ASEAN News

It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to throw out Taiwan’s long-established diplomatic rulebook: he accepted a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen a month before taking office in January 2017. The 10-minute chat was the first time that a president-elect had talked to a Taiwanese head of state since the United States broke ties with Taipei in favor of …

The US Consulate in Hong Kong stated that it was ludicrous to imply that its diplomats meeting with pro-democracy politicians would infringe the city’s latest national security law, a accusation posed in a recent state media article in China. Chinese state-owned tabloid Global Times ran a story earlier this week suggesting a recent meeting between US Consul General Hanscom Smith …

The deadly chemical explosion in Lebanon ‘s capital Beirut on Tuesday (Aug 4) provoked concern in Australia over vast stocks of the same near-populated chemical areas. Some community advocates are uneasy about storing the chemical in the vicinity of Australia’s populated areas , especially in the port city of Newcastle, north of Sydney. Commercial explosives manufacturer Orica regularly stores between …

Japan ‘s history of virus infections is on the rise faster than ever, and support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is falling to new lows. Although Japan ‘s overall death toll remains close to what the United States sees in a day, the public worries that Japan might be sitting on a ticking time bomb. Mr Abe ‘s support had …

Organizations that catered mainly to visitors prior to Covid-19 are growing digital services and redeploying capital in the midst of prolonged travel restrictions due to the pandemic. For starters, the Nam Ho Group travel company plans to launch virtual tours of travel destinations as well as an online shop selling popular overseas snacks and items. In addition , following the …

All travelers entering Singapore who serve their home notice (SHN) outside designated facilities will soon have to wear an electronic monitoring system. From 10 August, these travelers would have to wear the appliance for a total of 14 days at home. Those include citizens, permanent residents, holders of long-stay passes, holders of job passes and their dependents. Kids 12 and …

Russia is expected to file a coronavirus vaccine as soon as 10 Aug to 12 August, paving the way for what its supporters claim will be the world’s first formal approval of an outbreak inoculation. Russia’s first possible COVID-19 vaccine will receive local regulatory approval in the first half of August and be administered shortly afterwards to frontline health staff. …

Fiber from a banana tree relative could substitute plastic in millions of face masks, and the world’s hospital gowns to combat the coronavirus. Abaca-a fiber from the Philippines used in teabags and banknotes-is as durable as polyester but will decompose within two months, said Kennedy Costales, head of the Philippine fiber department. While nations prioritized hygiene over the atmosphere for …

Nearly three billion species have been killed or displaced in “one of the worst wildlife disasters in recent history” by Australia ‘s devastating 2019-20 wildfires, according to a study. Scientists from many universities in Australia said the biodiversity damage included 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs. Although the study did not state how …

North Korea is jumping on the return of a defector from the South to point the finger at Seoul for the presence of coronavirus in the country after months of denying it had any cases. Pyongyang placed a lockdown on the border city of Kaesong, claiming it had found a suspected Covid-19 infection in a defector who had returned across …