DOHA: Privacy concerns over Qatar’s coronavirus contact tracing app, a tool that is mandatory on pain of prison, have prompted a rare backlash and forced officials to offer reassurance and concessions. Like other governments around the world, Qatar has turned to mobile phones to trace people’s movements and track who […]
Year: 2020
LONDON: British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has authorised a bailout plan to rescue companies that are seen as strategically important, with the state expected to buy stakes in crucial businesses that are facing acute financial problems, the Financial Times newspaper reported. Under the plan, which is named ‘Project Birch’, the […]
NEW YORK: Americans sunbathed on beaches, fished from boats and strolled on boardwalks this holiday weekend, but the occasional person wearing a mask was a constant reminder that the world is still battling the coronavirus pandemic. The Memorial Day weekend that signals the start of the US summer is normally […]
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s security chief said “terrorism” was growing in the city, as government departments rallied on Monday (May 25) behind Beijing’s plans to introduce national security laws and after thousands took to the streets to protest against the move. Police said they arrested more than 180 people on […]
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 […]