Asia

Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown
Asia, World

Business as usual? Scant enforcement of Madrid’s new COVID-19 lockdown

MRID: Madrid residents were largely coming and going as normal on Monday (Oct 5) despite a prohibition on non-essential travel in the first European capital to return to a coronavirus lockdown due to resurgent infections, which rose above 800,000 nationally. Police said 300 officers were manning 60 checkpoints, but commuters poured into the Spanish capital as usual and few said they had noticed extra controls. With 850 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people, the Madrid area has Europe's highest rate, so 4.8 million people in the city and nine satellite towns came under new restrictions from Friday night. "I haven't seen any police controls. I don't quite understand this situation that they have created," said nutrition student Cristina Canete. Worried about further economic damage,...
Amid worsening ties, China expected to sanction Australian copper, sugar
Asia, China, Market, World

Amid worsening ties, China expected to sanction Australian copper, sugar

As relations between China and Australia continue to get worse on a range of issues, importers across Beijing are expected to brace for a round of sanctions on copper ore and copper concentrate as well as sugar this week.The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) has issued a notice to exporters claiming that it had found a pest in imported log timber from Queensland and has banned all log exports from the Australian state. It further claimed that it had found contamination in barley shipments from Australian grain exporter Emerald Grain as well.As per repots, bans on copper ore and copper concentrate, as well as sugar, are expected to be introduced this week.In September, China suspended barley imports from Australia’s largest grain exporter, CBH Group, after also detecting pes...
Trump vs Biden: Potential implications for investors
Asia, China, Market, Singapore, World

Trump vs Biden: Potential implications for investors

As the clock ticks down to the US presidential election, Money Mind looks into the potential impact of a Trump or Biden victory, and what this means for investors. SINGAPORE: As the clock ticks down to the US presidential election on Nov 3, the intensity of the contest between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is rising. For investors, the anticipation of the outcome has led to some wild rides in the markets. A survey conducted by wealth management firm UBS in September found that investors favoured Mr Trump for economic direction and job growth. However, Mr Biden was their pick to manage the COVID-19 downturn, foreign policy, and healthcare. Over the past month, much has happened. From a first presidential debate that some have called disastrous...
PM Modi, Abhinandan posters come up in Pakistan MP Ayaz Sadiq’s constituency
Asia

PM Modi, Abhinandan posters come up in Pakistan MP Ayaz Sadiq’s constituency

Facing severe backlash over his remarks against Pakistan Army chief, posters featuring Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman came up in parts of Lahore.The posters, which dubbed him as “traitor”, went viral on social media after first being spotted in the constituency of the former National Assembly speaker.In some of the posters, Sadiq’s face was morphed to resemble Varthaman.This came days after Sadiq told the Parliament that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was perspiring and his “legs were shaking” when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that India would have attacked “that night at 10 pm” if Pakistan did not release Abhinandan."I remember Shah Mahmood Qureshi ...
Gilgit-Baltistan a part of India: MEA
Asia

Gilgit-Baltistan a part of India: MEA

After Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s attempt to accord provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, India, in response, lashed out at Khan’s remarks, saying it is intended to camouflage the “illegal” occupation of the region.India “firmly rejects” the attempt by Pakistan to bring material changes to a part of Indian territory which is under Islamabad’s “illegal and forcible occupation”, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.He also asked Pakistan to immediately vacate such areas.“I reiterate that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the area of so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’, are an integral part of India by virtue of the legal, complete and irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947,” he said.He said...
PML-N’s decision to not invite former Baloch CM to 3rd PDM rally causes turmoil in party
Asia

PML-N’s decision to not invite former Baloch CM to 3rd PDM rally causes turmoil in party

Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) is in chaos right now due to its Balochistan chapter’s decision to not invite former Baloch chief minister Sanaullah Zehri to the third power show of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on October 25.As per sources, the PML-N's decision to not invite Zehri to the Quetta rally did not go well with the leaders in the province.The president of PML-N's Balochistan chapter, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, had also expressed his reservations over the hardline stance adopted by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.They have stated that the PML-N's provincial leaders will announce their future course of action soon.Meanwhile, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal clarified that the party had decided not to invite Zehri due to a rift between the former chief minister and Balochistan...
China reports 10 COVID-19 cases
Asia, China, World

China reports 10 COVID-19 cases

BEIJING: China reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Oct 1, down from 11 a day earlier, the country's health authority reported on Friday (Oct 2). The National Health Commission said in a statement all new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not count as confirmed COVID-19 cases, rose to 33 from 10 a day earlier. The total number of COVID-19 infections in China now stands at 85,424, while the total number of deaths remained unchanged at 4,634. Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
Commentary: Hong Kong and Singapore air travel bubble could be a game-changer
Asia, China, Market, Singapore, World

Commentary: Hong Kong and Singapore air travel bubble could be a game-changer

The air travel bubble between both countries is a landmark agreement that signals the start of a gradual recovery for Asia’s international passenger traffic, says Brendan Sobie. SINGAPORE: The air travel bubble announced by Hong Kong and Singapore on Oct 15 marks the first significant positive development in several months for both aviation hubs, Singapore Airlines (SIA) as well as Cathay Pacific. Both the Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) are currently at about 1.5 per cent of normal passenger traffic levels. Passenger traffic at SIA Group and Cathay Pacific Group are at even lower levels – down almost 99 per cent in recent months. Traffic has been essentially stalled at the current paltry level for the last three months, following a very slight uptic...
Intellectuals form Sampritee Bangladesh to provide a strong platform for secular forces
Asia, USA

Intellectuals form Sampritee Bangladesh to provide a strong platform for secular forces

In order to strengthen secular forces, several intellectuals have joined to form an organization called Sampritee Bangladesh (Harmonious Bangladesh) to weaken those who attempt to target the nation.Professor Mamun Al Mahtab (Shwapnil), Chairman, Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Member Secretary of Sampritee Bangladesh, and Pijush Bandyopadhyay, Convener, Sampritee Bangladesh, in an opinion article said: "There is no place for filthy communalism and Rajakars in our thousand year’s history of unity and harmony. We have to stand against them who want to tarnish the spirit of 1971 in the name of religion.""This is the concept that led to the formation of our organization Sampritee Bangladesh (Harmonious Bangladesh). We had series of meetings with opinio...
Imran Khan-led Pakistan govt will be sent packing by January 2021: Bilawal Bhutto
Asia, USA

Imran Khan-led Pakistan govt will be sent packing by January 2021: Bilawal Bhutto

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would be sent packing by January 2021, and a 'people's government' would take over, said Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while addressing a public gathering.He also pointed out that even though Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) had not yet become a separate province, the PTI government at the center had already imposed taxes on the region's people.“Today, every section of the society was protesting against the PTI government,” he asserted while addressing the gathering at the main Skardu Bazaar as part of the party's campaign for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections in November.He also declared that the campaign for the right to rule and right to property belonged to the PPP."PPP is the only party which included ...