World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang
20Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang

In a step which will lead to increased tensions between the US and China, the US House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour.“We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression,” said Representative Jim McGovern.According to McGovern, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United State...
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Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report
20Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report

Taiwan has grown anxious due to constant Chinese aggression and destabilising actions near the Diaoyutai islands, the most recent being sailing of four Chinese guard ships near the disputed Islands.Situated in East China’s Sea, the uninhabited islands also known as Senkakus in Japan — are claimed by Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo.On Monday and Tuesday, four Chinese guard ships sailed near the Islands, one of which was equipped with a cannon. Two of the ships sailed away on Tuesday morning, including an armed vessel, while the others attempted to approach a Japanese fishing boat, the Japan Coast Guard said.It was the first armed incursion since China’s enactment on February 1 of a new Coast Guard Law, which authorizes its coast guard to inspect and use weapons on foreign vessels in waters claime...
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Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation
19Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
USA, World

Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation

E-commerce giant Amazon.com is planning to work with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to open its first manufacturing line in India.In a statement on Amazon Blog in India, the company said it will start manufacturing efforts in India by teaming up with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Hon Hai in Chennai, to roll out its set-top box device Fire TV Stick.“The manufacturing cooperation with Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global market, is scheduled to begin later this year.“The device manufacturing program will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Stick devices every year, catering to the demands of customers in India,” Amazon said in the statement.Amazon said the company “will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional mar...
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Myanmar junta rolls in armoured vehicles to major cities, cuts internet
16Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Myanmar junta rolls in armoured vehicles to major cities, cuts internet

The Myanmar military on Monday deployed armoured vehicles in the major cities and forced a near-total internet shutdown as the citizens’ protest against the coup intensified, demanding a return to civilian rule in Myanmar."A near-total internet shutdown is in effect in Myanmar as of 1 am (local time); real-time network data show national connectivity at just 14 per cent of ordinary levels following state-ordered information blackout; incident ongoing," said NetBlocks, an internet's observatory which tracks disruptions and shutdowns across the world.As per media reports, armoured vehicles have rolled into Myanmar cities and internet access has been largely cut off amid fears of a crackdown on anti-coup protesters after nine days of mass demonstrations demanding a return to civilian rule.On ...
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Toolkit used by Greta intended to target India, its interests: Fake news watchdog
16Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Toolkit used by Greta intended to target India, its interests: Fake news watchdog

A recent report by a fake news watchdog has revealed that the ‘toolkit’ used by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg regarding the farmers' protest was part of an elaborate design that was under play since 2007 and involved several shady companies in the US, fake foreign experts and even ghost entities to target India and its interests.DisInfo Lab, a fake news watchdog, said: "The name of one of the key players of our story came up in the toolkit dropped accidentally by Greta Thunberg. The toolkit had mentioned a foreign expert as resource point - Pieter Friedrich. It was startling. Pieter was part of a story we were already working on since about a month in the context of an info-war against India"."This elaborate design and planning that is underway since 2007 at least was driven by sing...
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Radicalisation, WEF meeting and imported COVID-19 cases to be discussed in Parliament
16Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Radicalisation, WEF meeting and imported COVID-19 cases to be discussed in Parliament

SINGAPORE: Radicalisation will be among the topics discussed in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 16), after it was announced on Jan 27 that a 16-year-old Singaporean had been detained under the Internal Security Act for making detailed plans to attack Muslims. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Annual Meeting and imported COVID-19 cases will be on the agenda as well. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Sweet Keat will also deliver his Budget speech at 3pm. According to the order paper, four MPs have filed questions for Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam related to the radicalised teenager who planned to use a machete to attack Muslims at two mosques in the Woodlands area. MP Christopher de Souza (PAP-Holland-Bukit Timah) has asked about legal tools that should be put i...
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Japan extends travel restrictions and tightens quarantine measures
16Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Japan extends travel restrictions and tightens quarantine measures

With the latest extension of the state of emergency, foreign travelers looking to enter Japan will have to wait at least another month, as a total ban on new entries will remain in place through March 7. Following Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s announcement Tuesday of the extension of the emergency, which now covers 10 prefectures including Tokyo and Osaka, the government also revised quarantine rules for citizens and residents returning from countries that have reported new coronavirus variants believed to be more transmissible than the original strains of SARS-CoV-2. With the most recent changes, set to take effect on Friday, people returning to Japan from Ireland, Israel and parts of Brazil will be covered by stricter quarantine measures. Under the current policy that bans new arriva...
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Facebook to limit Myanmar military-controlled pages for spreading misinformation
15Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Facebook to limit Myanmar military-controlled pages for spreading misinformation

Treating the situation in Myanmar as an emergency, Facebook on Friday said that it has decided to reduce pages controlled by the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) on grounds of spreading misinformation.Facebook said that it will remove misinformation claiming that there was widespread fraud or foreign interference in the 2020 elections.“We are closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in Myanmar, and are in close communication with governments, institutions and non-governmental organisations that care deeply about Myanmar’s future,” said Facebook.On February 12, Facebook released a detailed statement regarding the actions undertaken to protect free speech in Myanmar and limit pages and accounts controlled by the military.For Myanmar citizens, Facebook is the main source of news and a pla...
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EU urges China to reverse ban on BBC, says it violates Chinese constitution, human rights
15Feb mmBy Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

EU urges China to reverse ban on BBC, says it violates Chinese constitution, human rights

The European Union (EU) has urged China that it should reverse its ban on BBC World News as it violated both the Chinese constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.In a statement issued on Friday, the EU said that it has repeatedly spoken out on cases of intimidation and surveillance of journalists and media workers in China.The EU condemned China’s move to ban BBC in the country, which was imposed in response to the UK regulators revoking the broadcasting license for China Global Television Network (CGTN), stating that it restricted “freedom of expression and access to information inside its borders”.The EU said that according to Article 35 of the PRC Constitution citizens shall enjoy the freedom of speech and of the press and that according to Article 19 of the Universal ...
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Brexit adds to airline COVID-19 woes in UK
14Feb By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Brexit adds to airline COVID-19 woes in UK

LONDON: Already grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, airlines operating in the UK are facing post-Brexit obstacles to flying across the European Union, and their shareholders are paying the price. The trade agreement reached ahead of Britain's recent formal divorce from the EU allows flights between the two to continue as before. But for airlines with fewer than 50 per cent EU-based shareholders, flights within the European Union require a new agreement by the end of 2021. "To continue being able to access these intra-European traffic rights, airlines need to demonstrate they are majority-owned and controlled by European persons," noted Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska. No-frills airlines, such as Ryanair and EasyJet, are notably affected, with their business model based heavily on...
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