TOKYO: Two decades after Japan rolled out an ambitious plan to go digital, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the government’s deeply rooted technological shortcomings as ministries remain stuck in a paper-driven culture that experts say is hurting productivity. While Tokyo has made “digital transformation” its main policy plank this year, […]
Year: 2020
PARIS: The EU called on Friday (Jul 24) on the United States to lift tariffs imposed in a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies after Airbus said it had brought itself into compliance with World Trade Organization rulings. The billions of dollars in tariffs, which apply to a wide range of […]
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s manufacturing output continued its decline in June, with demand down in all clusters except electronics and precision engineering. Industrial production fell 6.7 per cent year-on-year in June, extending May’s revised 8.1 per cent decline, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said in a media release on Friday (Jul 24). […]
HONG KONG: Casinos in the world’s biggest gambling hub Macau are staring at heavy losses for the second quarter, with “not much hope” for a near-term recovery as a resurgence in coronavirus cases muddies the outlook for when China will reinstate travel visas. Visitors from greater China make up for […]
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: Shares of Moderna fell nearly 10 per cent after it lost a bid to invalidate a US patent owned by Arbutus Biopharma that poses a potential obstacle to Moderna’s efforts to develop next-generation vaccines, including a COVID-19 vaccine. An administrative court run by the US Patent and Trademark […]
BEIJING: China said Friday (Jul 24) it had revoked the license for the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu, days after Washington ordered the closure of China’s Houston consulate. The tit-for-tat move is a “legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States”, the foreign […]
SINGAPORE: Private home prices in Singapore in the second quarter edged up 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, while transactions fell to its lowest in more than two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, updated data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed on Friday (Jul 24). The private residential […]
TEHRAN: Several passengers on an Iranian airline were injured on Thursday over Syria after the pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a US fighter jet, according to Iranian media, but the US military said its F-15 was at a safe distance. The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was […]
People wear protective face masks in Melbourne after it became the first city in Australia to enforce mask-wearing in public as part of efforts to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), July 23, 2020. SYDNEY: Restrictions were reintroduced in Australia’s most populous state of New South […]
SHANGHAI: All international tennis tournaments in China including the Shanghai Masters and WTA Finals were cancelled Friday (Jul 24) because of the coronavirus, the ATP and WTA said. The major blow to attempts to restart tennis comes after China said it would not stage most international sports events for the […]