World

QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand: For the past year, the so-called "adrenaline capital of the world" has been more ghost town than party central. But unlike in most coronavirus-hit tourism hotspots, locals in New Zealand's scenic Queenstown are optimistic their adventure hub is about to get its pre-pandemic mojo back. The travel bubble that opened with Australia on Monday (Apr 19) has once again brought planes full of visitors, restoring the lifeblood of a town coronavirus sent reeling. Destination Queenstown chief executive Ann Lockhart called it "light at the end of the tunnel". "A strong winter season will be a godsend basically for our industry as a whole," she said. For local tourism operator Steve Bruce, the bubble is "almost salvation". "It will make a huge impact on a lot of l...

MRID, Iowa: In 43 years of farming, Morey Hill had seen crop-destroying weather, rock-bottom prices, trade fights and surges in government aid, but not until last year had he endured it all in one season. Now, as Hill and other farmers begin planting the nation’s dominant crops of corn and soybeans, they’re dealing with another shift - the strongest prices in years and a chance to put much of the recent stomach-churning uncertainty behind them. The return to something more akin to normal will be a welcome change from the last two seasons that likely will be remembered as among the most unusual in US agricultural history. “It will be nice to get out there and feel good about what you’re doing,” said Hill, who farms 400 acres (162 hectares) near the small Iowa community of Madrid. “I d...

If two of Indonesia’s most valuable tech companies come together, they can take on bigger rivals. The question is whether this is too late, says David Kuo. SINGAPORE: The union of Gojek and Tokopedia seemed almost inevitable after rumours of an on-off wedding of two of Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing companies, namely, Grab and Gojek, was finally called off. The deal between Grab and Gojek reportedly fell apart because neither could agree on the control each business would have in the combined entity. Concerns that a merger might not pass regulatory scrutiny because of their already dominant positions in ride-hailing were also brewing. Then there was also the not insignificant matter of who would helm a Grab-Gojek entity. Whilst Grab is the larger of the two companies, Gojek i...

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo reshuffled his Cabinet on Wednesday (Apr 28), after parliament approved his plan to reorganise several agencies while creating a new investment ministry. This was his second Cabinet reshuffle in just over four months. Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, announced that Mr Bahlil Lahadalia will head the newly created Investment Ministry. Mr Lahadalia is the current head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). He will continue to lead the coordinating board concurrently. Mr Lahadalia said that unlike the BKPM which is primarily responsible for attracting foreign investors, the new ministry will coordinate both foreign and domestic investments as well as improve investment climate at the central, provincial and district levels o...

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is giving himself lots of latitude when he defines infrastructure for the purpose of spending money on it. It’s not just steel, but home health care workers. Not just excavating dirt, but building “dignity". The Republican Party says if it’s not a pothole, port, plane or bridge, forget about it. Never mind that Donald Trump, like Biden, wanted schools to get a piece of an infrastructure pie. At least in theory, everyone likes infrastructure and is willing to spend big on it. That’s why the definition of infrastructure matters as Biden tries to sell the country and Congress on the largest such package in generations. In short, the bulk of Biden's plan does not fit the traditional understanding of infrastructure, meaning below the structure, or foundati...

After more than a decade of experimenting, a trio of Malaysian farmers say they have found the right concoction of nutrients and treatments to successfully grow Japanese muskmelons, one of the world’s most expensive fruits. The farmers at Malaysian company Mono Premium Melon regularly rub the melons with a soft cloth or glove, a practice called tama-fuki said to enhance their flavor, and play classical music over speakers in the greenhouses, which is believed to stimulate growth. “Every single Japanese melon that you see in our farm is almost like an art piece,” said Seh Cheng Siang, director and co-founder of Mono, at the company’s farm in Malaysia’s administrative capital Putrajaya. Since the last century, farmers in Japan have been perfecting the art of cultivating these melons, whic...

BEIJING: Millions of travellers criss-crossed China as the Labour Day holiday got underway on Saturday (May 1), packing out tourist sites, thronging restaurants and visiting family as the vast country edges towards life after COVID-19. The world's second largest economy is expecting about 265 million journeys by road, train or boat during the five-day holiday, a transport ministry official said this week - numbers last seen in 2019 before the coronavirus struck. A large crowd of people wearing face masks visit the promenade on the Bund along the Huangpu River during a holiday on May Day, or International Workers' Day, in Shanghai on May 1, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal) Hundreds of day trippers packed out the walkway along the top of the Great Wall at Badaling, about 60km from ...

Since Myanmar’s military seized control of the government from the National League for Democracy (NLD), hundreds of people have been killed by security forces during anti-coup protests. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi was also detained on spurious charges together with other democratically elected leaders. In addition, the modest democratic progress the country made during the period of awkward coexistence between the NLD and the military over the last decade appears to have been completely wiped out. The instinctive response of the U.S. toward the humanitarian crisis — based on its foreign policy DNA — is to slap on sanctions. The Biden administration, which places particular importance on human rights, has swiftly adopted such sanctions against the country’s military leaders, including th...

NEW DELHI: Indians struggled to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country's toll from the coronavirus shot past 200,000 on Wednesday (Apr 28), worsened by shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen. The second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming health facilities and crematoriums and prompting an increasingly urgent response from allies overseas sending equipment. The last 24 hours brought 360,960 new cases for the world's largest single-day total, taking India's tally of infections to nearly 18 million. It was also the deadliest day so far, with 3,293 fatalities carrying the toll to 201,187. Experts believe the official tally vastly underestimates the actual toll ...

MANCHESTER, England -Europe's leading clubs were meeting on Friday to thrash out their position on reforms and the financial structure of UEFA's Champions League as fan groups criticised them for "crisis profiteering" in supporting plans to expand the competition to 36 teams. The European Club Association (ECA) was holding a board meeting, with UEFA's Clubs Competitions Committee due to meet later. UEFA's ruling executive committee meets on Monday ahead of Tuesday's congress where president Aleksander Ceferin hopes to have his plans voted through. The ECA has been supportive of UEFA's plans to expand the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams and change the group stage to a single-table format with 10 games instead of the current six. However the top clubs have made a late push for g...