World

China’s new security law has sent a chill through Hong Kong’s schools and universities, with many teachers fearful the city’s reputation for academic freedom and excellence is now at risk. Just a week after the sweeping legislation was imposed on the territory, staff at some institutions have already been warned by their administrators to be careful how they teach. “Remain neutral in your teaching and be mindful of the language you use,” read one email to staff of HKU SPACE, a college attached to the prestigious University of Hong Kong (HKU). “Any behavior in eliciting further discussion on sensitive issues MUST be avoided,” the email from the program director of the humanities and law faculty said. It ended with a warning of “zero-tolerance against politics or personal political views...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's leader said Sunday (Jul 19) that COVID-19 was spreading out of control in the city as she announced a record daily high of more than 100 cases and ordered new social distancing measures. The finance hub was one of the first places to be struck by the virus when it emerged from central China. But the city had impressive success in tackling the disease, all but ending local transmissions by late June. However, in the last two weeks, cases have begun to spike once more and doctors fear it is spreading undetected in the densely packed territory of 7.5 million people. On Sunday, chief executive Carrie Lam said more than 500 infections had been confirmed in the last fortnight, bringing the city's total tally to 1,788 cases with 12 fatalities. More than 100 wer...

DUBAI: In Dubai's Atlantis resort, at the head of a palm tree-shaped island, workers in face masks clean cushions, sofas and king-size beds in luxury suites that have largely been vacant since the coronavirus pandemic. The resort and seven other hotels in the regional tourism hub contacted by Reuters are seeing business pick up as Dubai reopened to foreign visitors on Tuesday, but do not expect a significant increase before the fourth quarter of 2020. "Bookings have started to increase," Tim Kelly, managing director at Atlantis Dubai, said, adding he expected a "solid" fourth quarter for the resort, known for its giant aquarium and water slides. The resort shut in March as the United Arab Emirates imposed a coronavirus lockdown and reopened in mid-May when restrictions started easin...

The Federal Aviation Administration began recertification flights of the Boeing 737 Max on Monday, a key step toward permitting the planes to return to service after two fatal crashes more than a year ago. The 737 Max, Boeing's bestseller, has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after the crashes — one in Indonesia and another in Ethiopia — within five months of one another. All 346 people on the flights were killed in the crashes. Boeing has since changed a flight-control system that was implicated in both crashes and has made other tweaks. Additional scrutiny of the aircraft contributed to repeated delays in the recertification process. Boeing shares added to earlier gains after the first Max certification flight took off, adding more than 14% to end the day at $194.49, leading th...

Chinese President Xi Jinping Aris Messinis | Pool | Reuters A major plan that will form part of China's global technology push has been dubbed as hype and will face a number of challenges, a technology industry body told CNBC. China Standards 2035 is an ambitious 15-year blueprint that Beijing is expected to release this year. It will lay out China's plans to set the global standards for the next-generation of technologies. Standards have been crucial for the development of technologies we use today such as 4G mobile networks or Wi-Fi. They are technical specifications that not only outline how technologies work but also interoperability. Standards are part of the reason why you can go abroad and still use mobile networks. Typically, the development of standards have been dominated by U.S...

U.S. Navy multirole fighter landing on the flight deck of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) aircraft carrier as it sails in South China Sea Oct. 16, 2019. Catherine Lai | AFP | Getty Images The U.S. Navy exercise in the disputed South China Sea over the weekend was about "showing the flag" and sending a message to the region, an expert told CNBC this week. Two U.S. aircraft carriers conducted operations and exercises in the contested waters on the Fourth of July "in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific," the Navy said in a statement. Beijing also carried out military training in the South China Sea from July 1 to July 5. "The U.S. wants to send a message that it's not backing down, and that it's still able to do this," said Gregory Poling of the Center for Strategic and International Studies....