World

China lobbying to obtain French nuclear technology for ‘debt-trap diplomacy’: Report
2Nov By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

China lobbying to obtain French nuclear technology for ‘debt-trap diplomacy’: Report

A US-based news organization has claimed that China has intensified lobbying and "backchannel negotiation" in its attempts to obtain billions of dollars of nuclear technology, which it can use as a new tool in its "debt-trap diplomacy"Under the "guise of ameliorating Franco-Sino bilateral relations", the Chinese government has recently intensified lobbying campaign targeting important French politicians in an increasingly "frenetic bid to obtain billions of dollars of nuclear technology", which intelligence sources fear Beijing will use to expand its global influence.Senior intelligence sources said Beijing was currently "lobbying hard" in order to secure a future visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in the recent future.China is seeking to "rekindle a 10-billion euro deal" between Ch...
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China reports 10 COVID-19 cases
2Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
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
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Wall Street closes higher as stimulus talks progress
2Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, World

Wall Street closes higher as stimulus talks progress

U.S. stocks jumped on Wednesday as fresh hopes for a new pandemic relief package and upbeat economic data set the major indexes on course to end the quarter on a high note. NEW YORK: U.S. stocks closed solidly higher on Wednesday as government leaders continued talks for a new pandemic relief package and positive economic data helped the major indexes end the third quarter in positive territory. All three major indexes surged after U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin both expressed hope for a breakthrough in partisan stimulus negotiations. But the indexes pared gains after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the sides remain "far apart" in their talks. "We had the economic news which was pretty good, and continued discus...
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Jakarta governor to take protesters’ demand to repeal labour law to President Widodo
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
USA, World

Jakarta governor to take protesters’ demand to repeal labour law to President Widodo

JAKARTA: The governor of Indonesia's capital on Friday (Oct 9) said he would inform President Joko Widodo of protesters' demand for a polarising new labour law to be repealed, as a growing number of regional leaders oppose the new legislation. Thousands took to the streets of cities across Indonesia in the past three days, part of protests and national strikes against a law they say undermines labour rights and weakens environmental protections. Clashes erupted in some cities, including in Jakarta where protesters burnt public transport facilities and damaged police posts. "Yesterday I also met with the protesters and we had brief discussion with them, I'd told them that we had listened to your voices and I will convey the message," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan told Reuters. He d...
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New 3.5km path linking Changi Airport and East Coast Park opens, featuring dinosaur exhibits
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

New 3.5km path linking Changi Airport and East Coast Park opens, featuring dinosaur exhibits

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. SINGAPORE: Here’s another one to add to your list of day trips – 22 "life-sized" dinosaur models along the Changi Airport Connector, a new 3.5km path that links the airport to East Coast Park. The cycling and walking path, which starts at Terminal 2, opened on Sunday (Oct 11). It runs parallel to offices providing ground handling services, Terminal 4 and Tanah Merah Country Club. The Changi Jurassic Mile – a permanent outdoor display of 22 dinosaurs from nine species – is located between the Terminal 4 pit stop and the entrance to East Coast Park. Information panels have been put up to educate visitors about these prehistor...
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Commentary: Hong Kong and Singapore air travel bubble could be a game-changer
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
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...
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Singapore’s foray into space: Boldly going where no little red dot has gone before
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, Market, Singapore, World

Singapore’s foray into space: Boldly going where no little red dot has gone before

The efforts of the country’s budding space industry are giving the Republic a larger stake in the space race than many people may think. The programme Why It Matters looks at the opportunities and obstacles. SINGAPORE: Over the past four years, Singapore-based start-up Transcelestial has made a device called Centauri, about the size of a shoe box. Its aim: To provide internet connectivity that is around 1,000 times faster, or more, than now. It just needs to connect to a satellite using laser communications — no, make that a global satellite network the company wants to put into space. Working from home at the speed of light, however, “isn’t even scratching the surface of the capability” of laser-linked satellites, says Transcelestial co-founder Rohit Jha. He is looking into connec...
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Japan to offer free coronavirus vaccinations to all citizens
1Nov By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Japan to offer free coronavirus vaccinations to all citizens

The government plans to offer vaccinations against the new coronavirus free of charge to all citizens in Japan, according to sources. The government is set to shoulder all costs to secure by the end of June next year sufficient supplies of coronavirus vaccines that are currently being developed in Japan and abroad. It will spend ¥670 billion from its reserve funds under fiscal 2020 supplementary budgets to secure COVID-19 vaccines. The policy of providing free coronavirus vaccinations will be unveiled at a meeting of a health ministry advisory panel as early next week, the sources said Wednesday. With the envisaged free vaccinations, the government aims to encourage the public to get COVID-19 vaccinations promptly soon after the vaccines are developed. The government also hopes to prep...
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ETNAM appreciates US Senate for introducing resolution that calls atrocities on Uyghurs as genocide
31Oct By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

ETNAM appreciates US Senate for introducing resolution that calls atrocities on Uyghurs as genocide

East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) has lauded the US Senate for introducing a resolution that recognizes China's atrocities against Uyghurs as a genocide."US Senators Robert Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and John Cornyn introduced a bipartisan resolution to designate human rights abuses perpetrated by the People's Republic of China against the Uyghur people and other Turkic peoples in Occupied East Turkistan as a genocide," the ETNAM said in a statement.As per the statement, Menendez and Cornyn were joined by Senators James Risch, Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin, and Jeff Merkley."The resolution would hold China accountable under the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and begin the process t...
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Older Americans are selling the stock market, slowly but ceaselessly, to junior generations
31Oct By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Older Americans are selling the stock market, slowly but ceaselessly, to junior generations

Trevor Williams Baby boomers own an outsize helping of the market and are constantly reducing it, a process with significant implications for the supply and demand for equities, the interpretation of fund-flow statistics and the kinds of stocks likely to perform better and worse in coming years. A breakdown of household-stock and stock-fund ownership by generation shows more than half is possessed by baby boomers, those born between World War II and the mid-1960s. Millennials, now the largest generation, lack the size and financial wherewithal to absorb very much of the ongoing boomer liquidation in real time. The good news, such as it is, might be that stock ownership is so concentrated at the upper end of the wealth strata that most of these holdings don't need to be sold by their well...
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