World

Tibet’s only soccer club folds over altitude dispute
7Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
China, USA, World

Tibet’s only soccer club folds over altitude dispute

Tibet's first and only professional soccer team has become the latest in a string of Chinese clubs to fold, following a row over hosting matches in one of the highest cities in the world. Lhasa Chengtou played only two games in the Tibetan capital — which sits at an oxygen-sucking altitude of 3,650 meters — and on both occasions the referee had to suspend play every 15 minutes to let the players breathe bottled oxygen, Xinhua news agency said. The demise of the club, just three years after it was founded, is a blow to the ruling Communist Party's hopes of having a team in the professional leagues to make Tibetans feel more integrated into China. Lhasa Chengtou finished last season 26th of 32 teams in China's third division and had been playing its home matches thousands of kilometers aw...
Read More
Credit Suisse CEO sees things ‘going in right direction’
7Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
Market, World

Credit Suisse CEO sees things ‘going in right direction’

ZURICH: Business conditions are improving after a tough start to the year, Credit Suisse Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein said in a presentation released on Wednesday (Jun 10). "Those early indications that we have seen now in the last couple of weeks have been actually quite promising and going in the right direction. We clearly had a lot of stress in the system in the second half of March but things really calmed down in April and they continue to be quite robust in May and June," he said in an audiocast for a Goldman Sachs conference. "So far, so good. Clearly we expect very bad economic data for Europe and the US for Q2 but overall actually if I speak to my colleagues on the corporate banking side in Switzerland, to my colleagues in investment banking, we actually see high engage...
Read More
Malaysia reports 16 new COVID-19 cases, including 3 imported infections
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Malaysia reports 16 new COVID-19 cases, including 3 imported infections

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Jun 21), taking the national total to 8,572. Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there were no new fatalities, with the death toll remaining at 121. Of the 16 new cases, three were imported infections while 13 were locally transmitted. The imported cases comprise two Malaysians and one permanent resident. Of the 13 locally transmitted cases, nine were non-Malaysians while the remaining four were Malaysians, Dr Noor Hisham said. Regarding the nine non-Malaysian patients, six were from the Pedas cluster in state of Negeri Sembilan while two were close contacts of a case from a cleaning services company cluster in Selangor. The remaining case was an individual from the Tawau Temporary Detenti...
Read More
SIA rolls out enhanced COVID-19 safety measures as travel set to take off again
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

SIA rolls out enhanced COVID-19 safety measures as travel set to take off again

SINGAPORE: Enhanced safety measures for Singapore Airlines (SIA), SilkAir and Scoot flights are being rolled out to protect passengers and crew amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the airlines announced on Sunday (Jun 7). This comes as travel is set to pick up again, with the resumption of more flights this month and transit operations recommencing at Changi Airport. From Monday, passengers on all SIA Group flights will be given a kit with a surgical mask, anti-bacterial wipes and hand sanitiser when they travel, said SIA in a news release. An enhanced cleaning process has also been implemented for aircraft and lounges, said the national carrier. SIA said it was also looking to trial an ultra-violet light cleaning procedure on the ground for its lavatories before every flight. Passe...
Read More
U.S. aircraft carriers hold joint drills after ASEAN lambastes Beijing over South China Sea
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
Singapore, World

U.S. aircraft carriers hold joint drills after ASEAN lambastes Beijing over South China Sea

Two U.S. aircraft carriers kicked off joint exercises in the Philippine Sea on Sunday, a day after Southeast Asian leaders delivered some of their strongest remarks opposing Beijing’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea on historical grounds. The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Groups began the drills to bolster the United States’ “responsive, flexible, and enduring commitments” to mutual defense agreements with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, the Navy said in a statement. The dual carrier exercises also came exactly a week after the Nimitz and another carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt conducted their own joint operations in the area. It is rare to see three U.S. aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Western Pacific and even more unusual...
Read More
As China’s global media influence grows, so does the pushback
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

As China’s global media influence grows, so does the pushback

The Chinese Communist Party and various Chinese government entities have long sought to influence public debate and media coverage about China around the world, a trend that has accelerated in recent years. Over the past month, a number of news reports and investigations, often by local journalists, have highlighted new evidence of how Chinese government-linked actors impact global information flows via propaganda, censorship, surveillance and control over infrastructure. In response, various governments and technology firms have taken steps to undermine the negative effects CCP influence has on media and internet freedom. This article calls attention to some of these new developments. In Southeast Asia, Thailand’s cash-strapped media companies are increasingly relying on Chinese state me...
Read More
Oil prices slide on concerns about patchy demand recovery, record US stocks
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Oil prices slide on concerns about patchy demand recovery, record US stocks

Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years. MELBOURNE: Oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures erased gains from Wednesday, falling as low as US$38.42 a barrel. The benchmark contract was down 2.2per cent, or 86 cents, at US$38.74 at 0031 GMT. Brent crude futures fell 2.0per cent, or 85 cents, to US$40.88 a barrel, also giving up gains from W...
Read More
Football: Marseille ‘not for sale’ amid reports of Saudi interest
6Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Football: Marseille ‘not for sale’ amid reports of Saudi interest

MARSEILLE: French giants Marseille are "not for sale", the club's president Jacques-Henri Eyraud insisted Saturday (Jun 27) following reports of a mega Saudi-backed bid to buy the former European champions. "Olympique de Marseille is not for sale," said Eyraud. "I thank those who have shown a financial interest in OM, but we are not interested in selling." Eyraud was speaking following reports of a 700 million-euro (US$785 million) bid to buy the club from a consortium fronted by Mourad Boudjellal, the high-profile former owner of leading French rugby outfit Toulon, but backed by Saudi investors. The offer would reportedly see 300 million euros going towards the purchase of the club, with another 200 million euros going towards clearing debts and 200 million euros more destined to b...
Read More
TSMC says could fill order gap if unable to sell chips to Huawei
5Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

TSMC says could fill order gap if unable to sell chips to Huawei

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's planned factory in the United States is "definitely in line with" the company's interests, Chairman Mark Liu told investors on Tuesday. HSINCHU, Taiwan: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) could quickly fill any order gap should U.S. restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd prevent sales to the Chinese firm, the company's chairman said on Tuesday. TSMC's clients include Huawei's chip division HiSilicon. However, the U.S. blacklisting of Huawei over security concerns and trade disputes with China has left the world's biggest contract chipmaker exposed to diplomatic developments between two countries where it also has production bases. The company last month unveiled plans for a US$12 billion plant in the United States ju...
Read More
Video shows abusive taming of baby elephant for Thai tourism
5Jul By Desk TeamNo Comments
World

Video shows abusive taming of baby elephant for Thai tourism

BANGKOK: Footage of a distressed baby elephant jabbed by bullhooks at a Thai camp to tame it before joining the tourist industry has been released by conservationists in an appeal to end the practice. The footage, taken on a hidden camera last year and published Wednesday (Jun 24) by UK-based animal rights group World Animal Protection (WAP), shows what they say is the forced separation of a two-year-old female elephant from her mother. The distraught calf is confined to a small space known as the "crush box" and held by chains and ropes for days as she struggles to escape. Calves are repeatedly jabbed with a bullhook, a long rod with a sharpened metal tip, to get them to understand basic commands, sometimes causing bleeding. About 3,000 domesticated elephants work in Thailand's ...
Read More