a travel permit system before closing the busy border between its two most populous states to contain a coronavirus outbreak in the city of Melbourne. The state line between New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, which is highly porous and […]
TAIPEI: The imposition of a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong has sent chills through Taiwan, deepening fears that Beijing will focus next on seizing the island. China and Taiwan split in 1949 after nationalist forces lost a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists, fleeing to the island which […]
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration on Monday (Jul 6) released the names of hundreds of thousands of businesses which took money from a high-profile US$660 billion pandemic aid programme, letting the public see for the first time how the majority of the cash was spent and whether it helped save jobs. […]
FILE PHOTO: Facebook, Google and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photo from Reuters files. SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook, Google, and Twitter suspended processing government requests for user data in Hong Kong, they said on Monday (Jul 7), following China’s establishment of a sweeping new national security law for […]