World

Celebrity news: Spike Lee’s David Byrne concert film opens TIFF
2Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Celebrity news: Spike Lee’s David Byrne concert film opens TIFF

Spike Lee’s film of David Byrne’s Broadway show “American Utopia” will open this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10. Lee filmed the Scottish-American musician, a founding member of the band Talking Heads, and 11 other musicians in a theatrical concert that ran in New York from last October to February. Jacquelene Acevedo of Toronto was among the performers. Byrne performed songs from his 2018 album of the same name, as well as Talking Heads hits like “Burning Down the House” and “Once in a Lifetime,” and Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout,” a 2015 protest song about police brutality. The HBO film will also be available on Crave. “This joyful film takes audiences on a musical journey about openness, optimism and faith in humanity,” Joana Vicente, executive director
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US should focus more on expansive operations of Chinese state-owned enterprises: Report
2Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

US should focus more on expansive operations of Chinese state-owned enterprises: Report

A Washington-based think tank has suggested that the Trump administration should be more focused on the expansive operations of Chinese state-owned enterprises and not just remain fixated on two Chinese firms -- TikTok and Huawei.While these companies undoubtedly raise clear and important concerns, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the US should demonstrate more strategic maturity if it was equally focused on the operations of China Communications Construction Company, COSCO Shipping, and State Grid which are quietly dominating the sectors of infrastructure, telecommunications, transportation, energy, and financial services globally. "Where the United States does pay attention to the global architecture of China's rise, such as the Belt and Road Initiative or t
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China engaged in massive illegal spying for years, claims US
2Aug By Grace TsoiNo Comments
World

China engaged in massive illegal spying for years, claims US

The People's Republic of China has engaged for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the United States against U.S. government officials and American citizens, US State Department Spokesperson said in a statement."As detailed by Secretary of State Pompeo, FBI Director Wray, and Attorney General Barr in public remarks, PRC officials have interfered in our domestic politics, stolen U.S. intellectual property, coerced our business leaders, threatened families of Chinese Americans residing in China, and more," the State Department spokesperson said.Earlier, US President Donald Trump said that his administration does not rule out closing additional Chinese diplomatic missions in the United States."As far as closing additional embassies, it's always possible. We tho...
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Questions about COVID-19 that keep Sick Kids’ infectious diseases expert up at night
2Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Opinion, World

Questions about COVID-19 that keep Sick Kids’ infectious diseases expert up at night

Dr. Upton Allen, head of infectious diseases at the Hospital for Sick Children, remembers the winter day he started to worry about the novel coronavirus that first began circulating in Wuhan, China. It was in mid-January, after scientists confirmed human-to-human transmission, and it became clear the virus could be easily — and quickly — transported around the world by infected passengers on airplanes. Fast forward six months and Allen hasn’t stopped worrying about COVID-19, even as he and other physicians and scientists work to understand how the virus that causes it, SARS-CoV-2, impacts children. Here, Allen, who has studied infectious diseases for 25 years, tells us what COVID-19 research questions keep him up at night (How do kids develop immunity to the virus?), whether parents sho
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Rampant virus won’t deter Bali’s plan to welcome back tourists
2Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Rampant virus won’t deter Bali’s plan to welcome back tourists

Rampant virus won’t deter Bali’s plan to welcome back tourists A vendor wearing a face shield amid concerns about Covid-19 makes religious offerings at a traditional market in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on June 7, 2020. (AFP) Bali, Indonesia’s most popular holiday destination, is pressing ahead with a plan to welcome back visitors to revive its tourism-reliant economy even as the resort island continues to report a surge in new coronavirus cases. Indonesians can visit Bali’s beaches, temples and popular surfing spots from July 31 while international tourists will be allowed from Sept 11, the island’s Governor Wayan Koster said at an online seminar. Authorities will speed up efforts to control the Covid-19 outbreak before the sector is reopened, he said. “To bring tou
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US hits Chinese officials with visa bans over Tibet access
2Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

US hits Chinese officials with visa bans over Tibet access

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration fired a new shot in its diplomatic war with China on Tuesday by imposing travel bans on Chinese officials it says are restricting foreigners’ access to Tibet. While waging concurrent battles over Beijing’s policies in Hong Kong, human rights in western Xinjiang province, global trade practices and aggressiveness in the South China Sea, the administration hit an unspecified number of Chinese officials with visa restrictions, limiting or entirely eliminating their ability to travel to the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the restrictions in a statement that accused China of systematically obstructing the travel of foreign diplomats, journalists and tourists to Tibet, an autonomous region of China, while Chinese visitors “enjoy fa
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Trump, Biden try to outdo each other on tough talk on China
1Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Opinion, World

Trump, Biden try to outdo each other on tough talk on China

WASHINGTON - China has fast become a top election issue as President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden engage in a verbal brawl over who’s better at playing the tough guy against Beijing. The Trump campaign put out ads showing Biden toasting China’s Xi Jinping, even though Trump did just that with Xi in Asia and hosted the Chinese leader at his Florida club. Spots from the Biden campaign feature Trump playing down the coronavirus and praising Xi for being transparent about the pandemic, even though it’s clear China hid details of the outbreak from the world. “I think it’s going to be absolutely critical, but I don’t know who is going to have the advantage,” said Republican pollster Frank Luntz. He has been reviewing the ads and thinks China is one of the three leading issues along with
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A travel ban at ‘the edge of the world’: Haida Gwaii measure comes after months’ long fight by community
1Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

A travel ban at ‘the edge of the world’: Haida Gwaii measure comes after months’ long fight by community

VANCOUVER—Tarah Samuels was setting up camp on the northern lip of the large B.C. archipelago known as the edge of the world when a nurse came to deliver the news that brought her efforts to a “crashing halt.” She and other Haida matriarchs had been setting up to protest travel to the islands — a fight they believed would keep the coronavirus at bay. But the virus had already arrived. Days later, the province would announce the news they had been hoping for: Travel to Haida Gwaii was banned. “We’re a collectivist society, Haida people. We survive by being together,” Samuels said. “Unfortunately, COVID-19 safety flips who we are upside down.” Last weekend, Samuels and a group of Haida matriarchs had been camping at Naden Harbour in a demonstration to visitors at nearby fishing lodges,
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Thailand unlikely to join CPTPP pact this year
1Aug By desk teamNo Comments
Opinion, World

Thailand unlikely to join CPTPP pact this year

Thailand unlikely to join CPTPP pact this year Containers are moved at Laem Chabang port, Chon Buri province, in September 2019. (Bangkok Post file photo) Thailand will take until September to study whether to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, potentially missing a window for entry this year amid widespread concern that joining the pact may harm its farm and healthcare sectors. The Commerce ministry has said joining the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would boost the country's economy and offset the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, while making sectors including electronics and agriculture more competitive against rivals like Vietnam and Malaysia, both CPTPP members. Opposition parties and some civil groups oppose memb...
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Far apart: EU holds masked budget summit in pandemic times
1Aug By desk teamNo Comments
World

Far apart: EU holds masked budget summit in pandemic times

BRUSSELS - European Union leaders acknowledged Friday they are about as far apart from reaching a deal on an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and virus recovery fund as the seating distance imposed upon them for health reasons at their summit. “The differences are still very, very big and so I can’t predict whether we will achieve a result this time,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrived at the Europa summit site. “So I expect very, very difficult negotiations.” The challenges facing the 27 EU leaders — some of whom arrived masked, some unmasked — are formidable. The bloc is suffering through the worst recession in its history and member states are fighting over who should pay the most to help other countries and which nations should get the most
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