World

Microsoft ponders TikTok deal
World

Microsoft ponders TikTok deal

News of potential acquisition comes as Trump tries to ban popular Chinese video app A man walks past a display featuring the TikTok logo at an IT fair in Hangzhou, China in November. (Reuters File Photo) Microsoft is reported to be exploring the possibility of buying TikTok’s operations in the United States, even as President Donald Trump vows to ban the wildly popular Chinese video app on security grounds. A deal would give the American software giant a popular social-media service and possibly relieve US government pressure on the Chinese owner of the app. The Trump administration has been weighing whether to direct China-based ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok’s US operations, according to several people familiar with the issue. Washington has been investigating potential nati
Suu Kyi readies to win ‘Covid election’
Politics, World

Suu Kyi readies to win ‘Covid election’

Suu Kyi readies to win 'Covid election' Myanmar's ruling party -- the National League for Democracy (NLD) -- is in the final stages of preparing for parliamentary polls scheduled for Nov 8. These elections have taken an unexpected turn, largely as a result of the pandemic sweeping the world. Now, the country's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appears destined to be returned to power, albeit with a reduced majority. With a little under four months before Myanmar goes to the polls, it already appears that this is less of an election and more of a "Covid election". The crisis has served Ms Suu Kyi and her NLD very well as it has reinforced the party's essential narrative that she is the saviour of the country and that no one can protect Myanmar and its people as she can. "Covid has change...
Students report abuse after showing three-finger salute
World

Students report abuse after showing three-finger salute

Students report abuse after showing three-finger salute Students show a three-finger salute at a school on Monday. (Photo from Facebook@TheReportersTH) Students in Bangkok and a number of provinces who on Monday showed symbols against dictatorship have reportedly been intimidated by school administration and men believed to be plainclothes police. A group, which calls itself the Association of Students in Thailand, started a campaign on Facebook urging students to show symbolic gestures against dictatorship by flashing a three-finger salute while singing the national anthem loudly on Monday morning before classes. Students in at least 10 schools joined the campaign. Some also tied white ribbons on their bodies or belongings. The schools were in Bangkok, Ratchaburi, Songkhla, Udon Thani...
Green recovery
World

Green recovery

The streets of the city have roared back to life, rush hours are a thing once more and the busyness of Bangkok has returned. On one hand, it's great that everything seems to be coming back to normal. On the other hand, everything's back to normal, which means we're going to have to deal with traffic, crowds and pollution once more. Seasoned Bangkokians know how to deal with the ups and downs the city has, of course, but whether you've been living here for a while now or you're a newbie to the streets of the Big Mango, we all need a breather once a while. I meant that both figuratively and literally since the busy polluted streets may have you longing for fresh air. One option would be a quick weekend beach getaway to get some sea air in your lungs, but if you prefer places that aren't a t...
Why Ecuador was angered by a Chinese flotilla near its waters
World

Why Ecuador was angered by a Chinese flotilla near its waters

At the end of July, Ecuador was on alert as a flotilla of 260 Chinese fishing vessels was sighted near the Galapagos archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whose aquatic species such as manta rays and sharks have been endangered by commercial fishing.Every year, Ecuador faces the challenge of protecting its natural habitat from Chinese vessels.Ecuador’s Defence Minister said the situation is repeated every year, when ships reach the outer limit of the archipelago, outside the country’s exclusive zone.The flotilla, which also consisted of some Liberia and Panama-flagged vessels, was detected in an international water corridor situated between two areas of Ecuadorian jurisdiction – 200 miles away from both the Galapagos Islands and mainland Ecuador.In 2019, 245 Chinese fishing vessels we
Japanese report receiving mysterious seed parcels from China
World

Japanese report receiving mysterious seed parcels from China

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, some Japanese nationals have complained that they have received unsolicited mysterious seed parcels that appear to be coming from China.Plant quarantine officials in Japan have had a number of inquiries about unsolicited packages of seeds apparently sent from China. The authorities have urged people not to plant such seeds.A man in Miura City in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo received a silver packet containing a bag of dozens of seed-like objects, each measuring about 2 millimeters. The shipping label suggests it came from China, national media reported.Officials at the Yokohama Plant Protection Station say they have been contacted by people across the country about suspicious seed shipments since late July.Similar incidents have been reported in more than 2...
Rajapaksa sworn in as PM in Sri Lanka, cementing family rule
World

Rajapaksa sworn in as PM in Sri Lanka, cementing family rule

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time Sunday after his party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections that cemented his family’s hold on power. Rajapaksa took oath before his younger brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at a prominent Buddhist temple on the outskirts of the capital Colombo. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the island nation’s president from 2005 to 2015 and is highly popular among the ethnic majority Sinhalese for ending the country’s 25-year civil war against Tamil rebels in 2009. He was first elected prime minister in 2004 and again appointed for brief periods in 2018 and 2019. Sri Lanka People’s Front — the party led by the Rajapaksa brothers — won 145 seats in the 225-me
Facebook stirs anger, abandons drilling gear on Oregon coast
World

Facebook stirs anger, abandons drilling gear on Oregon coast

TIERRA DEL MAR, Ore. - Facebook’s effort to build a landing site in a village on the Oregon coast for a fiber optic cable linking Asia and North America has run into serious trouble. First, a drill pipe snapped under the seabed. Workers left 1,100 feet of pipe, 6,500 gallons of drilling fluid, a drill tip and other materials under the seabed as they closed down the site, aiming to try again next year. And then the Facebook subsidiary waited seven weeks before telling state officials about the abandoned equipment, according to the Oregon Department of State Lands. Homeowners in Tierra del Mar, which has around 200 houses, no stoplights or cellphone service, had opposed the project from the start, pointing out that it’s zoned residential and that having a cable landing site threatened the
Banks snared by Hong Kong sanctions laws as US-China spat spirals
World

Banks snared by Hong Kong sanctions laws as US-China spat spirals

Banks snared by Hong Kong sanctions laws as US-China spat spirals HSBC has become the canary in the coalmine with regards to the new Hong Kong law, and analysts warn companies might have to eventually choose between the city or the United States. HONG KONG: International banks in Hong Kong are caught in the crossfire of competing laws enacted by the United States and China as the superpowers clash over the city's future, with analysts warning businesses are being forced to pick a side. Lawyers working for the lenders have been busy. Their clients have grown increasingly alarmed by two pieces of legislation that came into effect last month that could radically alter how they do business in the semi-autonomous city. The first is a bipartisan US bill sanctioning Chinese and Hong Kong offi...
Asia Today: China, SKorea, Japan see upticks in virus cases
Asia, World

Asia Today: China, SKorea, Japan see upticks in virus cases

BEIJING - China reported more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday as the country continues to battle an outbreak in Xinjiang. The 101 new cases was China’s highest daily increase in weeks. The northwestern region of Xinjiang accounted for 89, with another eight in the northeastern province of Liaoning and one in Beijing. Another three cases were brought from outside the country by returning Chinese citizens. Outside of Xinjiang, the virus has been largely contained in mainland China with the death toll from COVID-19 remaining at 4,634 among 84,060 cases registered since the pandemic first emerged from the central city of Wuhan late last year. Hospitals are treating 482 people for the disease, with another 274 in isolation while being monitored for showing signs of infection or f